This Sunday, the undefeated Cincinnati Bengals, now 3-1 were crushed by the New England Patriots 3-2 at Gillette Stadium, in a game where the Patriots QB Brady surpassed the mark of 50,000 yards passing. The Pats recovered from a big loss to the Kansas City Chiefs just six days earlier 43-17, and this week they beat the Bengals 41-14. Brady is only the sixth quarterback to surpass the 50,000 yards.
Brady (3 time Super Bowl winner) finally appeared as he recovered his form as he passed the 50,000 yard mark passing, as New England dominated one of the last two unbeaten teams the Bengals on Sunday night the 5th of October 2014. This performance by Brady seemed to quiet some of the criticism by the sports media that he had regressed and the team was short of talent.
This game and the statistics certainly indicate which team was the best as the Patriots had 30 first downs accumulating 505 total offensive yards on 82 total plays with 285 passing and 220 rushing with no turnovers. The Bengals on the other hand only 17 first downs accumulating 320 total offensive yards on 48 total plays with 241 passing and 79 rushing with 3 turnovers.
Individual team leaders were: For the Patriots, QB Brady completed 23 of 35 passes for 292 yards and 2 touchdowns and was sacked once, while RB’s Ridley & Vereen had 36 carries accumulating 203 yards with Ridley scoring a TD. Receivers Gronkowski & Wright had 11 receptions for 185 yards and each scored a TD (2). For the Bengals, QB’s Dalton & Campbell had a combined 18 completed passes on 19 attempts accumulating some 249 yards as QB Dalton threw for 2 touchdowns. RB’s Bernard & Dalton had 15 carries for 78 yards while Receivers Green & Sanu had 10 receptions for 151 yards and each scored a TD (2).
In the 1st quarter the Patriots scored 2 touchdowns for 14 points, and the Bengals were unable to score. In the 2nd the Bengals score a FG for 3 points while the Patriots scored 2 FG for 6 points. The 3rd quarter the Patriots scored 2 touchdowns for 14 points, and the Bengals scored 2 touchdowns for 14 points. In the final 4th quarter the Patriots scored 3 FG’s for 9 points while the Bengals went scoreless.
The undefeated Bengals struggled in this game as the team lost three fumbles in the game, failed to convert on their seven third down opportunities in the game and QB Dalton was sacked for the first time in this 2014 season. In their previous games the Bengals and only allowed a NFL low of 11 points per game in their first three undefeated games.
That 11 point low was surpassed by the Patriots in the 1st quarter as they scored 2 touchdowns. QB Brady’s 292 yards passing was more than the 249 yards he averaged in their 1st four games of the season while RB Ridley had 113 yards rushing of the teams total 220 yards in the game. The Patriots had plenty of help from the defense that only allowed 121 yards in the 1st half, and special team player Arrington recovered a Bengal fumble on a kickoff and returned it 9 yards for a TD.
There were no major injuries for either team in the game and the Patriots had ball possession for 17 minutes @ 38:56 more than the Bengals @ 21:04. Next week on the 12th of October, the New England Patriots 3-2 (1st AFC East) play at the Buffalo Bills 3-2 also (1st AFC East) at the Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo, New York. The Cincinnati Bengals 3-1 (1st AFC North) play the Carolina Panthers 3-2 (1st NFC North) also on the 12th of October at the Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The fans who bet on the NFL at a sportbook need to check on Week 6 lines, as the opening lines have the Patriots -3 favored over the Bills with Ov/Un at 45, while the Bengals -7 are favored over the Panthers with Ov/Un 44. Both games could prove to be very interesting for the wagering fans.