Ruins of Pompeii.

[Soapy]

The Patriots changed their defense after the debacle against Cincinnati, how will it fare in rematch against the Bengals?
Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez might not say much but beneath the quiet and reserved demeanor is a competitor that welcomes all challenges, especially when tasked with following the NFL's very best out wide.

It's why Gonzalez's PFF grade is often misleading, the lowest among New England's starting cornerbacks as he's often asked to go on an island with the opposing team's best receiver. Even with that added caveat, one of Gonzalez's worst graded this season was against the Cincinnati Bengals in week thirteen, who the Patriots travel to this week to face off in the Divisional Round.

It was the defense's worst day as a unit with it being their lowest grade on PFF across the board for the back seven as Joe Burrow threw for 450 yards and five touchdowns with Ja'Marr Chase bringing in nine catches for 132 yards and two touchdowns. The Patriots tried to mix up coverage on Chase with Gonzalez at times covering him in man, putting the physically impressive Benjamin St-Juste on him at times as well but nothing worked as Burrow picked apart the Patriots secondary.

New England would rally off four straight wins after the loss to Cincy, changing their defensive scheme out of necessity more than anything. Gonzalez missed the following game with an injury and then Jabril Peppers went down, forcing the Patriots to change their personnel on the backend with rookie cornerback Daylen Everette entering the starting lineup after an impressive game in Gonzalez's one-game absence and shifting St-Juste to safety, bringing Kyle Dugger down to linebacker where Jahlani Tavai and Tyrel Dobson had been liabilities in coverage.

Since that switch in week fifteen, the secondary has graded out on average in the mid 80s, holding Las Vegas, Buffalo and Pittsburgh to under sixteen points prior to the regular season finale against Buffalo. Even with Peppers' return, New England has often played Dugger at linebacker, deploying Peppers and Marte Mapu at safety with one playing deep and the other in robber coverage, taking away the middle of the field.

Against the Jets, the Patriots were able to sic Gonzalez on Davante Adams in one-on-one coverage, freeing up their safeties to shore up other matchups where the Jets, on paper, should have been able to win. Garrett Wilson, primarily guarded by Marcus Jones, had just two catches. Mike Williams, who saw a mix of St-Juste and Everett, caught three passes for 34 yards.

Cincy does present some unique challenges, as they have three WR1/WR2 receivers in Chase, Tee Higgins and Jermaine Burton who has emerged as a 1,000-yard receiver in his second year. On paper, Chase figures to draw Gonzalez with the bigger St-Juste matching up with Higgins, leaving Jones with Burton.

Given Gonzalez' struggles with Chase last time, could the Patriots mix it up, putting Gonzalez on one of the lesser receivers and instead deploying double coverage on Chase? It remains to be seen but if Gonzalez is truly one of the NFL's best corners, and wants to be paid as such, these aren't the type of matchups you run away from.

[James]

Can you stop Joe Cool?

[Soapy]

Can you stop Joe Cool?

[The JZA]

Let Joe know it won't be a breeze this week

[Soapy]

‣ NFL 2025 Divisional Round - Paycor Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio
(13-6) New England Patriots at Cincinnati Bengals (15-4)

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NE | 7 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 24
CIN | 7 | 10 | 3 | 17 | 37

Joe Burrow, Tee Higgins too much for New England as they advance to AFCCG
Joe Burrow threw for 369 yards and three touchdowns, two of them going to Tee Higgins in the Bengals' 37-24 win over the New England Patriots on Sunday to advance to the AFC Championship Game for the first time since their 2021 Super Bowl appearance.

Higgins broke the game open with a 73-yard catch and run touchdown in the first quarter to tie the game and the Bengals never looked back as the Bengals defense was able to keep the Patriots offense in check for most of the game, surrendering just a field goal between the second and third quarter.

Patriots quarterback Drake Maye was bottled in within the pocket, scrambling just twice for two yards and was unable to take advantage of the Bengals scoring lull in the middle of the game, including an opportunity to take the lead at the end of the half and at the beginning of the half when the Patriots got the ball.

New England wouldn't score until the fourth quarter when Maye found Cooper Kupp for a five-yard touchdown to make it 20-17 but on the very next drive, a busted coverage led to Higgins' second touchdown of the day. The Patriots had tried different matchups on Higgins, first with Daylen Everette and then Marcus Jones before Jones left the game with an injury. The Patriots began playing more zone in the second half with more success but on the touchdown, Higgins was left uncovered on a clear miscommunication within the secondary.

The Patriots offense would punt on the next drive followed by a Maye interception, allowing the Bengals extending their lead with a Quinshon Judkins touchdown and another field goal.

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Scoring Summary
Quarter 1
Patrick Ricard, 1 Yd run (3:59)
Tee Higgins 73 Yd pass from Joe Burrow (3:13)

Quarter 2
Mike Gesicki 4 Yd pass from Joe Burrow (8:48)
Andre Borregales, 45 Yd FG (6:02)
Evan McPherson, 49 Yd FG (3:28)

Quarter 3
Evan McPherson, 19 Yd FG (4:05)

Quarter 4
Cooper Kupp 5 Yd pass from Drake Maye (11:57)
Tee Higgins 24 Yd pass from Joe Burrow (9:46)
Quinshon Judkins, 2 Yd run (4:23)
Evan McPherson, 45 Yd FG (1:59)
Demario Douglas 7 Yd pass from Drake Maye (0:25)

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Player Stats
QB Drake Maye: 22-38, 225 yds, 2 TD, INT, sacked 3 times
QB Joe Burrow: 26-35, 369 yds, 3 TD, sacked once

HB Kyle Monangai: 10 att, 53 yds
HB Rhamondre Stevenson: 4 att, 24 yds (left game with injury)
HB Quinshon Judkins: 18 att, 54 yds, TD

WR Cooper Kupp: 6 rec, 85 yds, TD
TE Oscar Delp: 5 rec, 66 yds
WR Tee Higgins: 8 rec, 166 yds, 2 TD
TE Mike Gesicki: 8 rec, 99 yds, TD
WR Ja'Marr Chase: 5 rec, 48 yds

LT Will Campbell: 68.5 PFF grade
LG Layden Robinson: 61.0 PFF grade
C Drew Dalman: 74.1 PFF grade
RG Brandon Scherff: 22.3 PFF grade
RT Michael Onwenu: 47.9 PFF grade

S Kyle Dugger: 11 tkl, TFL
S Marte Mapu: 7 tkl, TFL, 0.5 sack
EDGE Chase Young: 2 tkl, TFL, 0.5 sack
DE Cedric Johnson: 7 tkl, 4 TFL, 1.5 sacks
CB Dax Hill: 7 tkl, INT
DE Trey Hendrickson: 5 tkl, 5 TFL, 0.5 sack

[Soapy]

Let Joe know it won't be a breeze this week

[The JZA]

[James]

Tee Higgins is my guy. Carried me to some fantasy football heights.

[supahotfire]

dang bro took one year to flip this mess? GM of the year award coming up

[Baze]

losing to Jermaine Burton smfh