It’s no secret the biggest non-football storyline surrounding the New England Patriots and Cincinnati Bengals pertain to the taping incident that happened a week before their Week 15 encounter.
But other noteworthy storylines persist going into Sunday’s kickoff.
Let’s take a look at those, which range from long-term implications to the tug-of-war set to happen between the AFC squads.
Playoffs and drafts
The Bengals have much at stake Sunday — when it comes to the draft. They’re the lone one-win team in the NFL but the New York Giants continue to make things interesting by sitting as the only two-win team. Bengals players and coaches want to win, yes, but a win could do more harm than good over the long run. As for the Patriots, a two-game skid to fall to 10-3 is concerning, largely because it has come at the wrong time of year. New England would like to make it right and figure out some issues plaguing the offense. If the Patriots keep starters in even if things turn into a blowout on Sunday, it has nothing to do with the taping incident and more about fixing the team’s biggest problem…
…Tom Brady vs. pressure
Brady, quietly, is a mess this year. Consider this passage from the Washington Post’s Neil Greenberg: “Brady’s completion rate falls from 71 percent in a clean pocket to 34 percent when facing pass pressure, the worst mark among qualified quarterbacks, per Pro Football Focus. His passer rating drops from 102.6 to 49.3 in those same situations, one of the worst ratings among qualified quarterbacks.”
As a whole, Brady has completed just 60.5 percent of his passes this year. By the way, the Bengals seem to be uncovering their pass rush in recent weeks led by Carlos Dunlap and Carl Lawson. If there’s an avenue to an upset, it’s probably here.
Joe Mixon
Enough said, right? Mixon’s been a storyline all season largely because he started the year dealing with an injury and the line up front was a mess. Coaches finally adjusted around midseason and now he’s looking at potentially breaking the 1,000-yard mark, which is rather impressive. He’s also the only real shot the Bengals have at generating any sort of offense against a Patriots defense not even permitting 13 points per game on average. If he’s active on the ground and through the air, the Patriots could have some problems on the road. But everyone — clearly — knows what the Bengals will try to do Sunday.
