{"id":44955,"date":"2022-12-23T10:32:42","date_gmt":"2022-12-23T15:32:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/?p=44955"},"modified":"2022-12-23T10:32:42","modified_gmt":"2022-12-23T15:32:42","slug":"game-preview-week-16-cincinnati-bengals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2022\/12\/23\/game-preview-week-16-cincinnati-bengals\/","title":{"rendered":"Game Preview Week 16 Cincinnati Bengals"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Patriots are facing one of the better teams in the NFL this week the Cincinnati Bengals.\u00a0 They are the defending AFC champions and narrowly lost the Super Bowl 23-20.\u00a0 Their Offense is ranked #10 and is one of the better units in the league.\u00a0 On Defense, they are ranked #16 giving up 226 passing yards a game while allowing the opposition to run for 100 yards a game. \u00a0\u00a0They are well-balanced on offense between the run and pass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nSTARTER<\/strong><\/td>\n2ND<\/strong><\/td>\n3RD<\/strong><\/td>\n4TH<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
QB<\/td>\nJoe Burrow<\/td>\nBrandon Allen<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RB<\/td>\nJoe Mixon<\/td>\nSamaje Perine<\/td>\nTrayveon Williams<\/td>\nChris Evans<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
WR<\/td>\nJa’Marr Chase<\/td>\nTrenton Irwin<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
WR<\/td>\nTee Higgins<\/td>\nTrent Taylor<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
WR<\/td>\nTyler Boyd<\/td>\nStanley Morgan<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
TE<\/td>\nHayden Hurst Q<\/td>\nMitchell Wilcox<\/td>\nDevin Asiasi<\/td>\nDrew Sample IR<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
LT<\/td>\nJonah\u00a0Williams<\/td>\nD’Ante\u00a0 Smith<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
LG<\/td>\nCordell Volson<\/td>\nJackson \u00a0Carman<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
C<\/td>\nTed Karras<\/td>\nTrey\u00a0Hill<\/td>\nBen\u00a0Brown<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RG<\/td>\nAlex Cappa<\/td>\nMax Scharping<\/td>\n<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RT<\/td>\nLa’el\u00a0Collins<\/td>\nHakeem Adeniji<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Quarterback<\/strong><\/p>\n

Joe Burrow has started since he was drafted #1 in 2020.\u00a0 He had a shaky rookie season with injuries.\u00a0 However, in his second season, he led the Bengals to the Super Bowl.\u00a0 This season he is having another fine season throwing for 3885 yards with a 61.1% completion percentage, 31 TDs to only 10 INTs.\u00a0 The Bengals have amassed a very good group of wide receivers as well as two running backs that can catch the ball.\u00a0 He was the comeback player of the year last season and was selected for his 1st<\/sup> Pro Bowl this season.\u00a0 Brandon Duc Allen is the backup.\u00a0 The 7-year veteran is a career backup with little playing experience.<\/p>\n

Running Back <\/strong><\/p>\n

The Bengals have two excellent running backs Joe Mixon and Samaje Perine.\u00a0 Mixon was near the top of the league in rushing last season and is also considered to be an excellent receiver out of the backfield.\u00a0 This season Mixon has 722 rushing yards on 183 attempts for a 3.94 average while scoring 6 TDs without a fumble.\u00a0 He missed two games with an injury and they have been bringing him back slowly.\u00a0\u00a0 Samaje Perine has filled in very nicely for Mixon.\u00a0 Perine is averaging 4.38 yards per rush for 373 yards and 2 TDs, with no fumbles.\u00a0 He has also chipped in 34 receptions for another 264 yards (7.74 average) and 4 TDs, no fumbles.\u00a0 The Bengals have a nice duo that can switch back and forth without any significant difference.\u00a0 Both are excellent receivers and there is no drop-off.\u00a0 Defenders can\u2019t tell what the Bengals will do based on the running back in the game.<\/p>\n

