Patriots Pounce on Bengals
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by Smmonroe2
No Laurence Maroney, no problem. Sammy Morris picked up the void left when Laurence Maroney was sat due to a hamstring injury. Morris rushed the ball 21 times for 117 yards, a career high, he also scored a touchdown. As he helped the New England Patriots pull out another win, topping the Cincinnati Bengals 34-13.
The Patriots started the game marching down the field for a field goal. The next Patriot possession ended in a punt. On their third possession the Pat’s marched 65 yards. 49 yards of the drive was a Sammy Morris run bringing his team down to the 2-yard line. The drive was capped off with a 1-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady to Mike Vrabel. The Bengals ended the quarter with just 17 total yards, 5 came through their “deadly” passing game.
To start the second quarter the Bengals Leon Hall intercepted a Tom Brady pass. The Bengals were able to march 35 yards for a score, a 1-yard touchdown pass from Carson Palmer to T.J. Houshmandzadeh. The Patriots responded by talking the ball 62 yards down the field, manly through the run. Brady capped off the drive with a 7-yard lob to Randy Moss (9 receptions, 102 yards 2 touchdowns), who went up and over a defender to bring the ball down and still managed to stay in bounds for a touchdown. Then with the Bengals driving, the 55-yard drive came to an end when Asante Samuel intercepted a Palmer pass at the Patriots own 2 with time running out in the half. The Patriots ended the half then with a knee down.
To start the third quarter the Bengals received. Their drive stalled out after 8 plays and 30 yards as they punted it away. On the punt the Pat’s turned it into an 81 yard drive that ended with Sammy Morris pounding down the door from 7 yards out to put his team on top 24-7. The Bengals next drive marched 44 yards before they stalled out and settled for a field goal making the score 24-10. On the ensuing Patriots drive they marched down the field with Tom Brady carefully dissecting the Bengals defense for 53 yards before being forced to have Stephen Gostkowski come out and tack on a 36-yard field goal.
The Bengals first drive of the fourth quarter made it look as though they could still come back, then they stalled out and had to settle for a 46 yard field goal making the score 27-13. The Patriots would then carefully march 85 yards to put the game out of reach. Brady finished the drive when he found Randy Moss braking away from single coverage and nailed him for a 14-yard touch down pass. On the Bengals next possession Palmer through his second pick of the day when Randall Gay stabbed a pass intended for Chad Johnson, who was already in a bad mood and unhappy with his quarterback. The Patriots ended it their by running out the clock when they put in their back ups.
Tom Brady had his fourth great game of the season tossing the ball 32 times completing 25 for 231 yards and three touchdowns. His counterpart Carson Palmer also had a good game throwing 35 times completing 21 for 234 yards a touchdown and two interceptions.
The Patriots will put their perfect mark on the line again next week when the take on the Cleveland Browns at the Razor. The Bengals will try to recruit a few more defensive players during their bye week.
