Bengals
vs.
Patriots
NFL Pick
Week 6
10/16/16
The Bengals have a big test in heading to the Patriots in Week 6. Cincinnati can’t have a good feeling about heading to Foxborough for Tom Brady’s first start back at Gillette Stadium after serving his DeflateGAte suspension. Brady has already had a week to get ACClimated to the speed of the Game, and there didn’t seem to be a whole lot of rust in that performance. The Bengals haven’t been bad, but they’ve maybe not impressed as much as many expected entering this season.
Cincinnati’s season-high scoring is 23 points in the opener, and they are averaging only 18.4 points per Game — ranking tied for 24th in the NFL. Andy Dalton is second in the league in total passing yards. Yes, he only trails Matt Ryan. Yet, Dalton has only thrown five touchdowns on the season. He’s got the NFL’s second-leading receiver. A.J. Green has 518 yards in 2016. He’s one of only Four receivers averaging over 100 yards per Game. It’s perplexing as to how the Bengals can be scoring so few points, despite these numbers mixed with Dalton having only thrown two interceptions.
The New England Patriots have had a little of a bend-but-don’t-break defense in 2016. They are pretty average as far as yards per Game allowed go, but they are only surrendering 14.8 points per Game — Fourth best in the NFL.
Brady threw for 406 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions in his return. Rob Gronkowski looked back to normal as well, catching five passes for 109 yards. This hookup will be a regular. You’ve been warned, NFL.
Brady gets results. Almost all the time. Dalton sometimes gets results. INConsistent at best. To add to that, New England has one of the NFL’s best rushing offenses, averaging 128 yards per Game on the ground. Cincinnati has one of the worst, averaging about 84 rushing yards per Game.
The overall defensive numbers are almost identical. The Bengals are slightly better, averaging allowing 339 yards to New England’s 345. Both teams have a positive turnover margin on the year.
Our Pick – Getting Brady back is simply a bonus for the Pats. They were winning without their star QB and proving that the Game of football is a TEAM sport.
When we rank the NFL defenses using yards per point, guess who owns the #1 defense in the NFL? Yep. The Pats. Ok, next question. Using those same yards per point numbers, guess which teams offense ranks 30th? If you said Andy Dalton and the Bengals you win!
Bad offense against very good defense. Tom Brady’s first home Game since suspension. Mix it all up and the end result should be a long day for the Bengals in Foxborough. Patriots -9