Patriots Ride Strong Second Half Past Bengals

The New England Patriots offense struggled early in the team's Week 6 match up with the Cincinnati Bengals. A strong finish to the first half spilled over to the final two quarters, however, as the New England offense carried the load in a 35-17 home victory.

Carrying Momentum- The Pats had just three points through their first three drives of the game, as the offensive line struggled to contain a relentless four-man rush by the Cincy defense. On their final drive of the half, New England began to click, moving the ball 75 yards for a touchdown to take a 10-7 lead into the half. Over the final two quarters, the Pats offense hung another 23 points on the Bengals to cruise the the 18-point win.

Gronk Spike- A big part of New England's second half offensive explosion was the play of All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski. On the day, Gronk flat out dominated the Bengals secondary. On nine targets, the tight end snagged seven receptions and totaled a career-high 162 receiving yards. He also hauled in a 4-yard touchdown catch for his first score and "Gronk Spike" of the season.

TB12 Dazzles In Homecoming- Lost in the mix of the New England offense's slow start was the fact that the game was quarterback Tom Brady's first game of the season at home. While Brady struggled to connect with his receivers in the first half, thanks to poor blocking up front, the future Hall-of-Famer absolutely dazzled in the second half of play. With the line straightening things out over the last two plus quarters, Brady hit seven different receivers on the day. Overall, TB12 completed 29 of 35 passes for a whopping 376 yards and three touchdowns in his homecoming.

Tough To Stop Tight End Tandem- The Patriots new tight end tandem also helped lead the team to the lopsided victory. Gronkowski's huge day was complimented nicely by teammate Martellus Bennett's second half performance. After being a non-factor in the first half, Bennett caught all five passes sent his way for 46 yards over the final two quarters. Combined the dominant duo caught 11 passes for 208 yards and a score, echoing a strong showing last week.

Catching It Out Of The Backfield- For the second straight game, pass-catching back James White played a large role in the New England offensive game plan. The shifty back led the team in receptions with eight for 47 yards. Two of his eight catches also resulted in touchdowns for the team, as he ended up being too much for the Cincinnati defense to handle near the goal line. Overall White had 66 yards from the line of scrimmage.

Hightower Had Himself A Day- While the offense turned it on in the second half, the Patriots defense was paced by tremendous play by linebacker Dont'a Hightower. With the team entering the game short at the linebacker position, Hightower stepped up in a huge way, making an impact from start to finish. The defensive captain led the team in tackles with 13, including 1.5 sacks and a tackle for loss. He also had a couple of signature plays on the day. The first such play came on a 4th down and goal play from the half yard line for Cincy in the first half. Hightower shed his block and met the running back at the line of scrimmage, keeping the Bengals out of the end zone. His second big time play came in the third quarter, with the Pats down 14-10. With Cincy taking the snap inside their own 10, Hightower came busting through the middle of the line on a delayed blitz and was able to wrangle Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton down to the ground inside the end zone for a safety. To cap things off, Hightower closed the books on the Bengals late in the fourth as he teamed up with defensive end Jabaal Sheard for a sack on third and long that essentially ended Cincy's chances at a comeback. All in all, with limited bodies in the middle of the New England defense, Hightower had a MONSTER day.

Malcolm Match Up- Defensive back Malcolm Butler put together a quality game for the New England defense, throughout the game. The third year cornerback commanded his side of the field for most of the day, breaking up a few passes and nearly missing a pick late in the game. He did allow one touchdown deep in the red zone, but he also made a couple of nice tackles and limited the damage on his side of the field.

A Rowe Sighting- Defensive back Eric Rowe was on the field for the first time in his Patriots tenure today, playing in limited action. While the corner didn't log a lot of playing time, he did show up with a nifty pass break up on an attempted Dalton-to-Green connection in the end zone.

Limiting Green- The Patriots defense wasn't great but they did do a pretty good job limiting the Bengals top offensive weapon, A.J. Green. While he did snag six catches for 88 yards and converted a couple of third down opportunities, Green was held out of the end zone and made a non-factor in the red zone.

The Patriots pulled away in the second half and were able to coast to a relatively easy win. The team still has plenty to build on, however, as they take their act back on the road next week. With a big conference match up coming in Pittsburgh on Sunday, the Pats have a chance to really pull away from their AFC opponents. They'll need to have a better full game on offense and get off the field on third downs on the defensive end to beat a tough Steelers team, however.

All Stats Here.