New England Patriots
The Patriots’ depth issues might have been exposed in an injury-filled win over the Bengals.
Mike Vrabel didn’t want to hear about the stats, records, or the Bengals’ presumed weaknesses after his team left Paycor Stadium with a 26-20 victory.
“That’s what happens in this league,” Vrabel said after New England’s ninth-straight victory. “You need everybody. You go through the season, you go on the road, and it’s tough. I know everybody wants to talk about numbers and records. That doesn’t mean [expletive].”
Regardless of what transpired in what was a rock fight between New England and Cincinnati on Sunday afternoon, the Patriots will welcome a victory — even with the optics drawn from an adversity-filled bout in Ohio.
But as the Patriots continue their second-half march toward the postseason, what has been a stout team all season long did display some faults in their armor on Sunday — flaws that could become magnified once the stakes are raised in January.
Depth (or lack thereof)
Injuries are unfortunately inevitable in the game of football.
But what separates elite teams from the rest of the NFL is oftentimes the depth in place to overcome absences sprinkled across the depth chart.
New England has largely managed to overcome what few stings of the injury bug they’ve received so far this season.
When Rhamondre Stevenson missed three games with a toe injury, rookie TreVeyon Henderson responded with five touchdowns over a five-day stretch against the Bucs and Jets.
Kayson Boutte’s presence was missed during the games where he was sidelined with a hamstring ailment, but other wideouts like Kyle Williams and Mack Hollins chipped in with more reps doled out by Josh McDaniels and Co.
But it remains to be seen if an already razor-thin depth chart for New England can overcome more injuries at other critical areas — especially in the trenches.
Sunday’s 26-20 win was a Pyrrhic victory for New England — given the number of key cogs who were sidelined over the course of an eventual afternoon in Cincinnati.
The left side of New England’s offensive line in Will Campbell (knee) and Jared Wilson (ankle) were carted off, while veteran right tackle Morgan Moses also missed time with an illness.
Special teams captain Brendan Schooler was ruled out with an ankle injury, while a defensive line already without Milton Williams took on more water after Khyiris Tonga suffered a chest injury that limited him on Sunday.
Williams’ absence up front was evident, with a top-ranked run defense in New England getting shredded for 120 rushing yards by Cincy — headlined by Chase Brown (107 yards, 5.6 yards per attempt).
Those struggles on the ground are likely to continue during Williams’ remaining three-game absence while on IR — especially during New England’s upcoming games against James Cook and the Bills (Dec. 14) and Derrick Henry and the Ravens (Dec. 21).
But Williams is at least expected back before the postseason as he recovers from his ankle injury.
It remains to be seen if both Campbell and Wilson will be able to receive the same good news as the Patriots assess their respective recovery timelines after Sunday’s win.
As expected with any offensive line featuring two rookies on the left side, New England’s big men have gone through some growing pains. But all things considered, the Patriots’ offensive line has been far improved from the unit that routinely unraveled the team’s offensive plans over the last few seasons.
With both Campbell and Wilson entrenched in their respective spots, New England’s O-line had seemingly plenty more room to grow down the stretch.
But after starting the same five-man unit for 11 of their first 12 games of the season, that string of good luck might run out next Monday when the Patriots host the Giants at Gillette Stadium.
Not only would Campbell and Wilson’s absences alone hurt New England’s run blocking and pass-protection efforts, but the depth behind them also raises some serious concerns.
Ben Brown will likely be the next man up in place of Wilson, while Vederian Lowe will likely be called upon as the team’s starting left tackle if Campbell lands on the shelf for an extended stretch.
Maye and the Patriots have been able to overcome the ups-and-downs of a talented but young offensive line so far this season. But if players like Lowe are going to be tasked with keeping Maye off the gridiron come January, a sturdy area of New England’s roster could splinter in short order.
“Man, shoot, I love those guys,” Maye said of Campbell and Wilson’s injuries postgame. “They’re going to be all right. That’s the big thing about those guys; they’re going to work hard and they’re going to be back. They’ve done such a good job for us this year, I love those guys, Will and Jared, they’ve meant a lot to me.
“I’ve gotten to know them in different ways, and it hurts. It’s disappointing. But hey, that’s this game, that’s life, and they’ll bounce back and help us down the road.”
Red-zone offense
Maye’s playmaking capabilities and ability to uncork deep balls down the field have helped New England’s offense transform from a peashooter in 2021-24 into a legitimate howitzer this fall.
But when the margins narrow and the defenses tighten up in the postseason, Maye and the Patriots’ offense need to start cashing in on red-zone opportunities.
Capitalizing on drives that push within the opponent’s 20-yard line has been a confounding flaw for Vrabel and his staff so far this season.
Entering Sunday, the Patriots had only scored 23 touchdowns across their 39 red-zone opportunities.
Those numbers dipped once again against the Bengals, as New England had just three points to show for two separate drives on Sunday where the Patriots had the ball on Cincy’s 1-yard line.
In total, New England had seven attempts from the 1-yard line on both of those drives, but couldn’t punch the ball in — even during a frustrating third-quarter sequence where the Bengals bailed them out with a penalty on fourth down.
Granted a 1st-and-1 opportunity after that defensive pass interference was called, New England still couldn’t convert — with the Patriots ultimately turning the ball over on downs after Rhamondre Stevenson failed to cross the goal line on back-to-back runs.
If the Patriots couldn’t land a few haymakers against a 32nd-ranked Cincinnati defense in several goal-line situations, more hurdles against tougher outs await come the postseason.
“I mean, what happened? We didn’t score,” Vrabel said. “You’ve got to score with your man, whatever you call. It’ll be a good learning opportunity for us in a lot of phases, and just how important and how critical the week of practice is and being ready to go because you never know when your opportunity is going to come.”
Slow starts
The Patriots’ defense has bent at times this season, but they have rarely broken down in spectacular fashion.
Well, at least once New England gets its first few drives out of the way.
Cincinnati ended up only generating three points on their first drive after Evan McPherson booted a 54-yard field goal — but Sunday still marked the ninth time in 12 games this season where New England surrendered points on its opponent’s opening drive.
Of those nine instances where New England’s defense coughed up early points, six of those drives resulted in touchdowns.
Again, the Patriots have displayed a knack for bouncing back from early deficits — as put on display Sunday after they scored 17 unanswered points following an initial 10-0 Bengals lead.
But it’s a dangerous game to play against tougher opponents, especially during stretches when Maye and Co. need some time to get into a rhythm on offense.
Pass rush
New England’s pass-rushing efforts came up clutch at critical times on Sunday.
Harold Landry snuffed out a promising drive in the first quarter that prompted a Bengals punt , while K’Lavon Chaisson landed a hit on Joe Flacco on Cincy’s final offensive play — leading to an eventual incompletion on fourth down that sealed the win.
But Flacco wasn’t exactly put under duress for most of the afternoon, as Landry’s sack was the only generated by New England (alongside six QB hits) over 38 drop-backs.
Even though New England has generated plenty of pressure across the line of scrimmage and have generally prevented teams from running all over them — they haven’t had many instances where their pass-rushers have blown up drives with timely sacks.
New England has 26 sacks through 12 games. Sixteen other teams have recorded more sacks so far this season — headlined by the Denver Broncos with a whopping 49.
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