Tom Brady’s Patriots are now a team in control

Maybe that should be the Bengals’ new rallying cry after they hung for 2-1/2 quarters with Tom Brady and the New England Patriots Sunday. And, for those who have become accustomed to a postgame presser with Lewis after a loss, terse answers like the “we didn’t do a good job covering him”, supplied afterward are part of his coaching resume.

From all of us at cover32 Patriots, have a great week Pats’ fans. That was big for us. “I’ve been in an organization where we’re taught to say very little, we have respect for our opponents and we don’t do the trash-talking”.

The Bengals made too many mistakes and costly penalties, and in the end, it was too much Brady and Rob Gronkowski that led the Patriots to a 35-17 victory in Brady’s home debut. They need to do it together. Gronkowski got his first touchdown reception of the season in the third quarter.

The game against the Bengals was important for the New England Patriots for a number of reasons.

“I can’t be letting that happen”, said Gronkowski. “I am pretty happy overall”. Down 3-0 with about nine minutes left in the second quarter he was going for it on fourth-and-one and not because he felt Brady breathing down his neck. This was intentional by Brady because it opened the entire middle of the field for Gronkowski to navigate.

Gronkowski was not the only tight end that did some damage against Cincinnati either. They tried to keep quarterback Andy Dalton on his toes by showing him different variations in coverage, but he was slowly picking them apart. Even though the Patriots ended up cruising to victory in the second half, the one aspect of the defensive play that hurt them the most was their failure to stop the Bengals on third down.

As Sunday’s game wore on, you saw the difference between the Bengals’ and Patriots’ coaching staffs.

The Patriots (5-1) became the second team in the National Football League to win its fifth game and remained a game ahead of Buffalo in the AFC East. But when George Clooney shows up to play the lead, that’s when you let yourself believe you have a hit on your hands.

But with some timely blitzes, the front and the backers can get enough pressure, and the secondary can cover well enough to make the defense an elite unit.

Brady, who went over the 5,000-completion mark, was sacked three times but didn’t make a serious mistake – and the offense got a boost from two major contributions from the defense to come from behind to win.

He threw for 322 yards and two TDs, ran for 2 yards for a score and threw a 2-point conversion pass to Devin Funchess that tied the game 38-38 with 2:58 left and completed a comeback from an early 21-0 deficit. The contact made Kessler throw the ball sideways, and it went out of bounds in the end zone for a safety.

And of course, any time the defense can put points on the board like when Donta Hightower sacked Dalton for a safety, which was the play that put the momentum behind New England for good.

But a great punt from Ryan Allen pinned Cincinnati deep in its own territory.

It always gets kind of chippy with the Bengals”: “The Bengals wanted to play a physical game yesterday, and the Patriots stooped to their level at times, but when it came time to focus and execute, New England broke past them. The team’s linebacker depth had been dealt a blow earlier in the week, as the Patriots put linebacker Jonathan Freeny on injured reserve, potentially ending his season. “The defense has been playing lights out. It turns out to be the key to the football game”. He received plenty of support from the home crowd, with deafening chants of “Brady, Brady!” throughout the game, including on their first possession of the afternoon where it was so loud, Brady had to signal for them to quiet down as they began their drive.