Bengals not buying into last week's Patriots

[Arkansas Bengal]

Bengals not buying into last week's Patriots

 

Kevin Goheen FOX Sports Ohio

OCT 01, 2014 5:44p ET

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Mark J. Rebilas / USA Today Sports

Wallace Gilberry and the Bengals are expecting the best the Patriots have to offer this weekend. 

 

 

 

CINCINNATI -- Bengals defensive end Wallace Gilberry was watching Monday night as Kansas City delivered a 41-14 beat down of the New England Patriots at Arrowhead Stadium. National audience. The Chiefs were in need of a home win against the perennial Super Bowl contenders and quarterback Tom Brady.

They got it. Gilberry knows what that means for the Bengals come this Sunday night when they play the Patriots in Foxborough.

"I'd prefer for them to have won last week, to be honest," said Gilberry. "You know they're going to come back out reloaded and hungry. We're definitely hungry, too. It's like two hungry lions trying to eat. It's going to be a fight."

The Patriots might be 2-2 and might have just been embarrassed on national TV. The Bengals, at 3-0, might be one of two remaining undefeated teams left in the NFL along with Arizona. There's going to be a lot of side-by-side breakdowns of the teams, a lot that will point toward a fourth straight win to start the season for the Bengals.

Then there is the history which reminds anyone paying attention not to trust what you saw Monday night from the Patriots. The Bengals are paying attention.

"I think that the way that game turned out doesn't show the kind of team that they are," said quarterback Andy Dalton. "Obviously it kind of got out of hand, the score was pretty lopsided, but that's not the team that they are. It shows you've got to play every Sunday because if a few things don't go the right way, it can turn out like that. But they're a talented team. They've been a good team for a long time so we know we're going to get their best."

This is Bill Belichick's 15th season coaching the Patriots. He is the longest-tenured head coach at one franchise in the NFL. Marvin Lewis's 12 seasons with the Bengals are second. In Belichick's first three seasons, which included the improbable run to the franchise's first Super Bowl title during the 2001 season, New England five times lost consecutive games. That includes three four-game losing streaks.

Since 2003, the Patriots have lost back-to-back games just five times (including a playoff loss) but they've never lost more than two in a row. It's been 33 regular season games, dating back to Weeks 2-3 of the 2012 season against Arizona and Baltimore by a total of three points, since New England has lost back-to-back games.

Belichick wants to move on to Bengals

 

Why?

Belichick didn't really want to answer that question during his conference call with Cincinnati media Wednesday morning.

"I don't think that really has anything to do with this game," said Belichick. "This game is all about this game. What happened last week or last year or some other year I don't really think is relevant for us. We just need to do a good job preparing for the Bengals."

In not answering the question, he answered it.

The Patriots do as good of a job of compartmentalizing the philosophy of one game at a time as any organization in the NFL.

 

During his press conference with New England media on Wednesday, Belichick answered five straight questions regarding the Kansas City loss with some variation of "We're on to Cincinnati," and little or nothing else.

"Bill has been in place since the 2000 season, so obviously he's good," said Lewis. "He's been the longest in one spot, and done a tremendous job taking them to a Super Bowl in '03, and two other championships since then, and being there two other times. That's what everybody in the league aspires to do is what they've done."

It was a very Belichik-ian answer by Lewis.

The Patriots haven't lost at home in the regular season against an AFC opponent since the Steelers beat them 33-10 on Nov. 30, 2008. That's a streak of 31 games. They are 22-1 at Gillette Stadium in the month of October since 2003, the only loss coming on Oct. 2, 2005, against San Diego, 41-17.

There will be plenty of analysis that says the Bengals should win Sunday night in Foxborough. The Bengals can go into Foxborough and win and it shouldn't shock anyone, not with the way the defense has played to start the season and not with the way Dalton and the offense have protected the ball.

Just don't expect things to be as easy as Kansas City made it look the other night.

"Anybody can get beat," said Gilberry. "You've seen the New Orleans Saints. A lot of people didn't think they'd come out the way (1-3) they've come out this year. The tables turn in all divisions. We're just happy to be on top right now, and we're going to continue to strive to stay. It's early man. There's 13 games left."

 

 

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