GEORGE: Patriots Survive Mistakes And Injuries To Conquer Bengals

CINCINNATI – Earlier this season, Mike Vrabel said that the Patriots need to stop learning how to correct mistakes during games.

It happened again on Sunday at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati.

The Patriots played as much sloppy and imperfect football as they played snappy and efficient football. Despite playing against the worst defense in the NFL, the Patriots survived a tough battle with the Bengals, winning 26-20. The Patriots overcame a basically lousy first quarter, caught and passed the Bengals, then nearly frittered away the game in the fourth quarter with a bad defensive possession followed by a good offensive possession that regrettably ended with a 19-yard field goal.

Drake Maye threw a pick-six which highlighted perhaps his worst stretch as a pro quarterback. The Patriots spent about half of the third quarter inside the Bengals’ five-yard line and failed to score. The Bengals had a fourth down and 5 in the first quarter and tried to get the Patriots to jump offside, and K’Lavon Chaisson gladly obliged them. Leading by ten points in the fourth quarter, the Patriots’ defense gave up 71 yards in four plays to make the score 23-20 Patriots.

To make things worse, three of the starting offensive linemen for the Patriots left the game with injuries. Morgan Moses managed to return, but Will Campbell and Jared Wilson did not. Campbell looked like he hurt his knee, so all of Patriot Nation will hold its breath until we find out how bad it was.

Cincinnati will not listen to your whining. They were still without quarterback Joe Burrow. JaMarr Chase was out serving a one-game suspension. They also suffered a ton of injuries during the game, including their other talented receiver, Tee Higgins.

But the Patriots found a way to win in the end. On the Bengals’ final drive of the game, they stuffed Joe Flacco and the Bengals’ passing game when they needed to. They allowed Cincinnati to drive to the Patriot 26 26-yard line before a spike and three incomplete passes sealed the win. Carlton Davis was responsible for two of the incompletions, while Marcus Jones and Chaisson smothered former Patriot tight end Mike Gesicki for the final dagger.

As the game opened, Maye looked nothing like the great quarterback he is becoming. He misfired on a lot of his throws, the most damaging being a left flat toss to Hunter Henry, which was intercepted by Geno Stone. Maye completely overthrew Henry, and Stone returned it 33 yards down the right sideline, which gave the Bengals a 10-0 lead at the time. Up to this point in the game, Maye looked nervous, unsettled and perhaps even rusty as the Patriots hadn’t played in a week and a half.

Josh McDaniels had his work cut out for him, but on the next possession, he helped settle down Maye with a steady diet of runs by TreVeyon Henderson and Rhamondre Stevenson, returning from his toe injury. Henry covered the final 42 yards, including a 28-yard touchdown pass where he was completely wide open down the left sideline and could have walked into the end zone. Maye was better from this point forward, but despite his decent passing yardage total, he never really looked like what he has shown all of us so far this season.

Perhaps the most puzzling element of this game is that the Bengals had a good game defensively despite being ranked 32nd in the league in total defense. Earlier this season, they became the first team in NFL history to score 38 or more points in two consecutive games yet lose both games. The Patriots still managed 397 total yards of offense, but the game still came down to the final play.

The offensive line now becomes a concern for the Patriots. Campbell has thrived in the NFL despite his supposed short arms. He has received a ton of support and help from his veteran teammates. Mike Vrabel has been pleased with his progress at left tackle. The Patriots are going to have to hope that his knee is sprained at worst and he did not suffer any ligament damage. Wilson has not had the season Campbell has had, but reports mostly express positive reviews for Wilson’s development.

Another concern might be red zone offense. In the third quarter, the Patriots stuffed the Bengals three and out to begin, then took over on their own 10-yard line after a punt. They drove all the way to the Natti 5-yard line, thanks largely to Pop Douglas covering 51 yards on two consecutive plays, then a 35-yard pass interference call on Daxton Hill while defending Kayshon Boutte (also back from injury).

The Patriots ran nine plays once they reached the five-yard line. Three plays later, Henderson caught a pass at the one. Vrabel went for it on fourth and goal at the one, and Hill was called for interference on Mack Hollins. Fresh set of downs at the 18-inch line. Maye lofted a perfect toss to Henry for a tuddie, but Hollins was called for a pick on Hill. They were backed up ten yards, but Henry got the penalty yards right back on a shovel pass. On third and fourth downs they ran Stevenson up the middle. Both times he ran into a brick wall and Cincinnati took over on downs. All that and no points to show for it. Going for it twice on fourth down was not the issue. The inability to score a touchdown was. Later in the game, once again faced with a fourth and goal at the one, Vrabel asked for and got a 19-yard field goal by Andres Borregales.

Henry basically saved the day for Maye. He finished with seven catches for 115 yards and a touchdown. Maye loves his tight ends, as Austin Hooper was next with three catches for 39 yards. Maye finished with 22 of 35 passing for 294 yards, one touchdown and a rating of 87.1. Henderson led the Patriot rushers with 66 yards and a 3.7 per carry average.

Flacco, in likely his last relief role, was 19 of 37 for 183 yards, one touchdown and one interception. His rating was 63.2. Ironically, Flacco also threw a pick-six, as he tried to hit Tahj Brooks in the right flat in the second quarter and Marcus Jones jumped the route perfectly. He took it 33 yards untouched for a touchdown, which gave the Patriots a 14-10 lead that they never relinquished. Oddly, both pick-sixes were returned for 33 yards.

The Bengals’ ground game was effective, as Chase Brown had 107 yards on 19 carries and a 5.6 yards per carry.

The Patriots are at home a week from Monday night against the Giants, then they get their bye week. That will allow the Patriots to rest up for the final stretch run. Hopefully, games like this will remind the Patriots that they have to play just as well against the bad teams as well as the good teams, and when the good teams come along, they will be even better because of it.

Bengals fans love to yell “Who dey?” In the end, the Patriots got to say “We dey!”

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About Bob George

Covering Boston Sports since 1997. Native of Worcester, Mass. Attended UMass and Univ of Michigan. Lives in California. Just recently retired after 40 years of public school teaching. Podcasts on YouTube at @thepic4139

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JimK

8 months ago

Cincy’s D played a decent game last week vs Pitt and came to play yesterday. It’s the NFL. The Pats are receding a bit. They looked the weaker team a lot. Maybe tired. Long season. Youngest team in NFL. Lot of rookies and second year guys starting. Can they regroup is a good question. Bottom line however is at 10-2 they’ve over-achieved. I just hope they don’t unravel fully and ‘un-do’ what we’ve seen, which is a huge jump. Regards Vedarian Lowe and some people will bash him, they guy played hurt last year, and he isn’t now. Last year… Read more »