New England Patriots - NESN.com
One analyst expects the New England Patriots to run wild on the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 12.
NFL.com’s Matt Okada set a high bar for New England with an incredibly bold prediction before Sunday’s game at Paycor Stadium. The fantasy football content programmer picked the Patriots to set a franchise record on the ground.
“In the Super Bowl era, there have only been two games in which a team rushed for 400-plus yards,” Okada wrote. “Both involved the Cincinnati Bengals — the Broncos did it against the Bengals in Week 8 of the 2000 season, and the Bengals did it against the Ravens in Week 17 of 2020. Let’s make it three. In a blowout win on Sunday, TreVeyon Henderson, Rhamondre Stevenson, Drake Maye and Co. will top 400 rushing yards (and four touchdowns) against Cincinnati.”
Four hundred rushing yards would more than triple New England’s season average of 112.9, which ranks 20th before Sunday’s action. The Buffalo Bills have a league-leading 147.2 rushing yards per game after amassing 143 in Thursday night’s loss to the Houston Texans.
The Patriots totalled 65 rushing yards in their Week 11 win over the New York Jets, so they would probably happily take 200 on Sunday. But perhaps a bolstered backfield is poised to have a big day against a vulnerable opponent.
Rhamondre Stevenson is expected to return after missing three games with a toe injury. He’ll return to join forces with rookie TreVeyon Henderson, who tallied 147 rushing yards against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before scoring three touchdowns against the Jets.
The Bengals have also surrendered an NFL-worst 160.9 rushing yards per game through a 3-7 start. They ceded 254 and 283 rushing yards in back-to-back losses against the Jets and Chicago Bears this month.
Sunday’s game starts at 1 p.m. ET on CBS.
