New England Patriots: Five Takeaways From 43-17 Win Over Cincinnati Bengals

Oct 5, 2014; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) at the line of scrimmage during the first quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals at Gillette Stadium. New England Patriots defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 43-17. Mandatory Credit: Stew Milne-USA TODAY Sports

1. Offensive line plays great

For some reason I don’t think this has been one of the top storylines following this win. Yes, Tom Brady played awesome, and yes, Darrelle Revis locked up A.J. Green, but this offensive line was awesome last night.

I think the Patriots may have found their missing combination that they have been searching for this whole year, because they were great in the running game, and even better in the passing game. New England rushed for over 200 yards, and on 35 drop-backs, Brady was only sacked once, and that was honestly because Brady took too long to make a decision with the ball.

When Brady has time to sit back in the pocket and survey the defense, he has weapons that can get open. And as we saw last night, this offense can be pretty damn good when the big boys up front come through. I really hope Bill Belichick decides to stick with Nate Solder, Dan Connolly, Bryan Stork, Ryan Wendell, and Sebastian Vollmer as his starting line for a long time.

Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen set the tone for this offense, and don’t get me wrong, they played great, but a lot of the credit has to be given to the offensive line. They got great push all night long, and opened up huge holes for the running backs. Hopefully they can do this once again next week against the Bills.