FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- A few thoughts on the Cincinnati Bengals' 43-17 loss to the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium:
What it means: Sunday's loss means we still don't really know who this Bengals team is. We certainly do know the Bengals still can't play well on the big, bright stage. Cincinnati is now 2-5 in prime-time games since 2011, and it has lost nine of its past 10 games on Sunday night. In the past it has been easy to pin the Bengals' nighttime woes on quarterback Andy Dalton, who has been a turnover machine in those games. But it was hard to say the same about him this time. The entire team played poorly, headed by a suddenly soft defense. The play from the Bengals' pass-catchers wasn't very good either, with Mohamed Sanu and Jermaine Gresham dropping multiple passes. Receivers A.J. Green, Brandon Tate and Dane Sanzenbacher also lost fumbles. Dalton didn't have a turnover. While the Bengals do clearly have a good team -- as evidenced by their first three victories -- this loss shows how much work they still have left in order to prove that they could be elite.
Stock watch: You could pretty much take your pick of any area where the Bengals have suddenly watched their stock plummet after this game. The defense certainly was one of those areas, allowing the most points it has surrendered since the 2012 season opener against Baltimore. Cincinnati gave up 43 points in that prime-time loss. Instead of focusing solely on the defense, though, we'll stick with special teams, and namely kick returner Brandon Tate. The former Patriot was aggressive all night in the kick-returning game, routinely taking kicks out of the end zone even though he caught them deep in it. On seven returns, he averaged just 20.1 yards per kick. His longest was a 31-yard return. One of Tate's third-quarter returns resulted in an immediate Patriots touchdown, though, when he fumbled after a hard hit following one of his unexpected take-outs. New England's Kyle Arrington recovered the fumble and returned it 9 yards for the touchdown, giving the Patriots a 34-10 lead, and all but effectively sealing the win.
Lamur looked lost: Bengals linebacker Emmanuel Lamur looked completely out of his element Sunday night, missing tackles and getting beaten in coverage. He had a chance to turn the game's momentum in the first quarter when he bobbled and dropped an interception opportunity. Had he caught the pass, he likely would have taken it in for a game-tying touchdown that would have made it 7-7. Instead, the bobble led to a third down, and on the very next play, Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski converted a first down. One play later, Tom Brady completed a 17-yard pass to put the Patriots up 14-0, beginning the rout.
Game ball: It's tough to give out a game ball to anyone in a loss of this magnitude, but quarterback Andy Dalton gets this one for going 15-for-24 with 204 yards passing. He completed passes to six receivers. He also passed for two touchdowns, didn't have an interception and was sacked once. Dalton also ran twice for 16 yards.
What's next? It's on to Carolina for the Bengals, who take their 3-1 record back home for a Sunday afternoon nonconference contest next week. They'll face a 3-2 Panthers team that is coming off a 31-24 win over Chicago. Cincinnati lost back-to-back games only once last season and will try hard not to make it a habit in this game.