Receivers<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Bengals have the best trio of starting Wideouts in the league.\u00a0 Any one of them could be considered the #1 WR on the team.\u00a0 Both Jamar Chase and Tyler Boyd were selected for the Pro Bowl. \u00a0#2 receiver Tee Higgins was a snub.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nG<\/td>\nRec<\/td>\nTargets<\/td>\n%<\/td>\nTDs<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Chase<\/td>\n10<\/td>\n71<\/td>\n110<\/td>\n64.5<\/td>\n8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Higgins<\/td>\n14<\/td>\n65<\/td>\n91<\/td>\n71.4<\/td>\n6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Boyd<\/td>\n14<\/td>\n50<\/td>\n73<\/td>\n68.49<\/td>\n5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Jamarr Chase and Burrows were teammates at LSU.\u00a0 Chase was the Bengals’ 2021 1st-round\u00a0selection with the 5th<\/sup> pick in the draft.\u00a0 That\u2019s back-to-back dynamic players through the draft.\u00a0 He was named Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2021, 2nd<\/sup> Team Al-Pro, and selected to back-to-back Pro Bowls.<\/p>\n

Tee Higgins is no slouch either.\u00a0 He was selected with the 33rd<\/sup> pick, and 1st<\/sup> pick in the 2nd<\/sup> round in 2020 out of Clemson University.\u00a0 He helped the Tigers win the national Championship in 2019.\u00a0 He is a big strong receiver at 6\u20194\u201d and 219 lbs.\u00a0 He is not as fast as Chase, running a rather slow 4.59 40-yard dash at his Pro Day.<\/p>\n

Tyler Boyd would be the number one wide receiver on most teams in the NFL.\u00a0 \u00a0Boyd had a terrific college career at Pittsburgh where he caught 238 passes in just three seasons.\u00a0 He declared early for the draft and was selected by Cincinnati in the 2nd<\/sup> round (#65) of the 2016 draft.\u00a0 The 6\u20191, 197 lb. wideout has 425 catches for over 5,000 yards in his career with the Bengals.\u00a0 The Bengals want Boyd to crack the 1000-yard receiving yards mark so they can brag they have three in the same season.<\/p>\n

Tight Ends <\/strong><\/p>\n

Hayden Hurst is listed as Questionable.\u00a0 If he can\u2019t go that will hurt their running game.\u00a0 Hurst is an excellent blocker.\u00a0 Devin Asiasi would be next in line.\u00a0 The Patriots’ 2020 3rd-round\u00a0pick (#91), couldn\u2019t make it with the team but was claimed off waivers when he was waived at the final cuts this season.<\/p>\n

Offensive Line<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was the goal of the Bengals to rebuild their Offensive Line this year.\u00a0 They started by adding former Patriot Ted Karras.\u00a0 It was a huge mistake by the Patriots’ front office not to resign Karras over a measly 1 million.\u00a0 They went out spent like drunken sailors to sign mediocre free agents from other teams but for 1 million they couldn\u2019t sign a steady, reliable player they had developed from a late-round draft pick (6th<\/sup> Rd, pick 221) in 2016.\u00a0 They should have paid him and let him start at LG while Cole Strange became acclimated to the NFL.\u00a0 He would also serve as a backup to David Andrews at C.\u00a0 When Andrews has been out, the Patriots are a different team.\u00a0 Karras is the starting Center for the Bengals.\u00a0 \u00a0Jonah Williams is the 2019 1st-round pick (#11) out of Alabama and is set to be the anchor of the Oline at LT for years to come.\u00a0 Cordell Volson is a 2022 4th-round pick out of North Dakota St.\u00a0 At 6\u20196\u201d and 315 lbs many had him projected for LT.\u00a0 He has moved inside and played well.\u00a0 They also signed Alex Cappa a former 3rd<\/sup> round pick in 2018 at RG away from the Tampa Bay Bucs.\u00a0 In another shrewd move, they added La’el Collins from the Cowboys at RT.\u00a0 Collins was a terrific college Tackle playing for LSU.\u00a0 He was the top O-lineman from the SEC and was expected to be drafted in the top 10.\u00a0 However, days before the draft it came to light that he was a suspect in the murder of an ex-girlfriend.\u00a0 No team drafted him in the 2015 draft.\u00a0 The Cowboys took a chance on him as an undrafted free agent and had him as a starter for 6 years.\u00a0 They released him on March 17th, <\/sup>2022 and he was signed 5 days later by the Bengals.\u00a0 Just like that the Bengals had a completely new offensive line.<\/p>\n

