Mistake by the Lake was the appellation for the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium, it was also an apt description of the Patriots' play in the first half.

The game marked the debut of Logan Mankins, who reported on Tuesday, ending a lengthy sit-out that had stretched from the offseason through the first two months of the season. Mankins got the start for the Patriots and shared time at left guard with Dan Connolly, who had started every game in his absence. Mankins saw the majority of the snaps, but Connolly was on the field for the Patriots' first touchdown drive.

However, Hillis's 35-yard romp with 2:38 left sealed it. It was a win all around for Mangini, as Belichick even offered him a half-hug in their post-game meeting at mid-field.

The Patriots trailed 27-7 with 10:45 left in the game, following Phil Dawson's second field goal. They found life when Tom Brady (19 of 36 for 224 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions) connected with Aaron Hernandez (five catches for 48 yards and two touchdowns) on a 1-yard touchdown reception -- Hernandez's second TD catch of the game -- with 6:57 left. Due to a thigh injury to kicker Stephen Gostkowski, wide receiver Wes Welker had to kick the extra-point, trimming the Browns'lead to 27-14.

Even rookie quarterback Colt McCoy (14 of 19 for 174 yards, three rushes for 20 yards and a score) got into the long-running act, scoring on a 16-yard scramble in the third quarter.

The Browns used a surprise pop-up kickoff to set up their first touchdown and scored their second on a Wing-T style handoff from one wide receiver to another to jump to a 17-7 halftime lead. But it was straight forward, hard-nosed running in the second half that the Browns used to plow past the Patriots, who endured a nightmarish day in Northeast Ohio. Led by Peyton Hillis, who ran for two touchdowns and a career-high 184 yards on 29 carries, the Browns posted season highs in yards rushing (230) and total offensive yards (404) to snap the Patriots' (6-2) five-game win streak.

"We're a better team than we showed today, but we weren't today," said Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who saw his team drop into a first-place tie in the AFC East with the New York Jets, 23-20 overtime winners over the Lions.

Given an extra week to prepare for his mentor, Cleveland head coach Eric Mangini and his minions, a few of whom also had Foxborough ties, pulled out all the stops against the Patriots. They delivered an embarrassing 34-14 beatdown of their former boss and his team in front of 66,292 at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

The Patriots were just 1 of 8 on third downs and turned the ball over twice. The second came on a fumble by rookie tight end Rob Gronkowski, who was stripped by safety Abram Elam at the Cleveland 2 with 22 seconds left in the half.

Gronkowski was part of the Patriots' dismal end to the first half and he played a role in their inauspicious beginning as well.

The Browns jumped out to a 3-0 lead on the game's first possession. On the ensuing kickoff, Dawson hit a pop-up kick into no-man's land. Gronkowski appeared to signal for a fair catch and then backed off to let Sammy Morris field it, which he did, just not cleanly. The ball was recovered by former Patriot Ray Ventrone at the New England 19. Two plays later Hillis plowed in from 2 yards out, and it was 10-0 Browns, just 3:49 in.

While the Browns started fast, the Patriots did not. They registered just one first down and Brady was 1 of 6 for 10 yards in the first quarter.

The Patriots picked up the pace via a no-huddle attack and got on the scoreboard with 8:43 left in the half. Two plays after Brady converted a fourth-and-1 pass to Morris for 22 yards, he found Hernandez with a fortuitous 2-yard TD. The ball bounced off Gronkowski and into the air, where a leaping Hernandez snagged it near the end line.

The Patriots' luck didn't last though.

Cleveland came back and used some chicanery to restore its 10-point lead on an 11-yard touchdown run by wideout Chansi Stuckey, as Browns offensive coordinator and former Patriots wide receivers coach Brian Daboll hoodwinked His Hoodiness.

The Browns lined up with kick returner Josh Cribbs under center. Stuckey was in a three-point stance behind the right guard. Cribbs took the snap and ran right while deftly sticking the ball in the belly of a stationary Stuckey, who ran the other way and put the Browns up 10 with 3:23 left in the half.

"It got me in practice," said Mangini. "I looked at, and said, 'What are we doing here?' Brian has done a really good job."

"It was a new play. They hadn't run it this year," said Belichick. "We had prepared for plays like that, but we obviously didn't prepare very well."

For Belichick and the Patriots it's a bit of unwanted humility. But they're still sitting at 6-2 halfway through their season.

Next stop, Pittsburgh.

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