Monday night had to feel like rock bottom for the New England Patriots (2-2) and their fans. It was thought that the offense would get better after all the inconsistency the first three games, but the Kansas City Chiefs not only dominated the Patriots in their 41-14 win at Arrowhead Stadium, but all aspects of the game. Tom Brady threw for 159 yards and one touchdown and threw two interceptions in the second half. Brady was pulled from the game after a pick-six for Jimmy Garappolo, who threw his first NFL touchdown to Rob Gronkowski.
The defense did not fare well either, giving up a multitude of big plays, including 199 rushing yards and a touchdown to Jamaal Charles and Knile Davis. Plus, Chiefs’ quarterback Alex Smith went 20-of-26 for 248 yards and three touchdowns in the blowout. For New England, going 2-2 in what was considered the easy part of the 2014 schedule didn’t help when you consider their next opponent, the Cincinnati Bengals, is one of only two remaining undefeated teams in the NFL (Arizona Cardinals the other).
The Bengals have been one of the more impressive teams in the AFC up to this point. After losing in the Wild Card round in each of the last three seasons, the Bengals are looking to make a statement this season and advance past those expectations. The Bengals’ offense is top ten in the NFL in points and yards per game with quarterback Andy Dalton completing 65% of his passes thru three games. Even with defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer now coaching the Vikings, Marvin Lewis’ defense has been outstanding, giving up only 11 points per game (leading the NFL). This is the same Bengals’ defense that held Tom Brady to no touchdown passes in their regular season meeting last year.
Here are my three keys to Sunday’s Bengals-Patriots matchup (8:30 PM ET, NBC):
1. For Cincy, it’s easy being Green: For the most part, Darrelle Revis has not been what fans expected thru the first four games. He gets his first elite test on Sunday night against elite Bengals’ wide receiver A.J. Green. Green, who has been a 1,000 yard receiver and caught 11 touchdowns in back-to-back seasons is off to a great start in 2014. Despite suffering a toe injury in Week 2 vs. Atlanta, Green has six eaches in his two games this season for 100+ yards and a touchdown. Out of his 12 catches, he averages over 19 yards per catch. The one thing you have to like about this Bengals’ pass attack is Andy Dalton spreading the ball out with Green, Mohamed Sanu, and running back GIovani Bernard all having 12 catches. If Revis can at least contain Green, that will allow Logan Ryan or Brandon Browner (making his debut Sunday night) to be able to matchup against the other receivers and make Dalton throw to his secondary targets.
2. Bengals Barricading The Pocket: Last season, the Bengals were top ten in the league in sacks with 43. This season, the sacks have not come in bunches for Cincinnati with seven sacks in the first three games, two fewer than the Patriots. The main reason behind the seven sacks is three of them have come from defensive end Carlos Dunlap. The fifth-year defensive end out of Florida has three sacks, one occurring in each game. Last season, Dunlap had 7.5 sacks, which was tied with Wallace Gilberry for the most on the team. While Cincy doesn’t have the sacks, they do have six interceptions on the season, two by George Iloka in their Week 2 win over the Falcons.
3. Balance For Belichick’s Offense: Last week, as mentioned before, the Patriots made two of their receivers in active and going mainly with running backs in the personnel, such as activating rookie James White. However, despite the personnel alignment, the Patriots came out of the gates throwing the football. While the offensive line’s issues against pass protection have been well documented, another problem the team has is they can’t run the football. The team’s 97.5 rushing yards per game is 23rd in the NFL and Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen managed just 54 yards on 13 carries Monday night.
Vereen did have five catches, but the one problem you notice in his run game is he hesitates instead of going north-to-south. If the Patriots want to help Brady out, they need to establish a ground game or the hits to the quarterback will keep coming. Yes, the receivers aren’t exactly the best in terms of talent, but having a decent run game will at least keep the defense honest.
PREDICTION
It’s not a must win for the Patriots, but, in my opinion, it is pretty close. After the embarrassing performance the team had on Monday night, they get a chance to right that wrong Sunday night. While I do think New England will have a much better effort in this game, the Bengals have too many weapons on offense. If New England doesn’t let Revis play man-to-man, they can’t generate a pass rush, which will allow Andy Dalton to have a field day in the pocket. The other factor in this game is running back Giovani Bernard (185 rushing yards, three touchdowns). Bernard can make defenders miss tackles in space and turn a short gain into 15-20 yards. Cincy also is +6 in the turnover margin, which leads the NFL. The Patriots’ offense doesn’t have any momentum right now and I expect that to continue for Brady and company this week. Cincinnati gets a statement win on the road to remain undefeated.
BENGALS 30 PATRIOTS 17
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
