Bengals at Patriots: Previews, Predictions and More
By Ryan Disdier
Cincinnati Bengals vs. New England Patriots
After a long wait, Tom Brady is back slinging passes for the New England Patriots. Brady served his four-game suspending after he deflated some footballs, or something like that. You may have missed it, since the media failed to cover it enough…
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All jokes aside, Brady’s return makes the Patriots the unquestioned No. 1 team in the AFC, in my opinion. Seriously, this is a Super-Bowl ready team. In Week 6, they’ll welcome the Cincinnati Bengals to Gillette Stadium.
Do you remember the last time the Patriots had a dual-threat at tight end? Okay, it ended on a very, very bad note. However, the duo of Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski was nearly unstoppable. In all honesty, how does a defense stop the Patriots? It’s not only Gronk and Martellus Bennett, though. While they certainly play an integral part in the offense, the Patriots also have Julian Edelman working the middle of the field, and Chris Hogan making plays on the outside. I dare say this is the most complete Patriots team since the 2011 squad that earned a trip to the Super Bowl.
For the Bengals, the team looks to rebound after a terrible outing against the Dallas Cowboys. It was the worst the team has looked in a long, long time. The Bengals are simply missing a lot of the players they let go in free agency. Marvin Jones, Mohamed Sanu, Reggie Nelson and Leon Hall are all being missed by the Bengals, and the struggle is obvious. Cincinnati currently sits at 2-3, which doesn’t bode well in a tough division.
It’s entirely possible Cincy’s window of opportunity shut last year.
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Keys to Victory
The Patriots need to pass the ball—and do it often. This is a broken down Bengals secondary that likely won’t be able to contend New England’s passing attack. Actually, the Bengals are fresh off giving up over 100 yards to Dallas. So, New England can really do whatever they want on offense. The only thing that may slow down this Patriots offense would be costly, boneheaded turnovers. Honestly, that’s about the only thing New England needs to accomplish to win this one.
For the Bengals to have a chance, getting A.J. Green involved early is going to be paramount. The team failed to accomplish that last week, and it certainly helped Dallas dismantle them. However, Devin McCourty will likely be giving additional safety help over the top of Green, so getting #18 involved will be easier said than done.
Odds
Point Spread: New England -8.5
Money line: New England -420, Cincinnati +350
Over/Under: 47
Predictions
This is Brady’s homecoming, which means this is probably going to be a drubbing, folks. Furthermore, if you think the Patriots are going to lose to the Bengals, at home, for Brady’s return, then you’re a lot more optimistic than I am. There’s no reason to sugarcoat things: this is likely going to be another outing by New England in which the team flips a middle finger to the rest of the NFL. I don’t even really expect the Bengals to put up a fight.
This game could very well be over by halftime.
Pick: Cincinnati Bengals: 10, New England Patriots: 42