If Bengals defense isn’t antidote for Patriots offense, then nothing is
On paper at least, the Cincinnati Bengals defense should provide the New England Patriots offense the perfect opportunity to get right before the playoffs.
A week ago, we wrote about how the Kansas City Chiefs and their soft run defense could be the perfect springboard for the New England Patriots ground game to finally get jumpstarted this season.
So what ended up happening? The same thing that’s been happening since early October for this offense as a whole: disappointment, frustration, and finger-pointing.
Despite the Patriots facing off against one of the worst run defenses in the league this year, New England couldn’t even muster 100 total yards on the ground. If you subtract Tom Brady’s epic 17-yard scramble on fourth down late in the fourth quarter, the team amassed just 77 yards.
It wasn’t pretty for the Patriots at all. Julian Edelman had the same number of rushing yards by the end of the game as Sony Michel – a whopping eight yards total. Think about that for a second and let it sink in fully. Michel, the workhorse back who was drafted in the first round last year and who nearly had 1,000 yards on the ground as a rookie, had eight yards against this Chiefs defense… and on five rushes, no less.
The Patriots will get at least two more opportunities to set their run game right before the playoffs start. The second opportunity comes in Week 17 against the Miami Dolphins, one of the worst defenses in the NFL. And the first opportunity comes right now in Week 15 against the Cincinnati Bengals, by record the worst team in the league this year.
The Bengals still have some talented players on their defensive front in 2019 (see: Atkins, Geno), but they’re nowhere near the level of a team like the Bills, Ravens, or Steelers when it comes to shutting down the run. Cincy ranks dead-last in the league when it comes to rushing yards allowed per game – they’re averaging 156.7 a contest.
That’s obviously an astronomically-high figure, and it should open the door for the Patriots to finally find some sledding on the ground this Sunday. Even for New England’s 23rd-ranked rushing offense (96.2 yards per game on the ground), the Bengals defensive front should be exploitable.
Julian Edelman on the cusp of a career year. dark. Next
Overall, that’s the gist of this matchup between two teams at opposite ends of the AFC spectrum this year (and most years, frankly). The Bengals are 31st in total yards allowed, 23rd in total points allowed, 19th in passing yards allowed, and 32nd in rushing yards allowed. If those metrics can’t help the Patriots offense finally click into gear, there’s probably not another team that can.