Patriots - Bengals, Who Has the Razor's Edge? Key Matchups
 The Patriots are hoping to see more of the Brady and Gronk celebrations against the Bengals to get the offense jumpstarted. (USA TODAY Images) |
The New England Patriots return home to take on the Cincinnati Bengals on the national stage for Sunday Night Football on NBC. The play-by-play and analyst duties will be covered by Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth. Game time is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. EST.
The Patriots (2-2) are coming off their worst performance in recent memory, a 41-14 shellacking at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs. The Patriots were dominated in all three phases of the game as KC had this one well in hand by halftime. The offense looks completely out of sync and had a questionable game-plan with the wrong personnel active. Tom Brady’s protection was shoddy again and the Pats turned the ball over three times.
The defense was gashed by the Chiefs running game for over 200 yards and Alex Smith operated with impunity in the pocket while picking apart the Pats secondary. KC’s special teams constantly pinned the Patriots deep in their zone and forced them into going long distances.
The Bengals (3-0) had an early bye week and have been playing outstanding on both sides of the ball. Andy Dalton is completing over 65 percent of his passes and is spreading the ball around. The Bengals top three receivers all have 12 catches and Dalton has thrown only one pick thus far this year. His protection has been outstanding as he’s yet to be sacked on the season.
The Cincy defense has picked up right where it left off in 2013. The Bengals are the #1 scoring defense in the NFL allowing only 11 points per game. Opposing QBs are completing only 54.3 percent of their passes and have a QB rating of 56.9. The front seven is outstanding and this is a defense that plays with speed across the board. Geno Atkins is starting to get healthy and he’s one of the best interior DL in the league.
We here at PatsFans.com are continuing our “Razor’s Edge” column in 2014 to give a quick break down on some of the key matchups of the game and what you can look for in how the game plays out.
Series History: The Patriots and Bengals have played 23 times with the Pats holding a 14-9 edge. The Patriots hold an 8-2 advantage at home over Cincy. However in the last meeting, also in Week 5 of the 2013 season, the Bengals defense dominated Brady and the Pats, sacking him four times in a 13-6 win in Cincinnati.
Here is a look at some of the key matchups and who holds the Razor’s Edge.
Patriots RBs vs Bengals Front Seven- Razor’s Edge Bengals
The Patriots haven’t committed to running the ball, in part to the struggles of the offensive line which have compounded their issues in passing as well. The team can’t seem to determine who they want as their lead back as well, flipping between Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen.
The Bengals haven’t been particularly stout against the run numbers wise but playing from ahead has them in sub-packages more than normal. With Atkins and Domato Peko and Rey Maualuga in the middle and Vontaze Burfict returning from a concussion they should be very stout. Last year Ridley was benched and they held LaGarrette Blount and Brandon Bolden in check pretty well, allowing only 82 yards on 18 carries.
Patriots WRs vs Bengals Secondary-Razor’s Edge Bengals
It is hard to recall a Patriots passing offense this far out of sync. The protection has been shoddy, wide receivers aren’t getting open consistently and Tom Brady’s accuracy has been far from what we’ve been accustomed to seeing. Worse, the coaches aren’t putting the players in a position to win with questionable play-calling and game planning.
Facing a KC defense allowing over 5 yards per carry, the team activated 5 RBs for the game but then opt to come out in a spread with only 3 WRs active. Inactivating WRs Aaron Dobson and Kenbrell Thompkins in this scenario made even less sense. Now we’re hearing reports Dobson was inactivated for the past two games for “mouthing off” to OC Josh McDaniels….which if true are indeed troubling. However the passing offense is in need of a change at the quarter point of the season.
The best fix for the passing game is to either sit or cut Danny Amendola at this point. He’s virtually unused anyway and then start Dobson at the “X” and move Julian Edelman to the “Z” while moving Brandon LaFell to the slot, where his size will allow him to box out some larger defenders and run the hot routes underneath.
The Bengals pass defense is very solid; they have a good group in the secondary backed by an outstanding pass rush that has produced seven sacks and six interceptions in three games. Atkins and Carlos Dunlap bring good pressure. The Bengals like to show blitz from both ILBs and leave the offense to guess where the pressure will come from. Considering the constant carousel at the OL position for the Patriots as well as the communication problems plaguing the unit, the Bengals front seven has to be licking their chops at this matchup on the national stage.
