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Tale of the tape
Posted by Albert Breer at 4:24 pm
The final tally from Sunday’s blowout (and be sure to scroll down for John’s story on the broken wrist of Ellis Hobbs):
– The Bengals’ biggest problem was what seemed to be a complete unwillingness to take what New England gave them. The Patriots didn’t bring much pressure until late, instead lining up their outside corners 8 yards off the ball and flooding the deep parts of the field with coverage. And leaving spaces underneath open. But instead of nickel-and-diming the Patriots to death, Carson Palmer continued to insist on going down the field and toward the sidelines. It’s no coincidence that Cincinnati’s biggest play of the day was a simple slant to T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who caught the ball over the top of Junior Seau and — with open field to work with — went 33 yards. Had they kept going underneath, and had Palmer been more accurate on intermediate throws, there may have been a lot more of that.
– It’s been said, but it’s worth mentioning again: outstanding, outstanding effort by the offensive line. With RT Ryan O’Callaghan shelved, Wesley Britt and Nick Kaczur split time and the group dominated. The running numbers (236 yards) make this team’s point-of-attack excellence obvious. But what may have been even better was the pass protection. There was not a single Bengal that came free into the pocket and adjustments made by Tom Brady and the line worked to perfection, which put the team in position to matchup, slide and change on the fly. Also, the play of the line allowed five receivers to release on plenty of plays, which put pressure on the coverage and enhanced the passing game. It’s worth noting that a pass pro check, keeping Kevin Faulk in to block as the Bengals rushed six, and the protection to follow set up Doug Gabriel’s 25-yard scoring catch in the second quarter.
– The coaches deserve to take a bow. First, there was little pattern to what they were doing defensively, mixing and match their base 3-4 with 4-2-5 and 3-3-5 nickel looks. And while the 3-4, generally, is going to be your best run defense away from the goal line, it actually was the nickel, four-man-front look that did the best job to stop Rudi Johnson. That may tell you just how good that defensive line really is.
– Confused about Laurence Maroney’s cold-then-hot couple weeks? Here’s something to watch. Maroney seems to be markedly better and ran more decisively when following a lead blocker, rather than running out of the Patriots’ balanced one-back set where he has to find the seam and go. To wit: his second-quarter touchdown run came out of the I, with Heath Evans leading him around the corner and to the end zone from 11 yards out. Then, on the first drive of the third quarter, it was Evans again leading Maroney into the teeth of the defense for 14 yards. On the team’s next drive, Maroney ripped off a 25-yard touchdown after Daniel Graham motioned from his H-back spot to lead for the tailback. And the drive after that, Graham again was motioned inside to lead Maroney, this time for a 41-yard gain. The rookie seems to be much more comfortable with a lead blocker, which he had most of the time at Minnesota, and that’s common for a rookie back. Adjusting to the speed of the game, it can help a first-year guy to have an escort to the hole instead of forcing him to find the seam on his own. On Sunday, it consistently got Maroney to the second level of the defense, where he’s just plain filthy.
– Maybe the biggest difference on Sunday was the Patriots’ overwhelming field position victory. The rundown on the starting points of the Patriots’ six scoring drives, five of them going for touchdowns: NE 17, CIN 42, NE 38, NE 6 (F.G.), CIN 13, CIN 29. After average drive starts of the opponents’ 24, 27 and 21, respectively, over the first three weeks, the Patriots’ average start on Sunday was at their own 35.
– That miss by K Stephen Gostkowski was Vanderjagt-level off. Not even close.