The New England Patriots take on the host Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday after dropping two in a row against the Texans and the Chiefs. This could be a completely different conversation if we would have found out that the Patriots coaching staff had any knowledge of the film crew that filmed the Bengals sideline a week ago. The team has since stated the film crew was for a team-made documentary called, “Do Your Job.” Logically, the Pats shouldn’t need any help beating the 1-12 Bengals.
The Bengals had their first win of the season two weeks ago against the Jets and are playing for pride at this point. The Patriots are still playing for home-field advantage in the playoffs but trail the 12-2 Baltimore Ravens. Nonetheless, the Bills are their only competition in the AFC East, and they should make the playoffs with ease. The Patriots are favored by 10 in this matchup, with an over/under of 41.5.
Ready To Begin Again
Coming down the stretch of the season, the Bengals look forward to the offseason, the draft, and next season. The Bengals have been out of sorts all season, from the lingering injury of AJ Green to the replacement of Andy Dalton for a few games midseason. They didn’t find any better luck behind the play of rookie Ryan Finley, who completed just 47 percent of his passes during his three-game stretch as the starter.
Dalton returned and was able to get a win over the Jets, but it’s one of his worst seasons as a starter. Dalton has 10 touchdowns to nine interceptions, and his QB rating is only 78.9. The highlights of the offense have been Joe Mixon and Tyler Boyd, as Mixon has over 1,000 yards from scrimmage while Boyd has racked up 856.
On To Cincinnati
Bill Belichek looks to erase the last two weeks from his memory, which is likely terrible news for the Bengals. The Pats defense is tops in the league even after suffering two straight losses. Opponents only score 12.9 points per game against them, and they give up only 264.8 yards per game, led by linebackers Kyle Van Noy, who paces the team with six sacks, and Jamie Collins, who has a team-high eight tackles for loss.
Offensively, the Patriots have been slow, but look to improve against a very bad Bengals defense. If Tom Brady can’t pick good defenses apart with his talent, he can surely still pick bad ones apart with his brain. Brady is a competitor, and with the playoffs coming up and much on the line late in the season, I have a feeling this is the game he gets it going again. I highly doubt he is done amazing all of us.
An Asterisk Win
A win is a win, asterisk or not. I’m sure that the film crew thing will get beat into the ground during the matchup on Sunday, but the Patriots don’t need a film crew to beat one of the worst teams in the league.
The Patriots are 7-6 against the spread on the season, but the Bengals are only 5-8. Cincinnati is only 1-5 at home against the line this year.
The Patriots get their offense going this week and tear up the Bengals. I’d bet hard on the Patriots and the over. The Pats may put up 40 on their own. Pick the Pats.
