FOXBORO, Mass. — The Cincinnati Bengals are the worst team in the NFL this season, winning just once in 13 tries.
Now, they’ll have the misfortune of playing an extra-motivated New England Patriots squad this week.
The Patriots hold the No. 2 seed in the AFC but have lost two in a row and three of their last five, including a 23-16 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday that was marred by multiple blown calls. Cornerback Stephon Gilmore, who’s putting together a Defensive Player of the Year-caliber season in New England’s secondary, said the team needs to channel its frustration into a more complete performance against what should be a woefully overmatched Bengals team.
“We’ve just got to learn from it and try to get better,” Gilmore said after Sunday’s loss. “That’s the only thing we can do — learn from the film, see what they did well against us and take our anger out on Cincinnati.”
Of course, this isn’t the first time the Patriots have faced the Bengals after a disappointing loss to the Chiefs. The 2014 Pats famously were “on to Cincinnati” after being blown out in Kansas City on “Monday Night Football” to fall to 2-2 on the season. They rebounded by thrashing the Bengals 43-17 to kick off their sprint to a Super Bowl XLIX title.
This current Patriots squad sits at 10-3, nursing one-game leads over the Chiefs in the battle for a first-round playoff bye and the Buffalo Bills for the AFC East championship. They’ll play at Cincinnati and at home against Buffalo and the Miami Dolphins to close out the regular season.
