FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- After a week of hearing about how poorly they played in prime-time games, the undefeated Cincinnati Bengals believed they had something to prove on the road Sunday night.
They wanted to show the rest of the league that they were for real, and that they ought to be taken seriously.
So did the New England Patriots, a team with an offense that was stagnant in a 27-point blowout six days prior. It was a loss that left the entire region scratching its head and muttering out loud about the future Hall of Fame quarterback who still calls Gillette Stadium home. Tom Brady and the Patriots were motivated to prove on national television that their previous nationally televised game was a fluke.
This coming week, the Bengals will need similar inspiration. That's because they lost 43-17 on Sunday to a Patriots offense that exploited them by getting their tight ends to abuse some of the Bengals' best cover players.
Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski paced all receivers with six catches for 100 yards, while fellow tight end Tim Wright caught five for 85 yards. Both caught touchdowns from Brady, the quarterback who couldn't even sniff the end zone against the Bengals a year ago. Last October in Cincinnati, the Gronkowski-less Patriots fell to the Bengals 13-6, halting Brady's streak of games with a touchdown pass at 52. Gronkowski was injured during that game.
On Sunday night, Brady really needed only three plays from his tight ends to beat the Bengals, who couldn't tackle and cover when they needed to the most.
Bengals linebacker Emmanuel Lamur was part of two of the three plays.
The first came with 4:20 left in the first quarter when Lamur got a little surprised by an errant Brady pass to receiver Julian Edelman. Lamur was trying to make a play on Edelman when the ball was passed directly into his hands. He bobbled and subsequently dropped the would-be interception. Had he held on, Lamur likely would have returned it for a score.
Had he scored, the Bengals would have snatched back a little momentum and tied the score at 7-7 early.
But that didn't happen. Instead, one play later, with Lamur in coverage on Gronkowski, Brady sat back and delivered a third-and-8 strike that resulted in a 27-yard pickup. In addition to whiffing on the ball, Lamur whiffed on the tackle and Gronkowski picked up major yards on a first down that set up Wright's 17-yard touchdown reception one play later. That made it 14-0. The rout was beginning.
"We didn't get off the field defensively on third down," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. "That was the story of the football game."
In addition to that third down, the Patriots also converted another in the third quarter when Lamur and a few other Bengals missed tackles on New England running back Shane Vereen, who sprinted behind the right guard for a 19-yard gain on a third-and-16. Two plays later, Brady hooked up with Gronkowski in the middle of the field for the 16-yard touchdown that made it 27-10 and practically sealed the Bengals' defeat.
"We hate losing in general, but this one stings a lot," Bengals safety George Iloka said. "We came out flat, and they came out fired up. They had a tough loss last Monday and the whole nation was watching, and we didn't play Bengals football. We have to lick our wounds, watch the tape and bounce back like they did. That's a good example. They got embarrassed last week and look how they came out this week."
As their quest to prove themselves continues, the Bengals now will have to respond to this loss with a win.
