Instant Observations Following Patriots' 34-13 Win Over Bengals
The New England Patriots pulled out the win against the now 1-13 Cincinnati Bengals by a score of 34-13 in Week 15. They were on the verge of losing three straight for the first time since 2002, however, Stephon Gilmore and company quickly turned things around in the second half.
Let's break down some of the observations made during the Patriots' 11th win of the season.
Patriots starting to get Harry and Michel involved in passing game
At the beginning of the season, the Patriots were giving off vibes that both N'Keal Harry and Sony Michel would have a good amount of involvement in the passing game. That did not pan out, as Harry missed several games and Michel never got going as a pass-catcher.
Last week, both former first round picks had what may have been both their season lows. Harry saw two snaps and Michel had five carries for eight yards and was faded out of the second half game plan. This week, it was a different story. Not only were both players used more, but they were used more effectively.
Josh McDaniels finally found ways to get the ball in the hands of Harry and allow him to make plays in space. The end arounds and quick, short passes to Harry got him involved early, and led to New England's 2nd touchdown of the game, which came in the 3rd quarter.
McDaniels also designed a screen pass to Michel, which worked well. Then, on a play inside the redzone, Michel had a walk-in touchdown, on a pass in the flat, that was thrown too low by Brady.
Michel needs to get more involved in the passing game. He has been one-dimensional thus far, only running the ball. When he is on the field, the play calls are too predictable. Passing to Michel will allow the Patriots to be less predictable when he is on the field and allow them to open up the playbook more with him.
If Michel and Harry, the Patriots' last two first round picks, can contribute in the passing game and McDaniels can continue to chalk up plays for them like he did today, the offense will get a tremendous boost.
Turnovers kill Bengals' upset bid
This week, I talked about the Patriots-Bengals' turnover differential. Going into this game, the Bengals had a -11 turnover differential. They now have a -16 turnover differential. In result, the Patriots now have a +24 turnover differential, which leads the league by a wide margin.
The Bengals had a window of hope. They could have pulled off one of the more improbable wins of the season. However, the Patriots stuck to the gameplan discussed here, shut down the running game in the second half, and forced Andy Dalton to throw.
Once the running game dried up for the Bengals, this was the result:
Dalton was forced to throw, and when he did, he threw the game away. Any hope Cincinnati had coming out of the locker room at halftime quickly evaporated, and New England clinched a playoff spot with those interceptions.
Offensive line struggles
The Patriots need to find a way to buy Brady some time in the pocket. He was constantly pressured in this game and was sacked twice. Brady has no time to throw and the receivers have no time to get open. A 42 year old quarterback is fighting for his life, always trying to throw with a collapsing pocket.
Marcus Cannon especially struggled today and has flown under the radar in the blame department this season. Cannon, who has had a rough season, once again allowed pass rushers in Brady's face frequently. The guy who lines up next to him, Shaq Mason, has also had his struggles this season. Today, he left the game with ankle injury.
The o-line has been plagued by injuries and underperformance. Hope that Mason is okay and the Patriots can find a way to buy Brady more time for next week's matchup against the Bills' defense.
Patriots got just what they needed in the second half
The win was not perfect by any means, but it was certainly a confidence builder and it provided a lot of film to look at going forward.
New England is on the verge of clicking together and needs just a little bit more time to start firing on all cylinders. We saw a similar problem last year during the regular season and the team found a way to turn it on for the playoffs. Hopefully, they can do the same here.
