And New England’s chances of making the playoffs are over. The New England Patriots nearly pulled off one of the best comebacks they’ve had since Brady left but fell short right at the end to lose 22-18 to the Bengals and seal their playoff fate.
It’s always the same issue with the Patriots, though today it was in a different form.
In every game they’ve played this year, one part of the offense shows up and puts up decent numbers, while the other aspect is completely silent and is a liability.
Normally, its Rhamondre Stevenson and the Patriots running game that racks up 120+ yards and a few touchdowns as Mac Jones and the passing game fails to even get 5 completions, but it was the reverse today.
For what feels like the first time in forever, Mac Jones actually looked like a 1st round-caliber quarterback as he and Kendrick Bourne were the only players (on offense) carrying the Patriots back from a 22-point deficit. But, before that happened, it was the Joe Burrow show.
Yup, Joe Burrow and the Bengals torched the Patriots defense to start as he set a franchise record with 24 1st half pass attempts and helped Cincinnati get a 18-0 lead, with Ja’Marr Chase (8 REC, 79 yards) and Tee Higgins (8 REC, 128 yards, 1 TD) teeing off (yeah, bad bun) on the Pats secondary. Chase and Higgins ended up with a combined 16 receptions for 207 yards and 1 TD as Burrow completed a career-high 40/52 passes for 375 yards, 3 TDs, and 2 INTs.
As a Pats fan, it was extremely frustrating to know that Burrow was only going to throw to two targets and the Pats defense still couldn’t stop them. That’s the sign of two Pro-Bowl worthy players (Burrow and Chase) when a defense knows what you are going to do but can do nothing to stop it.
Reversely, the Patriots offense looked its dreadful self as the running game was getting stuffed by Mike Hilton (5 tackles, 1 PD), Josh Tupou (1 tackle, 1 TFL, 1 sack, 1 QB hit), and the rest of the Bengals run stoppers, while Mac Jones was getting sacked on every passing down by Cam Sample (6 tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL, 1 QB hit), Zach Carter (2 tackles, 0.5 sacks, 1 QB hit), and Logan Wilson (9 tackles, 1 sack, 1 QB hit).
The Bengals looked like a team that knew it was superior in every facet of the game over the Patriots, and it showed with how dominating they were in the face of the Foxborough fans. Yet, even Pro-Bowl players and dominate teams can get overconfident and lackadaisical as the Bengals let up on the Pats after they went up 22-0 midway through the 3rd Quarter.
As, on a few possessions after the Trenton Irwin TD (3 REC, 45 yards, 2 TDs), the only spark on this entire team, Marcus Jones, once again light a fire under the Patriots as he picked off a dreadful backfoot throw from Burrow and returned it 70 yards for a touchdown, giving the Pats some life with 3 minutes left in the 4th.
And the onslaught of Patriots momentum followed as Matt Judon (6 tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL, 1 QB hit, 1 FF) and Josh Uche (1 tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL, 1 QB hit) got backing into their QB sacking ways, while Devin McCourty (2 tackles, 1 PD, 1 INT), Jonathan Jones (8 tackles), Marcus Jones (14 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 PD, 1 INT, 1 DEF TD), and the Patriots secondary locked down the passing lanes.
It was crazy how much the momentum swung as, like I said, even Mac Jones (21/33, 240 yards, 2 TDs) and the Patriots passing game found a rhythm and strung together a few completions.
Though, to be fair, a massive reason why the Patriots passing game looked somewhat lively was down the fact that Bill Belichick let Kendrick Bourne out of his doghouse. Just like how the benching of Malcom Butler made no sense in the Super Bowl against the Eagles, why Kendrick Bourne has been used as a 4th choice WR this season is beyond head scratching.
Bourne singlehandedly destroyed the Bengals secondary as he caught 6 REC for 100 yards, 1 TD, while the Jakobi Meyers (6 REC, 83 yards, 1 TD) deflected-Hail Mary TD catch to get the Pats to within 4 points at 20-18 with less than 5 minutes to go.
The mishandling of Bourne is just another sign that Belichick has failed to stay up with the times.
Nonetheless, the Bengals were dead set only completely collapsing Matt Judon stripped Jamarr Chase of the ball and Marcus Jones recovered within the Bengals 30-yard line, proving once again that the Pats defense has been a playoff worthy unit.
But the curse of Matt Patricia and his pencil was strong in the frigid New England air as with under a minute to go and on 1st and goal, Rhamondre Stevenson was stripped of the football and the Bengals defense recovered to win the game 22-18 and stop the comeback.
I really don’t know what else to say at this point with the Patriots as its almost laughable the ways this offense losses games. If it’s not some stupid, complicated lateral that gets intercepted and returned for a TD at the very end of a tie game, it’s someone fumbling the ball with less than a minute on the clock and on a 1st and goal.
With this loss, the Patriots (7-8) now sit two games behind the Dolphins and the Chargers, three games behind Baltimore (who clinched today with the Pats loss) and have the tiebreaker over the Jets and Steelers for the 8th seed. Whoopie, Bill, your brilliant coaching hires helped you beat out two teams with over-drafted busts at QB for the 1st seed outside the playoffs.
As for the Bengals (11-4), this win does keep them atop the AFC North, but they certainly did it the hard way. I don’t see them choking as bad as they did today against anyone else in their final two games and throughout the playoffs, though it is still a small cause for concern.
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