Bengals RBs vs NE Front Seven- Razor’s Edge Bengals
The Bengals have a good 1-2 tandem in Giovani Bernard and Jeremy Hill and while they haven’t set the world on fire as far as numbers go the ground game of Cincy should not be discounted. Offensive Coordinator Hue Jackson certainly watched the film from Monday night and the Bengals use a similar style of misdirection, multiple formations and 2 RBs sets that KC used to target the weak side of the Patriots defense.
In 2011 Jackson used a similar attack used by the Chiefs while with a much less talented squad in Oakland and gained 504 yards against the Patriots defense. Look for them to do much the same in an attempt to open up things by getting the defenders to move one way and run another.
The Patriots run defense took a big hit on Monday night and besides being blocked well at the point of attack, the tackling was generally poor. They really missed Sealver Siliga in the middle next to Vince Wilfork as Joe Vellano was pushed around badly.
Bengals WRs vs NE Secondary- Razor’s Edge Bengals
Andy Dalton has been spreading the ball around nicely in the first three weeks of the season, hitting A.J. Green, Mohamed Sanu and Bernard each 12 times. Green one of the more prolific wide outs in the league at 6’4, 207 is averaging over 19 yards per reception. Dalton is second in the NFL with an average of 8.6 yards per pass attempt.
Cincy boasts a pair of outstanding book end tackles in Andrew Whitworth and Andre Smith who do a fantastic job of protecting Dalton against edge rushers. Dalton has yet to be sacked in 2014. They are looking to get TE Jermaine Gresham more involved in the offense with Tyler Eifert out and this will be a great week to get it done.
The Patriots pass defense is ranked #1 in the league right now but that has more to do with the opponents they’ve faced more than how well they’ve played. The pass rush has been inconsistent and could really use a shot in the arm. Rookie DT Dominique Easley was supposed to provide that interior pressure but he’s still recovering from ACL surgery and has been a non-factor thus far. The Patriots have been misusing CB Darrelle Revis, sitting back much too frequently in soft zone coverages, something he is ill-suited for. Perhaps with the addition of Brandon Browner this week, (providing he’s active) will convince Bill Belichick and Matt Patricia to play more man-to-man and get a little more aggressive with the pass rush.
Special Teams- Razor’s Edge Patriots
This is one area that the Patriots could take advantage of, while Cincinnati’s punter Kevin Huber has been excellent at getting punts inside the 20 yard line, their punt coverage hasn’t been great and with the Pats having the always dangerous Edelman returning them, this is an area where he could flip field position.
New England gets the advantage in the kicking department as well, Stephen Gostkowski is always solid and accurate. Mike Nugent on the other hand has made only 7 of 11 field goal attempts, missing twice in the 40-49 yard range and once from 50+. Former Patriot Brandon Tate has done a good job of returning kickoffs for the Bengals and gives them the nod over Pat Chung and Matthew Slater for the Pats.
Prediction:
This will be a very tough matchup for the Patriots, given that their passing game is struggling badly and Cincy’s pass defense is a tough one even if they were firing on all cylinders which they are assuredly not at this time. The lack of pass protection is a scary propostion with Nate Solder really struggling right now, as is Sebastian Vollmer outside. Rookies Bryan Stork and Cameron Fleming will have their hands full with Atkins’ inside pass rush. But without some of their best WR threats on the field, Brady’s options get severely limited from jump street.
On defense, until they get their run lane issues fixed, look for the Bengals to run those same misdirection plays that both Miami and KC did, which will freeze up the linebackers making it an easy pitch and catch for Dalton and TE Jermaine Gresham. Green will be a tough matchup for either Revis or whomever is assigned to cover him if the pass rush doesn’t get to Dalton and force him to get rid of the ball early or into making mistakes. The knock on Dalton has always been that he’s prone to those errors but under Jackson’s tutelage, he’s not.
With good protection, look for a big night. We’ve been reading items from the Patriots players stating that the measure of this team is how it will handle adversity. Well that will be magnified tenfold on Monday morning. The Bengals roll over the Patriots on national television 31-17.
Patriots Player to Watch- Tom Brady All eyes will be focused on #12 this week, after a slow start in the first quarter of the season culminating with a curb-stomping by the Chiefs, the wolves are at the door for Brady. For the first time since 2001 Bill Belichick was asked if the Patriots would evaluate their QB position during Tuesday’s press conference.
For a player with the pride and fiery demeanor of Brady, that has to burn inside of him. But with the coach’s refusal to place pieces in the best way for him to run the offense, how will Brady handle this adversity. This coming game and the next few weeks will tell a lot.
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