Sports

What You Need to Know About Today's Patriots' Game Against the Bengals

The following features information from Patriots and Bengals Media Relations.

The Patriots stay on the road this week when they visit Cincinnati for a Week 5 match against the Bengals at 1 p.m. this afternoon.

The New England Patriots improved to 4-0 with a 30-23 win last week against the Atlanta Falcons at the Georgia Dome and will look to get to 5-0 for the fourth time in team history and for the first time since 2007 when they travel to face the Cincinnati Bengals from Paul Brown Stadium. The Patriots will look to continue their winning October ways. The Patriots are an NFL best 35-7 in the month of October since 2003 and have won 26 out of their last 30 October games.

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The Patriots and Bengals will meet for the 23rd time in a series that dates back to 1968. The teams will play in the regular season for the first time since the 2010 season when the Patriots defeated the Bengals, 38-24, in the season opener at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots will travel to Paul Brown Stadium for the first time since a 34-13 New England win on Oct. 1, 2007.

New England has won seven of the last eight regular season meetings between the clubs dating back to 1993, including the last four meetings.

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While New England is 8-2 all-time at home against Cincinnati, including 2-0 at Gillette Stadium, the teams are even at 6-6 in games played at Cincinnati. The Patriots are 2-0 in games played at Paul Brown Stadium, winning 38-13 on Oct. 1, 2006 and 34-13 exactly one year later on Oct. 1, 2007.

To help you get ready for todays game, here is what you need to know:

1. TV and Radio Information

This week’s game will be broadcast to a regional audience by CBS and can be seen in Boston on WBZ-TV. Greg Gumbel will handle play-by-play duties with Dan Dierdorf providing color. The game will be produced by Mark Wolff and directed by Suzanne Smith.

98.5 FM, The Sports Hub, is the flagship station for the Patriots Radio Network. Play-by-play broadcaster Bob Socci will call the action along with former Patriots quarterback Scott Zolak, who will provide color analysis.

2. The Turnover Kings Head to Cincinnati

During the tenure of head coach Marvin Lewis (2003-present), the Bengals rank sixth in the NFL in turnover differential, at plus-34.

But good as that is, it pales along with 30 other NFL teams in comparison to New England. The Patriots are first by a stupendous margin in turnover differential since 2003, with a plus-125 reading — well more than twice as good as the next-best club, Indianapolis at plus-55.

“There are a lot of reasons they are successful,” said Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis, “but that one would have to stand out against just about anything.” Since ’03, NFL teams with just a plus-one differential have won 69.3 percent

of their games. At plus two the percentage has been 83.6. Teams with any plus from one to five have won 79.9 percent of the time.

Under Lewis, the Bengals have reversed their fortunes in turnover differential. Prior to Lewis’ tenure, the Bengals had posted a minus turnover differential for five straight years (1998-2002).

3. What to Look for This Week

BILL BELICHICK

  • Bill Belichick needs one win to pass Chuck Noll and take sole possession of fifth place on the NFL’s all-time wins list. Belichick and Noll are tied with 209 career wins.

TOM BRADY

  • Tom Brady needs one touchdown pass against the Bengals to extend his streak to 53 straight games with at least one touchdown pass. It is the second longest streak of all time, behind Drew Brees (54).
  • Brady (45,820) needs 414 passing yards to move past Vinny Testaverde (46,233) into 8th place on the NFL’s all-time passing list. 
  • Brady (341) needs one touchdown against the Bengals to move into a tie with Fran Tarkenton (342) for fourth place all-time and two to take sole possession of fourth place on the NFL’s all-time list.

JULIAN EDELMAN 

  • Julian Edelman has the highest punt return average in NFL history at 13.0 (83-1076) and is one of seven NFL players with a punt return average of 12.0 or above. 
  • Edelman needs one more punt return for a touchdown to set the team mark with his fourth punt returned for a touchdown. He is tied with Irving Fryar and Troy Brown with three returns for a touchdown. 
  • Edelman and Houston’s Andre Johnson are leading the NFL with 34 receptions. Edelman needs four receptions against the Bengals to surpass his career high of 37 receptions that he had as a rookie in 2009. 
  • Edelman (319) needs 41 receiving yards to surpass his career high of 359 yards set as a rookie in 2009. 
  • Edelman needs at least seven receptions against Cincinnati for his fifth straight game with seven or more receptions. If he reaches that mark he will tie an NFL record for most consecutive games to start a season with at least seven receptions. It has happened many times in NFL history, most recently by T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Derrick Mason in 2007.

STEPHEN GOSTKOWSKI 

  • Stephen Gostkowski is tied with Adam Vinatieri for the team lead with eight career 50-yard field goals and needs one more to break the tie and become the team’s all-time leader.

ROB NINKOVICH 

  • Rob Ninkovich has the most fumble recoveries of any NFL player over the last four years (2010-13) with 10 and can add on to that total with a fumble recovery against the Falcons. 

AQIB TALIB

  • Aqib Talib needs an interception against Cincinnati to register an interception in his fourth straight game. Talib can tie the franchise record of four straight games with an interception that was set by Mike Haynes in 1976.

