Cincinnati Bengals at New England Patriots, 1:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, CBS
If you’ve been watching the NFL for any extended period of time, you weren’t surprised by last Sunday’s New England result. Let’s be honest – there hasn’t been and probably never will be a more dynamic duo than Bill Belichick and a healthy Tom Brady. They’re electric. They’re seemingly perfect. Better yet, they back up the talk and noise with wins.
Bottom line: last week’s win against the Browns merely proved what we already know … the Patriots deserve their spot as a top Super Bowl contender, and there won’t be many of us arguing that point, Pats fan or not.
The Bengals are a puzzling entity this season, facing a season-defining stretch in the next few weeks. The schedule hasn’t been an easy one, but there’s been no excuse for falling completely flat in recent games against Denver and Dallas. The Cowboys made Marvin Lewis’ squad look like the laughing-stock of the AFC last week, having their way in every facet of the game against the now 2-3 Bengals.
With a defense struggling to find consistency and an offense that simply lacks the clutch gene (perhaps not a surprise), can we really count on the Bengals to go on the road in Foxboro and knock off the momentum-filled Patriots?
Lewis’ seat might be getting warm. And although the early schedule hasn’t been favorable, he’ll have to at-least win a few of the year’s difficult games to make a case to stick around in Cincinnati. Unfortunately, when you view this matchup as a whole, it’s nearly impossible to see a recipe to a win.
Patriots continue to roll with Brady at the helm, beat Bengals, 29-20.