The Bengals took the field for their season opener against the New England Patriots. Debuting their new orange pants, the team was looking to start hot, after showing rust early in the last two seasons. Against a rebuilding Patriots team, a win was fully expected. But as it turned out, things weren’t so easy.
Offensively, the Bengals started out very poorly, going 3 and out on their first two drives. The Patriots, meanwhile, needed only two drives to find the end zone. Brisket found Hooper for 16 yards, which got things going for them. After a series of modest gains, they slowly worked their way down the field. Stevenson, from 3 yards out, was able to punch it in for the TD, putting the Patriots up 7-0.
Joe Burrow and the Bengals would later go on a longer drive. They thought that it had been capped by a Mike Gesicki TD, but it was reviewed and overturned. Then, Burrow hit Tanner Hudson, who was on his way into the end zone when the ball was punched loose and recovered by the Patriots. New England would add a field goal to go up 10-0 at the half.
The 2nd half didn’t start out much better. Cincinnati’s defence did force an opening drive 3 and out, but Charlie Jones fumbled during the punt return. This turnover resulted in another Patriots field goal, making it 13-0 for the road team.
Things continued to go wrong for the Bengals on offence. Facing a 4th & short situation, they dialed up a quick pass behind the line of scrimmage. Burrow found Iosivas, who was stopped short of the line to gain.
Finally, the Bengals were able to put a TD on the board. It came on their next drive after they turned it over on downs. Zack Moss had a couple of nice runs after a pass interference call got them away from their own end zone. They continued to pick up some smaller gains, moving the ball all the way down to the New England 5 yard line. From there, Zack Moss ran it in for his first TD as a Bengal. 13-7 Pats.
The two teams would trade field goals, and the Bengals, still down 6, got a chance to go on offence to tie it up or take the lead. Unfortunately, like we had seen on many other drives, they went 3 and out. Zac Taylor elected to punt and hope for a stop, but the Patriots gashed through a weak Bengals run defence, picking up the 1st down to end the game. 16-10 final.
The Bengals start the season 0-1, losing to a rebuilding team at home. Next week, they go on the road to face a Kansas City Chiefs team that is coming off their second straight Super Bowl win. A much tougher test.
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