Joe Burrow’s Bengals arrived at Gillette Stadium on Christmas Eve as one of the hottest teams in the NFL and neither the New England defense nor the frigid temps slowed down the visitor early, but in the end Cincinnati had to hold on for dear life to gain the 22-18 victory.
The Bengals built a 22-0 lead by halftime, Burrow throwing for a trio of touchdown passes among his 28 completions while piling up 303 yards and 22 first downs in the first-half action. Meanwhile the Mac Jones-led Patriots had just three first downs and 70 total yards while being shut out through 30 minutes of once again frustrating football.
But New England has been playing crazy, losing football of late and this afternoon would be no different.
A Marcus Jones 69-yard interception return for a touchdown and a 5-yard Kendrick Bourne touchdown catch pulled the Patriots to within 22-12 in the fourth quarter. A deflected deep ball touchdown to Jakobi Meyers pulled things to 22-18 and New England had the ball following a Ja’Marr Chase fumble with a chance to take the lead before Rhamondre Stevenson fumbled it back to the Bengals.
The loss drops the Patriots to 7-8 on the season and further from any potential longshot postseason spot.
Before turning the page to next Sunday’s matchup with Miami in Foxborough, here are the few highs and many lows from yet another ugly New England loss.
Thumbs up
Kendrick Bourne – The guy that many thought might be New England’s best offensive playmaker heading into the season looked like it against the Bengals. Bourne had a 29-yard on an end around. He then ignited the passing game with a couple receptions down the field, including a 32-yard long.
He hauled in a 5-yard score in the fourth quarter. Bourne finished with six catches for 100 yards on the day as one of the few bright spots of the New England offense.
Marcus Jones with the ball in his hands – New England’s rookie do-it-all weapon continued to prove just how dangerous he is with the ball in hands. With a punt return touchdown and a touchdown reception already this year, Jones added a defensive score to his three-phase contributions with a 69-yard interception return in the third quarter. Jones is special with the ball in his hands and continues to prove it in all three phases of the game.
Jones also recovered Chase’s late fumble to give the home squad fuitless life in its comeback effort that eventually came up short.
Thumbs down
Marcus Jones/Jonathan Jones coverage – New England’s undersized corners were overmatched against Tee Higgins and the rest of the Bengals pass catchers from the very first drive. With Jalen Mills and Jack Jones inactive once again, the Patriots secondary was undermanned and just couldn’t keep up with the size, speed and talent of the Cincy receivers. Marcus Jones also muffed the final punt return of the day out of bounds, keeping him from a possible key return in the closing minute.
Tyquan Thornton – As bad as the game was in the first half, New England had a big-play chance on the opening drive of the second half. Mac Jones went deep down the right sideline for his rookie speedster who got behind Bengals coverage. Unfortunately for New England, the second-round pick dropped the well-thrown ball and instead of a potential momentum changer, a punt soon followed. Given that the game tightened up in the fourth quarter, Thornton’s drop became even more magnified.
Rhamondre Stevenson – A week after his decision to lateral that led to the loss in Las Vegas, the second-year running back fumbled the ball away to the Bengals in the final minutes to take the wind out of the sails of the would-be Patriots comeback. Stevenson then had a dropped pass on the final New England possession in the closing seconds that was less than ideal. He also carried the ball 13 times for just 30 yards. It was a really bad day for Stevenson.
Third down – New England’s offense didn’t convert its first third down until the final play of the third quarter, snapping an 0-for-6 effort over the first 44-plus minutes. Meanwhile, Burrow and company were piling up conversions throughout the day. There were plenty of reasons the Patriots chased Cincy all day, and failure on third down on both sides of the ball was a big part of that.
Nick Folk – Folk’s first missed kick, a PAT, seemed understandable given that his Cincy counterpart Evan McPherson’s trio of misses at the same end of the field in the cold, breezy conditions. But Folks’ miss at the open end, failing to cut the Bengals lead to three points in the fourth quarter, was a killer. Things could have played out differently in a three-point game.
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