For a while, the Cincinnati Bengals looked like they had a chance against the New England Patriots.
Then Andy Dalton decided to throw at Stephon Gilmore.
Things were OK for Cincy after Gilmore picked off the pass to open the second half. Sure, the Patriots took a 20-10 lead, but the Bengals were still in it.
Then Andy Dalton decided to throw at Stephon Gilmore again.
As Gilmore streaked uncontested down the sideline and smiled calmly in the end zone in front of a shellshocked Cincinnati fanbase, the worries of the week started to fade.
Yes, the Patriots are still embroiled in a videotaping scandal, with the video coming out less than an hour before kickoff. The run defense has problems, too. The offense? It got better. Sort of.
But at the end of the day, the Patriots can still make opposing quarterbacks implode. For Sunday, that was enough. We’ll see how that works come playoff time.
Speaking of which...
1. The Patriots have clinched a playoff spot - finally
This team has been on the cusp of clinching a playoff spot for a few weeks now. However, back-to-back losses to the Texans and Chiefs held off what had seemed like an inevitable outcome. But after slamming the door on the Bengals in the second half, the Patriots are 11-3 and have clinched a postseason berth.
From this point, it’s all matter of playoff seeding. Right now, the Patriots are the No. 2 seed.
The Ravens are almost assured to lock up the No. 1 seed at this point, sitting at 12-2 with a head-to-head tiebreaker over New England. The Chiefs won this weekend and have the tiebreaker over the Patriots as well, but are a game behind at 10-4.
The Bills, who play Sunday night, are still in the chase for the AFC East, sitting at 9-4. The Patriots-Bills Week 16 matchup at Gillette Stadium will be huge.
2. We’re finally starting to see what N’Keal Harry can do
After playing just two snaps last week, Harry got a heavier workload against the Bengals, both as a pass catcher and taking handoffs.
Harry’s best play of the game was probably the one that didn’t count. Harry made a brilliant diving catch, darting up on a go route on third down. However, the play was wiped out due to a false start. But on the ensuing play, Harry came back and made a contested catch at the first-down marker to move the chains.
Harry was also instrumental in the red zone, breaking open late and catching a dart from Brady for a touchdown. Unlike the Chiefs game, the officials did not blow the call by ruling him out of bounds.
3. Never, ever throw at Stephon Gilmore
The Bengals had avoided targeting Gilmore for the first quarter. The Patriots top cornerback spent most of his time shadowing Tyler Boyd, who went catchless in the first half.
That changed int he second half. But not before Gilmore picked off a tight pass to Boyd, hanging on with one hand.
Boyd wound up catching a pass shortly after, which may have generated some confidence. That probably wasn’t a good thing. Dalton tried hitting Boyd on a quick out to the right shortly after. However, Gilmore read it look a book and jumped the route, breaking clean through the route and straight toward the end zone to make it a 27-10 game.
4. The defense started slow again, but figured it out
We saw the same thing last week against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Patriots got gashed in the first half, only to really lock it down in the second half. Against a less-talented Bengals team, the results were less drastic, but the idea was the same.
The Patriots opened things up by getting gashed by the Bengals on the ground. On the second drive, they were on their heels again, but held to a field goal.
But after that, things really cleaned up, starting with a big fourth-down stop. However, that didn’t take away their Achilles heel.
5. The run defense has problems
The Bengals have a talented back in Joe Mixon. But the Patriots really didn’t do much to slow him down throughout the course of the day.
Mixon had 60 yards rushing by the end of the first quarter and routinely kept the Bengals rolling on early downs.
Fortunately for the Patriots, their lead in Sunday’s game allowed them to force the Bengals to throw, which was a good change for New England.
6. Julian Edelman is pretty hurt
Edelman was questionable all week while dealing with knee and shoulder problems. But as the game unfolded, it was pretty clear that he was a far way from 100%. The Patriots’ top receiver played a surprisingly small part in the passing attack.
That was problematic as the team’s skill position players had issues.
7. The Patriots have some major drop issues
Over the course of this game, the Patriots took the league lead in drops on the season with 22, and only increased that lead when Sony Michel dropped a pass at his knees on what would have been a touchdown catch.
It’s been a running theme for the Patriots this year, receivers flubbing in key spots. Mohamed Sanu was one of the main culprits. He dropped a high pass that went off his hands on fourth down, almost a carbon copy of a ball he dropped on fourth down against the Texans a couple weeks ago.a
James White also had an uncharacteristic drop.
8. Brady is getting close to history
Brady broke out of his TD drought by throwing for a pair of scores Sunday, one to White on an early screen pass and one to Harry.
That moved Brady past a tie with Drew Brees on the all-time touchdown pass list and puts him one shy of Peyton Manning’s all-time record of 539.
We’ll see if Brady holds onto his spot when Brees and the New Orleans Saints play on Monday Night Football this week.
9. Justin Bethel and Matthew Slater are a nightmare combo on special teams
The Patriots pulled a little bit of a specials teams coup this year when they picked up Bethel, who was a surprise cut by the Ravens. By pairing him with Matthew Slater on the kickoff and punt teams, the Patriots have a tremendous dual-threat on their coverage units.
That showed Sunday when Slater came in to strip Bengals punt returner Alex Erickson while Bethel came in for the recovery.
10. Nick Folk is the guy - but not from long rage
Folk has come back from his appendectomy and been solid on field goals so far. He hit both his field goals Sunday, including a long of 46. However, the Patriots showed that they don’t have much confidence in his range, opting to go for it on fourth down early rather than attempt a kick north of 50 yards.
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December 16, 2019 at 04:08AM
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Patriots finally get N’Keal Harry going; never throw at Stephon Gilmore (10 things we learned from win vs. Be - MassLive.com
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