CINCINNATI _ The Patriots were indeed on to Cincinnati.
After a week of controversy, which some are dubbing 'Spygate 2,' the Cincinnati Bengals wouldn't get any revenge on Bill Belichick and the Patriots. A week after the Bengals were reportedly furious as a Patriots production video crew was caught filming the Cincinnati sideline in Cleveland, the only team that played angry on Sunday was the Patriots.
It wasn't perfect inside Paul Brown Stadium, but this Patriots team never took their foot off the gas pedal.
This game played out like many other Patriots contests this season � the defense and special teams units stood up and forced turnovers to lead the way. Meanwhile, the Patriots offense played a blend of inconsistent football against this 1-12 Bengals team. But the effort on Sunday was more than enough as the Patriots handed the Bengals a 34-13 loss.
By the late fourth quarter, chants of 'Brady! Brady! Brady!' filled the stadium as the Patriots improve to 11-3.
Brady complete 15/29 passes for just 128 yards to go with two touchdowns to N'Keal Harry and James White. Sony Michel also ran for 89 yards. Of course, in this game, the Patriots defense led the way with four interceptions, two by Stephon Gilmore, who returned one for a touchdown, and two by J.C. Jackson.
It didn't take Brady long to get going on Sunday. In the first drive, the Patriots traveled 75 yards down field in just 3:16 to take a 7-0 lead. Brady's only two completions of the drive went to White. The first was a gain of 22. The last, on third-and-10, was a 23-yard touchdown pass to the running back, who caught the ball in the flat and scampered past multiple Bengals defenders for the score at 11:44 of the first quarter.
The Bengals ran all over the Patriots defense on the next drive. Cincinnati averaged 8.4 yards per carry on the nine-play, 75-yard drive to tie the game, 7-7. The Bengals ran the ball on the first eight plays of the series before Andy Dalton hit Cethan Carter for an 8-yard touchdown, on third down, at 6:13 of the first quarter.
