On any given Sunday! The Patriots survived Cincinnati with a 26-20 win. They had to battle through ugly and inconsistent play by Drake Maye, who came out rusty and threw the ball all over the place. The Defense didn’t give up an opening drive TD but was able to hold the Bengals to 3 points. This wasn’t the high-scoring shootout that I expected.
The Injuries were the big story for the Patriots:
Jared Wilson went down early in the 1st Quarter with an Ankle issue.
Bendan Schooler went down early with an Ankle injury and didn’t return
Morgan Moses left for the Locker Room, but he did return- It was said to be an illness.
Khyiris Tonga went down with a Chest injury.
Will Campbell, who was rolled up and carted to the Locker Room. He was spotted with a full leg brace in the Locker Room.
Let’s not take away from the team winning 9 games in a row and 6 of 6 on the road. It’s hard to win in this league, especially on the road. This was a very costly win that will really test the Patriots depth to the limit!
Good
- Maye was awful in the 1st Quarter, missing his receivers and overthrowing Mack Hollins for an ugly pick-six. With that, he started the game going 3-of-7 for 16 yards and one interception. In the 1st Quarter, the Patriots had 21 yards of Offense. Then, suddenly, Maye is 9 for 14, and after a pick-six by Marcus Jones, Maye throws a TD to Hunter Henry, and the Pats are up 14-10.
- Maye threw for a new career high of 294 yards. He was 22/35 with a TD and INT. His QB rating was 87.1.
- The Defense really won this game. The Marcus Jones pick-six was amazing and such a big boost when they were down 10-0. Jones Pass Break-Up on 4th down sealed the game.
- Carlton Davis had a big Pass Interference call (questionable in my opinion as Higgins had his arm wrapped a round Davis) but bounced back with 3 Pass Break-Ups down the stretch in the 4th This was what Carlton Davis said, according to Doug Kyed – “That s**t was BS because he’s a bigger receiver, first and foremost, and he’s a physical receiver. And if you ever just watch his film, when he’s on a go ball, he’s constantly trying to create slight separation. So, I could turn around and play the ball, but once you turn around, that’s his s**t. As soon as you turn around, he’ll give you a little nudge, and now you’re out of range of the ball. So I just played through the hands, he was tugging, tugging, and I just — boom — played physical.” “And right now these referees and these teams, I know they’re going to the refs telling them to watch (me), to watch (me). And the refs talk to me all game. They’re talking to me all game. ‘You’re doing good. But watch this. Watch that.’ And just by that, I know somebody’s saying something because these refs are coming up to me. And I didn’t agree with that call at all.” On if that motivated him to make three pass backups on the final drive: “That s**t made me mad as f*9& because it was already (the) fourth quarter, and I felt like I put my team in a bad position when it was a BS call, and now they’re in field goal range and they’re inside the red zone. And then we give up a touchdown, so I’m just mad about it because I’m understanding the position and what all transpired since that (penalty) And so, that s**t really just lit a fire under me. Like, I promise you I’m not going to let this game slip out of our hands.” Davis led the team with 8 Tackles.
- Andy Borregales had the game of his short career with 4 Field Goals on 4 Attempts (41, 45, 52, and 19 yards) and 2 for 2 on Extra Points.
- Hunter Henry had the game of his career with 7 catches on 10 targets for 115 yards and a TD. He also had one TD called back.
- You have to give Joe Flacco credit. He came back in the game after messing up his index finger and he threw a 17 yard fade pass, an absolute dime in the bucket to Mitchell Tinsley on the next play. The Patriots held him to 19/37 for 183 yards, a TD and INT with a passer rating of 63.2.
Bad
- The Patriots only had 21 yards in Offense in the 1st Quarter and only had the ball for 4:21.
- You can’t talk about this game without touching on the number of injuries, some which could be serious. Credit to Vederian Lowe, Ben Brown and Marcus Bryant for stepping up and playing well.
- Both Maye’s and Flacco’s Pick-6 INTs were for 33-yards
- Evan McPherson kicking a 63-yard Field Goal was ridiculous. That was a new Cincinnati Franchise record. Coming into the game, McPherson was 1 in 4 kicks over 50 yards. He made another 54-yarder in the game.
- The Mitchell Tinsley TD was the 1st against Christian Gonzalez all season. In fairness, it was a perfectly thrown ball by Flacco.
Ugly
- The Patriots’ plays in the Red Zone were horrendous. They can’t seem to punch the ball in the end zone after they lose Campbell and Wilson. I thought the play selection was bad as well. When are we going to see a read option or Run/Pass Option play with Maye’s running ability? The Patriots were 0-2 in Goal-to-Goal situations. The 1st time, they came away with no points, and the 2nd time, they had 9 plays to punch it in and settled for a Field Goal.
- Mack Hollins’ Offensive Pass Interference on a pick play was totally unnecessary. Henry was open without the pick.
- Chase Brown ran for 107 yards on 19 carries for a 5.6 YPC. He was the 1st player in the league to run for a 100-yards against the Patriots this year.
- Did the Bengals jinx themselves with a pre-game post? The picture showed Tee Higgins Moss’ing Christian Gozalez for a TD. The problem is that it never happened. It was AI-generated, and the only time Gonzalez played against the Bengals, he was not wearing the uniform shown!
- Self-Inflicted Wounds – According to Greg Bedard, the Patriots left 10 points out on the field. He cited failure to get any point on a 1st and goal and then how they misplayed the end of the 1st half by allowing the Bengals to move down the field and kick a Field Goal. Bedard said that this game shouldn’t have been this close.
- The Patriots’ pass rush is anemic with only one sack today against a statue in Joe Flacco.
- Elijah Ponder and K’Lavon Chaisson had trouble holding the Edge, allowing Chase Brown to get around the edge for big gains.
Drake Maye Flowers of the Week
Maye is the 2nd youngest QB in NFL history to have 250 yards passing in 5 consecutive weeks.
Joe Burrows Rumor
There is an unsubstantiated rumor circulating around the net that the Bengals tried to activate Joe Burrows but they entered the transaction too late and were denied by the league. This could just be disgruntled fans, but if true, it would be the height of incompetency.
Campbell and Wilson Injuries Not as Serious as Initially Feared
Sources are reporting that Campbell and Wilson both have sprains. The actual extent isn’t yet known, with information hopefully becoming available in the coming days.
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Merrimack Valley native and lifelong fan of the New England Patriots. My earliest memories of the Patriots were attending as a child with my dad, the off-season practice at Phillips Academy. I was at the Patriots game at Harvard Stadium in 1970 where Bob “Harpo” Gladieux was called out of the stands by the stadium announcer over the PA to play in the game. Analyzing the draft since ESPN first started to televise it in 1980 and former writer for the Lowell Sun Newspaper.
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Good summary of a somewhat frustrating game to watch: Spot the other team points on their first drive; when in doubt, run the ball up the middle; fail to contain the edge; etc. One minor nitpick – you are right that Henry was open in the end zone and Hollins’ OPI was unnecessary. Thing is, Hollins wouldn’t have known that. He was just trying to make a play in the moment to help the team. Needs to work a bit on his acting skills, and replace the cheesy grin with a look of bewilderment.