Defense<\/strong><\/p>\n

Base 4-3<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nSTARTER<\/strong><\/td>\n2ND<\/strong><\/td>\n3RD<\/strong><\/td>\n4TH<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
LDE<\/td>\nSam\u00a0Hubbard O<\/td>\nCam\u00a0Sample<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
LDT<\/td>\nDJ Reader<\/td>\nJosh Tupou<\/td>\nZach\u00a0Carter<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RDT<\/td>\nBJ\u00a0Hill<\/td>\nZach\u00a0Carter<\/td>\nJay Tufele\u00a0Q<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RDE<\/td>\nTrey Hendrickson<\/td>\nJoseph Ossai<\/td>\nJeff\u00a0Gunter<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
WLB<\/td>\nLogan Wilson<\/td>\nJoe Bachie<\/td>\nClay Johnston<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
MLB<\/td>\nGermaine Pratt<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SLB<\/td>\nAkeem\u00a0Davis-Gaither<\/td>\nMarkus\u00a0Bailey<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
LCB<\/td>\nEli Apple\u00a0Q<\/td>\nMike\u00a0Hutton<\/td>\nJalen\u00a0Davis Q<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SS<\/td>\nVonn\u00a0Bell<\/td>\nMichael Thomas<\/td>\nBrandon\u00a0Wilson O<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
FS<\/td>\nJessie\u00a0Bates III<\/td>\nDax\u00a0Hill<\/td>\nTycen\u00a0Anderson IR<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RCB<\/td>\nCam\u00a0Taylor – Britt Q<\/td>\nTre\u00a0Flowers<\/td>\nChidobe Awuzie\u00a0IR<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Defensive Line <\/strong><\/p>\n

Starting LDE Sam Hubbard has been ruled Out for Saturday\u2019s game.\u00a0 Cam Sample will be taking his place.\u00a0 RDE Trey Hendrickson will be playing with a broken wrist.\u00a0 Sample only has 16 tackles on the season.\u00a0 Hendrickson has 29 tackles but how effective will he be? DT BJ Hill is the leading tackler on the line with 60 tackles.\u00a0 DJ Reader chips in with 22 and Zach Carter has 19.\u00a0 Jay Tufele is Questionable and missed Thursday’s practice with an undisclosed illness.\u00a0 Hubbard and Hendrickson are the sack leaders with 6.5 and 6 sacks respectively.\u00a0 I can\u2019t see how effective Hendrickson is going to be and Hubbard is out.<\/p>\n

Linebackers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Logan Wilson leads the Defense in tackles with 106 so far this season.\u00a0 Germaine Pratt is 2nd<\/sup> on the team with 92.\u00a0 Gaither added 42 tackles making this trio a formidable match.\u00a0 The Bengals don\u2019t get much in the way of QB pressure from this group as they only have 2.5 sacks among the three LB.<\/p>\n

Secondary<\/strong><\/p>\n

Safety Vonn Bell is a player.\u00a0 He has 67 tackles and is 3rd on the team.\u00a0 He also leads the secondary with 4 INTs.\u00a0 Jessie Bates the other safety has three INTs to go along with 59 tackles.\u00a0 LCB Eli Apple has 43 tackles and 7 pass breakups but no INTs. Cam Taylor-Britt has 42 tackles in just 8 games.\u00a0 We will probably see Trey Flowers as a slot corner.<\/p>\n

Special Teams\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nSTARTER<\/strong><\/td>\n2ND<\/strong><\/td>\n3RD<\/strong><\/td>\n4TH<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
PK<\/td>\nEvan McPherson<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
P<\/td>\nDrue Chrisman<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
H<\/td>\nDrue Chrisman<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
PR<\/td>\nTrent Taylor<\/td>\nTyler Boyd<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
KR<\/td>\nChris Evans<\/td>\nTrent Taylor<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
LS<\/td>\nCal\u00a0Adomitis<\/td>\nClark Harris IR<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The Bengals’ special teams can only be described as poor.\u00a0 Kickoff Return man Chris Evans is ranked 37th<\/sup> in the league.\u00a0 Punt Returner Trent Taylor is ranked 4th<\/sup> with a 10.46 return average. Punter Drue Chrisman has only kicked for the last 5 weeks and is unranked with a 47-yard average.\u00a0 Evan McPherson has been inconsistent and ranked 19th<\/sup> in the league.\u00a0 Good luck with the winds and cold in Gillette Stadium on Christmas Eve.<\/p>\n

