New England Patriots - NESN.com
The Patriots overcame some self-inflicted wounds during their matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.
New England started extremely slowly, saw several starters leave the game with injuries and looked as bad as they have all season offensively — but ultimately walked away from Paycor Stadium with a 26-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.
I’ve got your takeaways:
Jared Wilson and Will Campbell, two rookie offensive linemen who have helped solidify the unit, were both carted off the field on Sunday.
It’s hard to think of any other way to describe it — that’s an abject disaster.
Wilson (ankle) and Campbell (knee) both struggled to get to the sideline under their own power, and were ultimately carted to the locker room. Wilson’s injury came on the first offensive series of the game, and he was ultimately replaced by Ben Brown. Campbell’s injury came in the final offensive drive of the third quarter, and he was replaced by Vederian Lowe.
Morgan Moses also left for a brief period, but ultimately returned.
The Patriots aren’t built to withstand injuries along the offensive line, but these hurt even worse considering they’re going to impact the unit’s only two long-term building blocks. If they’re able to return within the next three weeks, things might not be so bad — but you don’t want to enter matchups with the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills without your two best offensive linemen…
Drake Maye follows a similar script every week — he sails a few throws and makes mistakes early in the game, then flips a switch and becomes the best player on the field.
It’s honestly pretty impressive how consistently inconsistent he’s been…
Maye started just 3-of-7 on Sunday — a stretch that was punctuated with a pick-six by Bengals safety Geno Stone — before finishing 22-of-35 for a career-high 294 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Maye’s worst completion percentage (64.71%), yardage total (548) and number of first down completions (24) come in the first quarter — and although his numbers across the other three are typically enough to make up for it — that needs to change.
The Patriots play more nickel defense (76%) than almost anyone, trailing just the Seattle Seahawks (84%) and Atlanta Falcons (77%).
It’s probably because it works…
Marcus Jones has not only been the club’s best coverage defender against tight ends and running backs, but he also serves as one of its most impactful run defenders — leading the team in interceptions (3) and pass deflections (10), and ranking fifth in total tackles (45).
Jones added to his interceptions total on Sunday, as he returned his third on the season for a touchdown that completely flipped the momentum of an eventual victory over Cincinnati.
Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel is nothing if not versatile.
Vrabel has been both extremely aggressive and impressively pragmatic in end-of-half situations this season — and...
