The New England Patriots had to overcome a slow start against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, but walked off the field at Gillette Stadium with a fifth straight victory. Drake Maye and the offense got rolling in the second half and fed off a pair of turnovers forced by the New England defense, en route to a 32-13 pounding of the Browns.

Mike Vrabel's team is now 6-2 on the season, and the head coach was loving all the complementary football he saw in the second half of Sunday's win.

"I know there's so much more to improve, but we got stops in the second half, and we scored touchdowns. That's what the difference in the game was," he said after the win. 

Here are the Ups and Downs from the Patriots in the team's Week 8 win over the Browns:

UP: Robert Spillane was a beast

The defense really got things rolling for the Patriots in the second half, so we'll start on that side of the football. Linebacker Robert Spillane led the charge for the unit with 14 total tackles on the afternoon, as he was everywhere on the field. He had five solo tackles and a pair of tackles-for-loss in the win.

He also helped sway the game completely in New England's favor with his third-quarter interception.  After the Patriots found the end zone for the first time on the afternoon, Spillane jumped in front of a terrible pass by rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel and returned his pick 33 yards down to the Cleveland 6-yard line. 

Three plays later, Maye found Stefon Diggs for the receiver's first touchdown in a Patriots uniform and New England had a 23-7 lead.

UP: Jaylinn Hawkins made a one-handed interception

Spillane's interception was nice, but Hawkins' interception was incredible. 

It came on a bit of a desperation heave by Gabriel. But anytime you make a one-handed interception, you're going to be featured in the Ups portion of this post.

DOWN: Another slow start by the New England defense

After the Patriots started the game with a field goal, the Browns struck back with a six-play, 70-yard touchdown drive. 

Gabriel connected with tight end Harold Fannin Jr. for 19 yards on a third-and-11 to move the chains for Cleveland, and a few plays later, Malachi Corley made Spillane and Marcus Jones miss on a 31-yard run to the New England 18.

Gabriel finished off the drive by finding a huge hole in New England's zone defense and floating an 18-yard touchdown to Fannin, which put Cleveland on top 7-3. 

New England's opponents have now scored on six of their eight opening drives this season. 

UP: The defense locked in after opening-drive touchdown

After the Browns racked up 70 yards on their first drive, Cleveland had just 143 yards on its 11 other possessions in the game as the New England defense locked in.

After that Cleveland touchdown, the Patriots' D forced three punts the rest of the first half. The Browns were working with a short field after Maye was intercepted in the second quarter, but missed a field goal on their other possession of the half.

In the second half, the Browns did next to nothing until the game was out of hand. The New England defense forced a three-and-out on Cleveland's first possession, and the next two Browns drives ended with Spillane and Hawkins both picking off Gabriel, who hadn't thrown a pick entering Week 8.

The Patriots also forced the Browns to turn it over on downs twice and forced Gabriel to throw the ball away while in the end zone for a safety. Cleveland had just 213 yards on 12 drives, as the Patriots held the Browns to just 2-for-11 on third down.

DOWN: Drake Maye got picked

Maye was picked off for the first time since Week 3 early in the second quarter. The QB was under some pressure on a third-and-9 from the New England 41, and completely missed Carson Schwesinger spying him in the middle of the field. It led to an easy pick for Cleveland's rookie linebacker and gave the Browns the football at the New England 34. It didn't hurt the Patriots too much, as Andre Szmyt missed his 47-yard field goal attempt a few plays later.

But the interception is not the kind of mistake you expect from a QB playing at Maye's level right now.

"I was looking downfield and forgot the guy in front of me could jump," Maye said after the win. "So he picked it. Nice play by him."

UP: Drake Maye bounced back

Maye was also strip-sacked by Myles Garrett ahead of halftime, but the Patriots recovered the ball and got a field goal to cap off the drive. Overall, Maye had another strong game on Sunday, which led to MVP chants from the crowd at Gillette Stadium.

Maye completed 18 of his 24 passes on the afternoon for 282 yards and three touchdowns. All three of his touchdown strikes came in the third quarter.

The Patriots offense got rolling to start the second half with a seven-play, 77-yard touchdown drive. It included a double-pass trick play where Maye threw a short pass to Rhamondre Stevenson, who then threw it back to Maye, and the quarterback hit Mack Hollins for a 19-yard gain down the sideline. A few plays later, Maye hit Hunter Henry for a seven-yard touchdown to make it a 16-7 game.

Maye and the offense then turned Spillane's interception into a three-play touchdown drive. Complementary football at its finest.

Toward the end of the quarter, Maye broke off a 28-yard scramble that set the Patriots up at the Cleveland 39. He slid (fairly awkwardly) at the end of the play and heard about it from his teammates back in the huddle, which drowned out the MVP chants the crowd was sending Maye's way.

The chants just got louder though when Maye hit Kayshon Boutte for a 39-yard touchdown, which put the Patriots on top, 30-7. 

UP: Kayshon Boutte's touchdown streak

Boutte has become a legit deep threat for the New England offense, with his 39-yard touchdown the latest example for all to see.

Boutte finished with three catches for 75 yards on Sunday, and has now found the end zone in three straight games for the Patriots. The receiver has 10 catches for 223 yards and four touchdowns over that hot stretch.

DOWN: Will Campbell, O-line struggled vs. Myles Garrett

It's hard to knock the rookie left tackle Will Campbell for struggling against Myles Garrett, because just about every NFL left tackle struggles against Myles Garrett. But the Browns defensive lineman set a franchise record and new career high with five sacks on the afternoon.

Two of those sacks were against Campbell, despite getting help from Henry on both plays. Again, Garrett is really, really good, so it's hard to knock Campbell too much.

"He's a really good player," Campbell said of Garrett. "He beat me a few times. It's just part of the game. He gets paid a lot of money. He got me a couple times. I had to keep coming back and keep fighting. I'm just glad we got the win."

The offensive line as a whole struggled, as the Browns got to Maye six times in Week 8.

UP: Marcus Jones

Back to the great play by the New England defense on Sunday, which included another strong day from Marcus Jones.

The defensive back had two pass breakups, a tackle-for-loss, and six total tackles on the afternoon. His TFL helped force a Browns punt, and he broke up a pass to Isaiah Bond two drives later on a third-and-4 to force another Cleveland punt.

Jones continues to have an incredible season at cornerback for the New England defense.

Up & Down: TreVeyon Henderson

The rookie running back finally broke out on Sunday with 75 yards on his 10 carries. He picked up 30 yards on a pair of runs on the team's opening drive to set up a New England field goal. He also had runs of 12 yards and 18 yards in the first quarter, and then broke free for a 27-yard pickup in the third quarter. 

But the day wasn't a complete "Up" for the second-round pick. Just when it looked like Henderson was going to score a touchdown in the fourth quarter, he fumbled at the Cleveland 4-yard line with 4:59 to play.

It was an unfortunate ending to an otherwise solid day for Henderson. We'll see if he can build off the good from Sunday next weekend when the Patriots host the Atlanta Falcons at Gillette Stadium.