Game Analysis<\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t like the potential matchup of Boyd against Shaun Wade.\u00a0 With Mills already ruled out, and Jonathan Jones and Jack Jones both listed as Questionable, the Wade vs Boyd matchup would be disastrous.\u00a0 Look for the Patriots to play a tremendous amount of zone defense in the secondary with the minimal 4-man pass rush.<\/p>\n

The Patriots have a big advantage in special teams.\u00a0 Long Snapper Joe Cardona has been ruled out and I am hearing he will be put on IR and miss the remainder of the season with a tendon issue in his foot.\u00a0 Tucker Addington was added to the Practice Squad and will likely be added to the roster.<\/p>\n

The weather may play a big part in determining the winner.\u00a0 If either team can establish a running game, that will go a long way to determining the winner.<\/p>\n

High temp in the mid-\u201920s with high wind.<\/p>\n

Pro Bowl Congratulations \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Matt Judon was selected to his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl as he leads the AFC in sacks.\u00a0 Very disappointed the Patriots had no other representatives.\u00a0 I thought Marcus Jones clearly was the best Return Specialist over Devin Duvernay.\u00a0 Jones was 2nd<\/sup> in Punt Returns and 6th<\/sup> in Kickoff Returns.\u00a0 Duvernay was 16th<\/sup> in Punt Returns and 20th<\/sup> in Kickoff Returns.\u00a0 They both score a special team TD.\u00a0\u00a0 Brennen Schooler is tied with 5 other AFC players with 13 special teams tackles and they give the Pro Bowl nod to Justin Hardee.<\/p>\n

Former Patriot Joe Thuney was selected to his 1st Pro Bowl.\u00a0 Well deserved, after being selected 2nd team All-Pro last season.\u00a0 We should never have let him go.\u00a0 He is the type of player you build your offensive line around.<\/p>\n

Morse\u2019s Morsels \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Have the Patriots players turned off Bill Belichick?\u00a0 They are making uncharacteristic bad decisions and mistakes.\u00a0 Do you think that Bill Belichick is not emphasizing the little things and not preparing them for every situation?\u00a0 \u00a0Do your job!\u00a0 That\u2019s all, it\u2019s that simple.\u00a0 Control what you can control and don\u2019t try and do too much!\u00a0 Don\u2019t overthink it.\u00a0 The team has good leaders on it like Devin McCourty and Matthew Slater.\u00a0 Somehow the Belichick message has not gotten through to the players.<\/p>\n

According to Matthew Slater, last week’s blocked punt was not the players’ fault but the officials.\u00a0 Jabrill Peppers was engaged with the Referee to have the 25-second play clock re-set because players have been switched (the entire punt team came on).\u00a0 Joe Cardona, seeing the play clock through his legs as he is set to long snap, snaps the ball because he sees the play clock coming down to 1.\u00a0 The official told Peppers they were resetting the clock.\u00a0 What the official should have done was blow the play dead and reset everything.<\/p>\n

The number of pre-snap penalties, without the benefit of starting a play is unacceptable.\u00a0 Brown and McDermott were guilty of this.\u00a0 We had a TD called back because Jonnu Smith was not lined up on the line.\u00a0 He was moving up when the ball was snapped.\u00a0 \u00a0That is a High School move.\u00a0 Smith knows where he is supposed to line up.\u00a0 That cost the team the game!\u00a0 They kicked an FG rather than have the TD and those 4 points are the difference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Patriots are facing one of the better teams in the NFL this week the Cincinnati Bengals.\u00a0 They are the defending AFC champions and narrowly lost the Super Bowl 23-20.\u00a0 Their Offense is ranked #10 and is one of the better units in the league.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":41676,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_pfeai_meta_description":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[10],"tags":[22815,23207],"class_list":["post-44955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-patriots-news","tag-2022-patriots-season","tag-patriots-vs-bengals"],"yoast_head":"\nGame Preview Week 16 Cincinnati Bengals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Patriots are facing one of the better teams in the NFL this week the Cincinnati Bengals.\u00a0 They are the defending AFC champions and narrowly lost the 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