New England Patriots
Drake Maye had a shaky begin, Marcus Jones made an explosive play, and Hunter Henry got here up large.
The Patriots overcame a shaky begin from Drake Maye to safe their ninth consecutive win on Sunday against the Bengals in Cincinnati.
Relying on it’s severity, the knee injury rookie left deal with Will Campbell suffered within the third quarter may wind up being the largest story of the day. New England’s revamped offensive line has been key to their success, and Campbell is a giant a part of that.
This was an in depth win towards a struggling group with out its two greatest gamers. Cincinnati’s offense didn’t pack a lot of a punch with out Ja’Marr Chase and Joe Burrow.
New England’s cross rush was lackluster, however the secondary held up strongly for essentially the most half. Marcus Jones modified the sport with an interception return for a landing that gave the Patriots their first lead of the day.
Maye ultimately discovered his footing and made some large throws whereas his beginning left guard and deal with had been out.
Right here’s a take a look at who stood out and struggled within the win.
Inventory Up
Marcus Jones
Jones’s effort on his pick-six was exceptional. He was about 10 yards behind the meant receiver when Flacco first regarded his means.
A pump-fake and a hesitant throw gave Jones time to dart in entrance of Tahj Brooks and leap the route. Jones was so quick on the return that he had time to spin round and backpedal earlier than he crossed over into the tip zone.
It was Jones’s second-career pick-six. His other one, additionally towards the Bengals, got here in 2022 throughout his rookie season.
Hunter Henry
Henry was Maye’s most reliable goal on Sunday. He had seven catches for 115 yards and a wide-open landing.
This was Henry’s first 100-yard sport since New England’s additional time loss to Seattle in Week 2 of final yr.
The regular tight-end crossed over the 500-yard mark for the season.
Harold Landry
Landry was certainly one of three Patriots to hit the quarterback on Sunday, and the one one to document a sack.
It was his first sport credited with a full sack since Nov. 2 towards Atlanta.
The Patriots’ cross rush didn’t wreak a lot havoc towards Cincinnati, however Landry had some early manufacturing.
DeMario Douglas
Douglas’s emergence as a deep-threat continued on Sunday.
He had only one goal, but it surely went for 37 yards as Maye hit him on a seam route, threading the ball between three defenders on his greatest throw of the day.
Douglas has an explosive play (20+ yards) in six of the Patriots’ 12 video games this season, together with every of the final 5.
Inventory Flat
TreVeyon Henderson
The Patriots’ run sport was not notably efficient. Henderson received the majority of the carries (18) and totaled 66 yards. His longest carry of the day went for 9 yards. He didn’t rating a landing.
Aside from the Tampa Bay sport, the manufacturing was fairly near what Henderson has been delivering this season.
With a number of offensive line starters getting injured towards Cincinnati, it was powerful sledding for the run sport.
Christian Gonzalez
The Patriots’ secondary turned in a robust efficiency on Sunday. Tee Higgins was restricted to 5 catches for 31 yards. Cincinnati had 197 receiving yards as a group.
Gonzalez was a giant a part of the smothering protection which held up properly regardless of getting little strain from a Milton Williams-less entrance seven.
He was in protection on the Bengals’ solely passing landing of the sport to Mitchell Tinsley, which got here throughout a giant second.
However for essentially the most half, Gonzalez and the defensive backs had been stable.
Inventory Down
Drake Maye
The interception that Maye threw in the beginning of the second quarter was horrendous.
He threw the ball means over Henry’s head and into the ready arms of Cincinnati’s Geno Stone, who ran it again for a landing. The pick-six gave Cincinnati an early double-digit lead.
Maye regarded unusually uncomfortable early on, however ultimately picked issues up. His closing stat line (22-for-35, 294 yards, one TD, one INT) ended up being fairly stable.
However the lack of ball safety put the group in a giant gap early on, one thing that may very well be an issue towards higher competitors.
Ok’Lavon Chaisson
For essentially the most half, Chaisson has been a playmaker this season however Sunday was removed from his greatest efficiency.
One deal with. No tackles for loss. No quarterback hits, and likewise had a penalty within the first half.
Mack Hollins
Hollins caught simply two of his 5 targets on Sunday for 30 yards. He had put collectively a robust stretch over the previous couple of weeks.
This was certainly one of his least productive performances shortly.
The tight ends received the majority of the motion for the Patriots on Sunday, so the dearth of manufacturing wasn’t simply on Hollins. However lower than half of his targets resulted in catches, which isn’t what New England is used to getting from him.
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