FOXBORO, Mass. — The New England Patriots were held scoreless through the first half of their Week 16 game against the Cincinnati Bengals as their offense continued to look inept in crucial situations.
It allowed Cincinnati to take a 22-0 lead at intermission despite it feeling like more than a three-possession game. A major reason behind that was due to the offensive struggles, which prompted chants of “We want Zappe!” and “Zappe! Zappe!” in reference to second-stringer Bailey Zappe replacing starting quarterback Mac Jones.
Those struggles could be highlighted on two specific plays.
Perhaps most notably was on the Patriots’ first drive of the game after Cincinnati scored with ease on its opening possession. Facing a third-and-4, the Patriots offense failed to run anyone near the first-down marker, as highlighted by NFL Network’s Mike Giardi. The closest route for a pass-catcher was 12 yards from the line of scrimmage while both tight ends Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith ended their routes directly next to each other with one defender playing the both of them. The offensive line quickly evaporated, too, prompting Jones to flee from the pocket and ultimately get sacked at the line of scrimmage.
Later in the first half, on third-and-5 from the New England 35-yard line, Jones hit Jakobi Meyers on a slant route in which the pass-catcher failed to get to the line to gain. No outside receivers were able to create much separation off the line, which prompted Jones to go to Meyers. However, should Jones have waited another second for Meyers to get further downfield, there would have been a better chance for Meyers’ four-yard completion on third-and-5 to instead turn into a five-yard gain and thus reset the sticks.
New England then opted to punt the ball on fourth-and-1 from its own 39-yard line, perhaps another indication of its offense.
The Bengals entered the Week 16 game as a 3.5-point favorite, and given how New England’s offense continues to look, it seems as if Cincinnati will cover without much issue.
