The Cincinnati Bengals will likely get Joe Burrow back for Thursday’s primetime Thanksgiving game against the Baltimore Ravens.
But they have to deal with the New England Patriots on Sunday first.
What looked like it had the chance to be one of the easier games on the schedule before the season has morphed into a different beast, though. The Patriots have surged out to a 9-2 record and haven’t lost a game since September 21.
Along the way, Drake Maye has completed 71.9 percent of his passes with 20 touchdowns against five interceptions.
The Patriots have gone eight games with scoring more than 23 points and allowing less than that same mark. Doing so against the Bengals would break a record that has stood since 1961.
So, the task is tall for the Bengals.
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Fans know the deal with the defense. Al Golden’s unit is the worst of all time by DVOA so far. The unit won’t have Trey Hendrickson, struggles to create pressure and won’t or can’t make lineup changes away from the youth movement that has caused big struggles at linebacker and safety.
Ditto for the offense. Joe Flacco will roll back out there with his sprained AC joint in his throwing arm. This time, he’ll do it without Ja’Marr Chase, who will serve a one-game suspension for the spitting incident with Jalen Ramsey last week.
Flacco had been putting up some eyebrow-raising numbers for the Bengals until the game in Pittsburgh last week, where he went just 23-of-40 with 199 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
A shame, too, because the Bengals’ offensive line has quietly taken a big step forward, at least compared to past years, and the running game looks good. The lack of a threat from Chase will likely help to change that.
Unfortunately, the Patriots are favored by more than a touchdown on the road in this one for good reason.
And while it would be nice to suggest that the Burrow return in a matter of days would spur some desperation that leads to better play, the idea of a Burrow return has been alive and well for quite some time and the defense has yet to show much in the way of change.
Maybe the Bengals show more life than usual, but the defense waited too long to play average ball and bail things out. The Bengals will likely head into a short week debating whether it’s even worth it to bring Burrow back to a 3-8 team.
Prediction: Patriots 27, Bengals 20
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This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Final score predictions for Patriots vs. Bengals in Week 12
Reporting by Chris Roling, Bengals Wire / Bengals Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
