The Bengals decided not to activate Joe Burrow ahead of the deadline on Saturday. That left the offense in the hands of veteran Joe Flacco, who was still dealing with a lingering shoulder injury. With no Ja’Marr Chase, it fell on Tee Higgins to step into the mantle of WR1.
And of course, no matter who was on the field for Cincinnati’s offense, the real issue was whether the defense would prove any impediment to Drake Maye and a very dynamic Patriots attack via the air and on the ground. But without doubt they did what was asked of them today.
It was a brutally close game and Bengals fans should be proud of the effort their team showed. Yes it was another loss but Cincinnati did not roll over, they battled injuries and sluggish play, and still nearly came out on top.
The Bengals Defense Starts Hot But Old Mistakes Still Haunt
The Bengals defense started off well, forcing a Patriots punt after just six plays and even saw Kris Jenkins get good pressure on Maye to force a third down incompletion.
The Bengals then put together a nice drive behind good receptions by Mike Gessicki although it stalled after a Tee Higgins drop on third down. It was great to see Money Mac nail one from deep, as his 54-yard field goal put Cincinnati up 3-0. Flacco looked sharp and accurate early on, even with the nagging injury to deal with.
Al Golden brought a few blitzes when the Patriots got the ball back. The pressure seemed to rattle Maye even if it didn’t result in a sack. It did result in a three and out and a second straight New England punt, and it was clear that the Bengals defense was feeding off the energy of those stops early on.
Zac Taylor leaned on the running game and short passes as Chase Brown and Flacco drove down the field after that punt. It kept a good balance but Flacco floated a third down pass to Gessicki that was just out of his reach. Cincinnati went for it on fourth down and in a crafty move Flacco drew New England offsides to keep the drive alive. They could not capitalize though after giving up a sack to Patriots linebacker Harold Landry and they were forced to punt.
The Bengals defense wasted no time in continuing their hot start. In the first play from scrimmage, Drake Maye overthrew his intended receiver. Geno Stone plucked it out of the air in stride and scampered to the end zone from 33 yards out to take a shocking 10-0 lead. It was the best start Al Golden’s unit had, perhaps for the entire season. And early on, New England’s young quarterback looked extremely uncomfortable throwing the football.
But it didn’t last long unfortunately. On the next series Drake Maye completed four passes, including a 28 yard dart to a wide open Hunter Henry. After two great series the defense showed its weaknesses and made yet another critical coverage mistake at the safety position resulting in a score.
The mistakes continued almost immediately as Joe Flacco telegraphed a pass in the flat to Chase Brown. He simply never saw the Patriots’ Marcus Jones who easily intercepted it and ran unchallenged into the end zone for one of the easiest pick sixes you might ever see.
As so often has been the case this season, the Patriots were keenly aware of the deficiencies Cincinnati has at linebacker and in the middle of the field. They continually found open tight ends for easy completions as they marched down the field in the waning minutes of the first half. However the defense managed to hold and held New England to a field goal and what they thought was a 17-10 halftime lead.
But NOT SO FAST!
Joe Flacco was able to string together some completions, including to Tee Higgins as the clock ticked under five seconds. That all set the stage for Evan McPherson who teed up, and blasted through a 63-yards field goal that might have been good from Covington. It was a huge morale and momentum boost, and it was nice to see him nail such a long kick after his struggles early this year.
The Second Half Comeback That Almost Was
The Bengals offense did not capitalize on that momentum, going three and out to start the third. On the ensuing New England drive, two bad penalties by Dax Hill in coverage helped the Patriots get into the red zone. However, after a series of solid stops and a few further penalties, a massive stop on fourth down by the Bengals defense stuffed New England and forced a turnover on downs.
But even with that sudden change, the offense could not put a sustained drive together nor could they get out of Bengals territory. They managed just a single first down before punting.
Dax Hill continued to be abused on the next drive, getting beat and penalized on a catch by Hollins. Thankfully a sack by Jalen Davis pushed the Patriots back and they settled for another field goal to go up by just a touchdown.
Another long New England drive that resulted in a field goal, the Bengals took the field down 23-13. Tee Higgins had a scary injury in the fourth and was carted off with what looked like a concussion. It was then that Joe Flacco was able to make his best pass of the day. He dropped a nasty dime to Mitchell Tinsley to cut the deficit to just a field goal. And he did it with yet another injury, this time to his throwing hand.
This hasn’t been the first game that the Cincinnati defense has been called upon to get a big stop to give the team a chance. They forced New England into crucial third downs and managed to get a stop on one of them. Borregales smacked through a 52 yard field goal and it all came down to one last Bengals offensive possession.
Joe Flacco did his best on that drive, he had four completions and got Cincinnati to the Patriots 26. But on fourth down he shot a pass to Mike Gesicki but it fell incomplete. It looked as though there was a great case for defensive pass interference, and all of the fans at Paycor saw it that way as well. Unfortunately the officiating crew disagreed and that was all she wrote.
The Bengals Defense Did Its Job
The league’s worst defense had an uphill battle in trying to stop Drake Maye and the Patriots offense. Although New England had almost 400 yards of total offense, the Bengals secondary and defensive line had situations where they stepped up and made plays we have only rarely seen this season.
They held TreVeyon Henderson to just 66 yards on 18 carries for a 3.7 YPC average. They also kept him out of the endzone. New England’s offense managed just 19 points, their fewest in recent memory.
They could have easily quit on the season and opened the floodgates in a huge loss. But they scraped together a pick six, a sacks and some solid defensive plays. They also limited Stefon Diggs to just two catches. Put simply, Al Golden’s boys did what was asked of them and answered the call.
The Offense Started Slow And Couldn’t Quite Recover
The Bengals offense didn’t score a touchdown until the fourth quarter. For most of the game Joe Flacco couldn’t get much going, despite some success running the ball with Chase Brown. He finished with 107 yards on 19 rushes, that was just his second time eclipsing the century mark.
Joe Flacco struggled again at times after a lackluster game against the Steelers last week. He finished 19/37 for just 183 yards and his own pick-six really hurt. But like the warrior he is he engineered a drive to get the Bengals back into it and nearly managed to win it in the fourth quarter. Given his limitations and the fact that he was down his top two receivers he still deserves a lot of credit for what he was able to grit out.
Where Do The Bengals Go From Here?
Could Joe Burrow have won this game? The hypothetical question may haunt Bengals fans for a while but the reality is that we will never know. What we do know is that Burrow is likely poised for a Thanksgiving day return against Baltimore on the road. The team is 3-8 and any meaningful hope of success this year is all but lost. The return of Joe Burrow may be a morale boost but after today there’s a real question as to what he could realistically accomplish to help this team given their current situation.
It’s officially mock draft season in Cincinnati but at least today was an effort we can build off of and be somewhat proud of.
