What to Watch for: Patriots vs Bengals

Red Zone Offense

The Patriots red zone struggles won’t get any help this week.

Despite their record, Cincinnati boasts one of the best red zone defenses in the NFL.

The Bengals give up touchdowns on just 44% of opponents red zone opportunities, ranking second-best behind the Broncos.

“They just play a lot of tight coverage. They mix man and zone, but their zones match pretty quickly. So, when you try to run man-beater routes, you run into zones, and if you run zone routes, they’re matched kind of like man. They do a good job of it. They mix in some pressure as well, so you have to be aware of your pickup, as well as the conventional seven-man coverages,” said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick on Friday.

The Bengals defense is led up front by Geno Atkins and Carlos Dunlap.

“Obviously, they have a good front, so you don’t have a lot of time to make decisions in the passing game, and they do a good job of stopping the run, so it’s hard to run the ball in,” Belichick added.

Meanwhile, the Patriots offense continues to sink to the bottom of the league when it comes to red zone production.

New England scores touchdowns on just 48% of their red zone trips, ranking 27th best in the NFL ahead of teams such as Washington, Jacksonville, Arizona, the Bengals, and Pittsburgh.

Last week against the Chiefs, the Patriots offense had the ball inside the Kansas City five-yard line with a chance to tie the game, but could not get it done.

“It’s not necessarily frustration, it’s just the fact that we know we can play better and do better. And I think it’s a little bit of everybody. It’s us as running backs, offensive line, everybody. Just everybody competing, making the right reads, blocking harder, finishing harder. Simple things that everybody can go out there and do,” said running back James White during his press conference on Wednesday.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady added, "I think every week we’re making a little progress. Every week we’re trying to learn from our mistakes and just put all the right things together and hopefully just keep improving. Guys are working really hard and that’s been great to see and that’s what we’ve got to keep doing. Things just don’t kind of happen magically, so we’re working pretty hard at it." 

It will be interesting to see if the Patriots offense can get anything going in the red zone this week, or, for that matter, in the final three weeks of the season. 

Patriots Defense

While New England’s offense has had their fair share of struggles this season, the Bengals offense has had struggles of their own.

The Bengals offense comes in averaging just 15 points and 312 total yards per game.

“Obviously, the quarterback [Andy] Dalton’s a very experienced guy. He’s led this team to a lot of victories, a lot of comeback victories – excellent quarterback. Good backs, guys that are different – [Joe] Mixon and [Giovani] Bernard – but, both outstanding players. They make a lot of yards on their own, both good in the passing game, both good in the running game, very versatile players. [Tyler] Eifert and [C.J.] Uzomah at tight end do a great job, too,” said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick on Wednesday.

Dalton was benched for three games earlier this season, but is back under center for the Bengals.

This season, he has completed 248 of 413 attempts for 2,757 yards and ten touchdowns, along with nine interceptions.

Out of the backfield, Joe Mixon has 206 rushes for 789 yards and three touchdowns, while Giovani Bernard has 42 rushes for 136 yards.

Bernard also has 26 catches for 212 yards.

Mixon and Dalton account for all of the Bengals rushing touchdowns this season.

When it comes to receiving, the Bengals are led by Tyler Boyd, who has 73 catches for 833 yards and three touchdowns.

Eifert has 34 catches for 301 yards and two touchdowns.

PHOTO: Patriots media website

Mohamed Sanu

Wide receiver Mohamed Sanu has not had quite the impact on the Patriots offense to this point as most people thought.

New England traded a 2020 second-round draft pick for Sanu back in October, and since coming to the Patriots, he only has 18 catches for 135 yards and a touchdown.

“I mean, he’s a great guy. I think he gets along well with everybody – coaches, players, offensive teammates, defensive teammates, he’s involved in the kicking game. So yeah, he’s a guy that is easy to get to know, easy to talk to and seems to fit in pretty quickly,” said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick during his press conference on Friday.

Sanu started his Patriots career against the Ravens and had 10 catches for 81 yards and a touchdown on 14 targets.

Since then, things have gone downhill.

Sanu was hurt while returning a punt against the Eagles and was limited for the rest of the game, only hauling in two passes for four yards on four targets.

After missing the game against Dallas, Sanu returned against the Texans.

In that game, he was targeted five times and had three catches for 14 yards while playing 22% of offensive snaps.

Last week against the Chiefs, a game in which the Patriots really needed offense, Sanu had one catch for 13 yards on one target on 39 offensive snaps.

The Patriots offense needs Sanu to return form and take some pressure off of the rest of the receivers.

PHOTO: Patriots media website 

Julian Edelman

Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman is currently on pace to have a career season.

Despite dealing with a rib injury early on in the year, and now a shoulder injury that has limited his catch radius over the last several weeks, Edelman has hauled in 90 passes for 1,010 yards and six touchdowns.

His career-high in catches is 105 and his career-high in yards is 1,106.

“That guy takes some hits. He’s physical, he’s tough, plays most of the snaps out there on offense. And to see what he deals with each and every week, and to go out there and be still running around, making plays – it’s amazing to see. He’s the ultimate competitor, man,” said White on Wednesday

Edelman could also set a record number of targets.

In 2016, Edelman was targeted 159 times.

Through 13 games this season, Edelman has already been targeted 135 times, despite attracting double teams in nearly every game.

“We’ve been able to do different things with him over the course of his career and certainly over the last few years. I think there are things that come up from game to game that if you want to do something with an experienced player that can handle a particular situation that you’re trying to attack in that game, he’s a good guy to do it with,” added Belichick.

However, Edelman’s record numbers come with some concern.

Along with James White, he is one of the only receivers that quarterback Tom Brady trusts in the offense.

If he were to further get injured, shoulder or elsewhere, and have to miss time, the Patriots offense might look even worst then it already does.

PHOTO: Joe Calabro/GoLocalProv Sports Team

AFC Playoff Picture

With three weeks left in the regular season, the Patriots can clinch a playoff berth with a win or a tie against the Bengals.

New England also needs a win to remain the second seed in the AFC behind the Baltimore Ravens and get a first-round bye.

However, a loss for the Patriots could result in disaster.

A Patriots loss and a Chiefs win would knock New England out of the number two seed and out of a critical first-round bye.

A New England loss combined with a Buffalo win on Sunday night would mean the AFC East is tied.

Next week’s game between the Patriots and the Bills at Gillette Stadium would be for the division.