Brady Stays in Neutral
After playing four series during last week's preseason opener against the Philadelphia Eagles, quarterback Tom Brady only played two series Thursday night against the Bengals. He led a 10-play, 57-yard drive that resulted in a field goal, completing 3-of-7 passes for 45 yards, but he missed an open Randy Moss on a pass that should have gone for a touchdown. Brady completed one pass for 12 yards on the team's next series, which resulted in a three-and-out.
Overall, Brady was 4-for-8 for 57 yards. He looked fine throwing the short passes, but he was erratic with the deep ball. (In fact, his lone interception of the preseason also came on an underthrown deep ball to Moss last week.) It was surprising to see him only play one quarter, especially after last week's extended workload, so expect Bill Belichick to amp up the intensity next Friday when the Patriots visit the Washington Redskins.
Brady did say last week that he wished he had gotten to take a good lick, and that certainly came Thursday, when he got smoked twice. It's a positive sign for Brady that he got back up without missing a beat, and he no longer has to think about the hit that had eluded him.
"He got up," running back Fred Taylor said of the Bengals' sack of Brady on his second possession. "The good thing is he got up. He said he wanted to get hit, and he got hit, too. But thank God he's OK, first and foremost. He's tough."
Not in the Nick of Time
Right tackle Nick Kaczur had a forgettable night, allowing Cincinnati defensive end Robert Geathers to embarrass him on his way to slamming Brady into the Gillette Stadium FieldTurf for the aforementioned sack.
Eat your Wheatleys
Second-year cornerback Terrence Wheatley had some Deltha O'Neal moments during the game. He was beaten for two touchdowns on the same drive — although wide receiver Jerome Simpson was mysteriously flagged for offensive pass interference on the first score — and Wheatley was a step slow all night, even for a guy considered to be the fastest defensive player on the team. I expected bigger things from Wheatley this season, but he's had a tough summer and has likely fallen to fourth or fifth on the depth chart.
"Once you've figured out what happened, you just store that and you forget about the play," Wheatley said. "Hopefully, [Friday] I'll look at it and figure out what he did and what I did and what I could have done to prevent it, and then you erase it, go back and keep playing."
Mixing It Up
The Patriots' first-team defense played a mixture of 3-4 and 4-3 against the Bengals after exclusively playing 4-3 against the Eagles. There's still too small of a sample size to figure out if one set will overshadow the other in the regular season. In all likelihood, it'll depend on the matchups and how Belichick believes he can most effectively attack opposing offenses on a given Sunday.
Not up for debate is the efficiency of the first-team defense, which hasn't allowed a touchdown in five quarters of preseason action.
Chad Ochokicko
Bengals kicker Shayne Graham had a groin injury, and head coach Marvin Lewis ruled him out during pregame warmups. As a result, Chad Ochocinco was on extra-point and kickoff duty, and he did a pretty commendable job, considering his converted extra point proved to be the difference in the game. I usually won't praise Ochocinco (I can't believe I'm even honoring that name!), but his kicking duties might turn out to be the highlight of the NFL preseason. He joined former Pats quarterback Doug Flutie and former Dolphins (and current Pats) wide receiver Wes Welker as the only non-kickers to convert an extra point at Gillette Stadium.
"I have been kicking since high school," Ochocinco said. "It was easy. It was just like riding a bike. You haven't done it in awhile, but it's still the same thing. I don't think they need to bring anybody in. I can do the kicking for the preseason."
Taylor in Demand
Taylor started at running back for the Pats and rushed seven times for 26 yards. He also caught one pass for 12 yards. He was in the backfield each time Brady got hit on Thursday, but I don't think either pickup was his responsibility. Taylor looked good with the ball in his hands. He was decisive and he rushed with a purpose, two characteristics that could earn him the starting job in the regular season.
"It's a start, and that's the best thing I can say about it," Taylor said. "It's a start. It's a good feeling to get out there and move around a little bit, get a few bumps and bruises and let your body get acclimated to that. It's just a start. I definitely want to do better."
Butler Did It
Rookie cornerback Darius Butler had an extended look, and he played pretty well, breaking up a key pass in the red zone, sticking with his assignment all night, hustling down the field to make a touchdown-saving tackle and diving on a fumble at the Pats' 5-yard line in the fourth quarter. All health equal, I'd put Butler as the team's fourth cornerback.
McG-OW!-an
Safety Brandon McGowan made a number of stellar plays last week against the Eagles, and he made an even bigger one Thursday against the Bengals. Cincinnati tight end Daniel Coates burned Pats outside linebacker Shawn Crable for a 27-yard reception, but McGowan flew across the field and leveled Coates to jar the ball loose and force a turnover. It'll be tough to earn playing time with James Sanders and Brandon Meriweather as the starting safeties, but the Patriots have to be happy with McGowan and Pat Chung on the bench.
Take It to Heart
Preseason or not, this loss truly disappointed the Patriots, who lacked consistency in a lot of areas. They were in position to punch in the go-ahead score late in the fourth quarter, but running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis — who was having a great showing prior to that point — fumbled the ball away at the Bengals' 12-yard line with 3:53 to play.
When asked if there were any positives that could be taken from the performance, defensive end Richard Seymour said, "It really didn't feel that way looking at the scoreboard and really not capitalizing at the end of the game. Anytime you're out on the field, people can say it's a preseason game or not, but you always step out on the field to win, and we didn't win. At the end of the day, we want to come off the field with a 'W.' That definitely would have made us feel a lot better."
