Tom Brady is coming home. The beginning of the season the magnifying glass was on the defense and seeing if they could be the winning force on the team. Now, we turn to the consistently top tier offense, headed by the Legendary QB, as well as an impossibly intimidating TE duo of Gronk and Bennett. After righting the ship against The Brownies, New England has a real test against a legitimate AFC team.
Here’s everything you need to know about The Bengals, aka, “The Red Heads”
Week 6 vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Sunday, October 16
1pm EST, CBS
Sunny, 60’s, 7mph winds
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Opponent/Patriots Stats:
Bengals: 2-3
Notable Games: Week 5, the Bengals lost to Dak Prescott and the Romo-less Cowboys 28-14. They also lost to two other legitimate contenders, the Denver Broncos and the Pittsburgh Steelers by 12 and 8 points, respectively.
Common Opponents: Miami Dolphins (NE and CIN won)
Recent Games vs. Pats: Two years ago in Week 5, New England famously came back after their brutal loss versus Kansas City and tore the Bengals a new one in a 43-17 win. This game is most notable for BB’s signature media response, “We’re onto Cincinnati.”
Notable Players:
Andy Dalton QB: 126/187 (67% completion), 1,503 yds, 5 TDs, 2 INTs
Jeremy Hill RB: 62 car, 233 yes (3.8 avg), 3 TDs, 3 rec, 37 yds (12.3 avg)
Giovanni Bernard RB: 34 car, 118 yds (3.5 avg), 25 rec, 211 yds (8.4 avg), 1 TD, 1 fumble
AJ Green WR: 36 rec, 518 yds (14.4 avg), 2 TDs
Geno Atkins DT: 11 tackles, 2.5 sacks
Vontaze Burfict LB: 13 tackles, 1 pass defended
Injury Alerts:
Patriots:
Brandon Bolden injured his knee against the Bills in Week 4 and was inactive last week at Cleveland. It sounds like his injury might keep him out for a few weeks although it isn’t looking season ending. Keep an eye on his name this week on the injury report.
Shea McClellan had a concussion and was inactive versus the Browns. Concussions can be tricky to predict but players generally spend around one week in The Concussion Protocol. We’ll see if he is cleared to practice this week. Eland Roberts played well in his place bringing a strong physical edge at the position.
Vincent Valentine is dealing with a back injury from Buffalo and was inactive versus the Browns also. He’s a name we’ll see on the injury report this week and he’ll probably end up being a game time decision.
Marcus Cannon was a game time decision last week as he was seen in full pads going through a workout to determine if he could go for Cleveland. It’s a good sign to see that he traveled with the team that week and tried to go. This week looks to be a little more likely he’ll be a go. Cameron Fleming had a decent game as his replacement although I’d like to get Cannon back in sooner rather than later.
Bengals:
Tyler Eifert infamously injured his ankle in the 2015 Pro Bowl and vowed to never play in it again. Then, he suffered a back injury setting his time table back even further. There has been some optimism that he could play this week against New England, as tweeted by Adam Schefter of ESPN. Eifert didn’t even make the trip to Dallas last week so even if he plays, it is fair to be skeptical of how effective Eifert will be.
Jeremy Hill was dealing with a chest injury before the start of the game versus the Cowboys last week and he left during the 3rd quarter after the injury was aggravated. Gio Bernard started last week despite Hill being active so it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Bengals lean on Hill again.
Key Matchups:
Patriots:
vs. WR1: 20th —–Logan Ryan vs. AJ Green
vs. WR2: 19th—– Malcolm Butler vs. Brandon LaFell
vs. other WR: 12th —– Cyrus Jones vs. James Wright
vs. RB: 13th —– Jamie Collins vs. Gio Bernard
Bengals:
vs. WR1: 3rd —– vs. Julian Edelman vs. Dre Kirkpatrick
vs. WR2: 20th—– Chris Hogan vs. Adam (Pacman) Jones
vs. TE: 16th —– Rob Gronkowski vs. George Iloka
vs. RB: 24th —– James White vs. Rey Maualuga
What’s at Stake?
The Bengals will be in the mix for a Wildcard spot in the playoffs as they usually are. The AFC elites have proven to be New England, Pittsburgh, and Denver right now. The battle for a playoff bye will be a tight one so every conference contest will count. A win here could be the difference between a week off in the playoffs, or not.
Early Thoughts:
The Bengals are not as intimidating a team as they were last year and the year before. Tyler Eifert is a great TE and having him out is a huge blow to their offense. Andy Dalton is always shamed as a below average QB in this league, when really, his only fault is being a ginger. Dalton has proven time and time again to be a valuable player in this league. I see him as a top 15 QB and a threat to win a game. AJ Green has the ability to ruin a game on every snap. Expect to see Logan Ryan on him with a little safety help over the top. This will be a good test of the Patriots Defense but I see them rising to the challenge.
