Pats Pulpit
The New England Patriots stayed in the win column on Sunday, celebrating a ninth straight W to improve to 10-2 on the year.
Here is who caught our eye for better or worse upon live viewing the 26-20 victory.
TE Hunter Henry: It was a career day for the veteran tight end, who posted a personal best 115 receiving yards and a touchdown on seven receptions (while also having a second score wiped out due to penalty). After a slow start offensively, Henry was a calming presence for the offense and his 28-yard touchdown on a sail concept opened the scoring for the Patriots. Henry also had a pair of chunk gains working the underneath areas of the field as the veteran remains a reliable target for Drake Maye.
K Andy Borregales: Despite missing his first field goal attempt since Week 2 last week, New England’s rookie kicker regained his consistency as Borregales connected on all four of his field goal attempts (41, 45, 19, and 52 yards) in the win. On the year, Borregales is now 19-of-21 including all three makes from 50-plus yards — with the last proving to be huge in a six point win over Cincinnati.
CB Marcus Jones: Following Henry’s touchdown, Jones made the play of the game in the second quarter with a pick-six — New England’s first since 2023. With downfield routes taken away, Joe Flacco looked for his check down where Jones was waiting to jump the route and take it back untouched 33 yards for the score. Jones, who was recently rewarded with a contract extension, continues to play at a high level this season.
Injuries: After placing Milton Williams on injured reserve last week, the injury bug truly hit the Patriots on Sunday. New England lost their left side of the offensive line as Will Campbell (knee) and Jared Wilson (ankle) were ruled out, while special teams ace Brenden Schooler (ankle) and Khyiris Tonga (chest) also departed the game early. Mike Vrabel was not able to provide injury updates after the game, but New England is now limping into their Week 14 bye week.
Red zone: The Patriots offense went 0-for-2 in the red zone Sunday as they were stuffed on a pair of goal-to-go situations. That included a third quarter sequence that saw the Patriots run six plays at the one-yard line and not be able to find the end zone. Later in the fourth quarter, Maye was also stuffed on a tush push from the one-yard line leading to a field goal.
Defensively, New England allowed the Bengals to score on their lone trip to the red zone as that continues to be an area to improve.
