Patriots Looking to Prove They’re Not Dead Yet
By Charles Jay
Sure the New England Patriots finished? Are they going to continue to slide from this point forward? Those are a couple of the questions that are being asked about this team as BetAnySports customers witness the aftermath of a frightful beating this team took at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs. Now the Pats have to deal with the Cincinnati Bengals, who are one of the NFL’s two undefeated teams coming into the weekend. NFL betting action gets underway at 8:30 PM ET at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA.
In the Sunday night NFL betting odds as they are posted at BetAnySports, the game is currently rated all even:
Cincinnati Bengals even
New England Patriots even
Over 46 Points -110, Under 46 Points -110
There were some warning signs that things were not going to be very easy offensively for the Patriots as they struggled through the first three games. Tight end Rob Gronkowski was working his way back into the offensive flow, but there was nothing there to stretch the defense. The offensive line is nothing close to what it has been in recent seasons, and that has resulted in more sacks of Tom Brady (nine so far) and disappointing production for the running game (3.7 ypc).
The Bengals have done a lot of good things from the fundamental standpoint; they have not allowed Andy Dalton to be sacked once, for example. And the defense, which has six interceptions, has yielded only 54% completions.
Those defensive stats for Cincinnati are telling, when contrasted with what happened with the Patriots in their Monday night encounter with Kansas City, which gained 303 yards in the first half. New England had some comfort in dealing with teams that were not all that explosive in the first three games, but the Chiefs were not supposed to be like that either.
BetAnySports customers who have followed this team over the years know that the 47% third down conversion rate they are allowing opponents is going to keep that defense on the field, and even the presence of standouts like defensive tackle Vince Wilfork and cornerback Darrelle Revis won’t be enough to make everything work.
Brady completed 14 out of 25 passes and threw two interceptions against the Chiefs, with one of those taken back all the way for a touchdown. he is averaging just 5.8 yards an attempt, and that is not like him at all. Sunday night NFL bettors he needs somebody like Brandon Lafell (10 catches, 165 yards) to step in and make more plays.
What will happen as Dalton, who is not normally known as somebody with a cannon arm, operates against a New England defense that has only permitted 6.3 yards a pass? It has been fortunate for the Bengals that Dalton has gotten some contributions from Mohammad Sanu to complement those of AJ Green. Cincinnati’s offensive line needs to continue keeping his jersey clean. No one has gotten within a touchdown of Cincinnati in three games, and this team is well rested, but who can estimate the value of a wake-up call for a prideful team? We will see how fired up the Pats can get.
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