TEAM

  • The Patriots have forced a turnover in 31 straight games dating back to 2011, the longest active streak in the NFL. The last time the Patriots did not register at least one turnover was on Oct. 9, 2011 vs. the New York Jets.
  • A win over Cincinnati will give the Patriots its first 5-0 start since 2007 and its fourth time starting the season at 5-0.
4. Connections

New England Ties

  • Bengals President Mike Brown graduated from Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH, in 1957 and played quarterback on the Big Green football team.
  • Brown also went on to graduate from Harvard Law School in 1959.
  • Bengals Executive Vice President Katie Blackburn also attended Dartmouth College, where she played on the women’s ice hockey team.
  • Bengals Strength and Conditioning Coach Chip Morton is a native of Hamden, Conn., located just north of New Haven.

Cincinnati Ties

  • Patriots WR Kenbrell Thompkins attended the University of Cincinnati, located just five miles north of Paul Brown Stadium, for two years from 2011-2012.

Former Patriots

  • Bengals RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis was signed by the Patriots in 2008 as an unrestricted free agent and spent the next four seasons in New England. Green-Ellis rushed for over 2,000 yards with the club, highlighted by a 1,008- yard, 13-touchdown campaign in 2010. Green-Ellis became a free agent during the 2011 offseason and signed with the Bengals in March 2012.
  • Bengals WR Brandon Tate was selected by the Patriots in the third round of the 2009 NFL Draft. Tate was released by the Patriots on Sept. 3, 2011 and signed with the Bengals the following day.
  • Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick hired current Bengals Special Teams Coordinator Darrin Simmons as a coaching intern while he was head coach of the Cleveland Browns.

Former Bengals

  • Patriots RB James Develin was originally signed by the Bengals in November 2010 and spent two seasons as a member of practice squad before he was released in August 2012.

Former NFL Teammates

  • Patriots CB Aqib Talib (2008-2011), DB Kyle Arrington (2008-2009), and RB LeGarrette Blount (2010-2011) were all teammates with Bengals QB Josh Johnson on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
  • Bengals TE Alex Smith teamed up with Arrington and Talib on the Buccaneers during the 2008 season, while K Mike Nugent joined Talib, Arrington, and Blount for one season in Tampa Bay in 2009. Smith went to training camp with New England in 2009. Nugent was also teammates with Patriots RB Leon Washington for three seasons (2006-2008) on the New York Jets.
  • Patriots DE Rob Ninkovich and Bengals S Chris Crocker were teammates during the 2008 season on the Miami Dolphins.
  • Patriots WR Danny Amendola was teammates with Bengals CB Adam Jones and CB Terence Newman in Dallas during Amendola’s stint on the Cowboys practice squad in 2008.

Former College Teammates

  • Patriots WR Josh Boyce caught passes from Bengals QB Andy Dalton during their one season together at TCU in 2010, including a game-high 44-yard reception from Dalton in the team’s Rose Bowl victory over Wisconsin. Patriots OL Marcus Cannon was also teammates with Dalton at TCU for two seasons from 2007-2008.
  • Patriots LB Dont’a Hightower and Bengals CB Dre Kirkpatrick played for three seasons together (2009- 2011) at Alabama and were part of a top-ranked defensive unit that led the Crimson Tide to two championships in three years. Bengals T Andre Smith also joined Hightower during the 2008 season at Alabama.
  • Bengals WR Mohammed Sanu was teammates with Patriots LB Steve Beauharnais and DB Duron Harmon for three seasons (2009-2011), CB Logan Ryan for two seasons (2010-2011), and DB Devin McCourty for one season (2009) at the University of Rutgers.
  • Patriots LB Brandon Spikes was defensive teammates with Bengals DE Carlos Dunlap for three seasons (2007- 2009) and S Reggie Nelson for one season (2006) at the University of Florida.
  • Patriots OL Will Svitek and Bengals TE Alex Smith were teammates for four seasons from 2001-2004 at Stanford University.
  • Patriots CB Aqib Talib and Bengals T Anthony Collins were teammates for three seasons at the University of Kansas from 2005-2007.
  • Patriots CB Alfonzo Dennard was teammates with Bengals RB Rex Burkhead for three seasons (2009- 2011) at the University of Nebraska.
  • Patriots RB Shane Vereen and Bengals WR Marvin Jones were teammates for three seasons from 2008- 2010 at the University of California.
  • Patriots DB Nate Ebner and Bengals WR Dane Sanzenbacher were teammates for two seasons (2009- 2010) at Ohio State.
  • Patriots LS Danny Aiken and Bengals RB Cedric Peerman were teammates for two seasons from 2007- 2008 at the University of Virginia.
5. Did You Know?
  • Bill Belichick (209) tied for fifth place all time in career wins with Chuck Noll and needs one more win for sole possession of fifth place on the all-time list.
  • Tom Brady has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 52 straight games, the NFL’s longest active streak. Brady’s 52 straight games with at least one touchdown pass is second all-time, behind Drew Brees (54).
  • Brady is the only quarterback in NFL history to have thrown for at least one touchdown pass in each game for three consecutive seasons after throwing at least one touchdown in all 16 games in 2012. He has thrown for at least one touchdown in the first four games of 2013.
  • Rob Ninkovich has 10 fumble recoveries over the last four seasons (2010-13), the most of any player in the NFL over that time. Vince Wilfork is second with seven.


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