New England used its rushing game and aggressive defense to overcome a weak Bengal offense for a 16-10 victory at Paycor Stadium on opening night, under new coach Jerod Mayo. This win demonstrated his squad is capable of surprising AFC East rivals through hard work and precise execution.
In this article, we will discuss the main points or high lights of New England Patriots vs Bengals Match Player Stats.
Offense
The Patriots possess an arsenal of offensive weapons, and know how to employ them effectively. Their game-sealing 18-play drive against the Saints covered 83 yards in 18 plays while taking 9:46 off of the clock – something the Bengals front seven could pose a significant obstacle against. If the Patriots can keep pace with them on defense then their backs and tight ends should have no trouble contributing on offense as well.
The Bengals boast an improved pass rush than their counterparts from New Orleans, along with a deep secondary of Leon Hall, Terence Newman, Dre Kirkpatrick and Adam Jones as safeties, plus promising rookie Darqueze Dennard on defense. However, their defensive line falls far short compared to New Orleans; only Carlos Dunlap and Geno Atkins present any threat for quarterback rushing.
This will be a game in which the Patriots must work hard to prevail, as they’ll face an elite defense that has shown great skill at stopping big plays. While their ranking as 30th in terms of quarterback sacks may help, Andy Dalton may prove an especially difficult target and pressure needs to be found through different means in order for victory to come their way.
The Patriots have established an impressive track record of selling out home games since 1993’s season opener – now reaching 69 consecutive sellouts! Preseason, regular season and postseason contests all qualify. Their games have been broadcast on Fox Sports 1 since 1994; additionally the Ticketmaster mobile app can assist fans looking to purchase tickets to these home matches.
Defense
The Patriots employ an aggressive man-coverage defense with exotic schemes designed to disorient quarterbacks. Their front seven has become faster at first level and has added rushers and secondary players who play different roles from play to play.
The team employs several checks within its pressure schemes to accommodate for running backs coming out of the backfield at different speeds and releases. On one play against Buffalo, for instance, they slant their defensive line toward the backfield to free Mack Wilson to blitz from the edge, leading to both a quarterback hit and incomplete pass completion from Wilson’s blitzing attempt.
As part of its defensive strategy, New England often drops linebackers into zones to cause confusion on opposing offenses. Here, against the Chargers, they use a five-man front to send Josh Uche and Tavai into two-high zones blitzers Josh Uche’s coverage drop forces the running back who attempted a vertical stem route early into a two-high zone where Bryant can easily read him.
Patriots defense is adept at disorienting running backs by matching vertical stem routes with man-match wrinkles in coverage, creating confusion for an opposing runner. Here, the defense uses a basic cover zero formation and three players on the front side blitzing. They have an additional defensive player called “Robber”, usually a safety, that assists on short and intermediate crossers over the middle; when Robber overtakes such crossers his primary man coverage defender will step off in order to take their place in coverage structure.
While the Bengals’ run defense was decent last season – finishing 23rd overall and allowing 136.3 yards per game – they may struggle to contain Jacoby Brissett and that patchwork offensive line. Sheldon Rankins may help strengthen their interior defense and add power to their pass rush, yet still struggle to pressure Brissett as quarterback.
Special Teams
Special teams in football are often underestimated by fans, yet can have a significant effect on games. Special teams include kicker, punter, long snapper and players involved with coverage and returns for kickoffs and punts; usually at least 21 players on the field during a kick play with multiple units such as kickoff team, kickoff return team, punt return team (no self-respecting coach would call this group “punt down team”), punt block team (which no self-respecting coach would refer to as punt down team) and field goal/PAT block team (all teams being split accordingly).
The Bengals special teams have struggled this season, yet they may improve against the Patriots on Sunday. Their major issue has been allowing too many big plays – such as when Texans allowed a kickoff return of 105 yards for a touchdown against them last week or when an incomplete punt resulted in another touchdown score for Kansas City during Week 14.
However, the Browns have had excellent special teams this year. They’ve only given up two turnovers on special teams since Week 14, both during recent games: In Week 14 Kadarius Toney mishandled a punt return that the Steelers recovered within Browns territory; while Week 15 saw James Proche II fumble on a punt return and lead to a touchdown drive by Kansas City.
In addition, the Browns’ kicking unit has been stellar this year, having kicked five field goals without missing. Additionally, only three kickoff return touchdowns were permitted all season and they have the best rushing defense in the NFL.
The Browns must thwart the Bengals’ rushing attack and apply pressure to QB Joe Burrow, as well as tackle better to avoid giving up too many yards after contact to their explosive offense. Furthermore, they must prevent them from scoring touchdowns on special teams; if successful in doing this, the Browns will likely win this game.
Injury Report
The New England Patriots’ injury report is more optimistic than expected going into Sunday’s season-opener against Cincinnati Bengals. Starting guard Sidy Sow has been ruled out, while running back Antonio Gibson and offensive tackle Vederian Lowe have both been upgraded from questionable to probable status ahead of their games against their respective teams. Sow was an issue during training camp, necessitating another shift at left tackle with musical chairs being utilized going forward without Sow at left tackle.
Dax Hill appears to have come through his ankle injury unscathed during the Patriots’ win against Cincinnati Reds last week without being hindered in any way by it, returning for the second half without apparent difficulty or restriction from it.
Wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase will play in Sunday’s game despite his ongoing contract dispute with the Bengals. Chase participated in limited practices on Wednesday and Thursday before fully participating on Friday – it remains to be seen exactly how many snaps he will see during gameday action; but he should certainly be an integral part of their offense.
Tight end Hunter Henry is set to return after being listed as questionable on the injury report for several weeks due to a foot injury. Henry has been an integral part of New England Patriots offense, being targeted on skinny posts, seam routes, slot fades and inside the red zone.
Jabrill Peppers of the Patriots remains questionable due to a hip injury; his absence could be devastating to their defense, particularly with cornerbacks Jaylinn Hawkins and Dell Pettus already out for this game. Peppers is expected to play, and so his injury should only be considered minor concern by New England.
