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The Result
The Patriots roll over the Bengals 34-13 at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati and improve to 4-0 on the year. The Bengals are now 1-3.Â
Sammy Morris, Tom Brady and Randy Moss did the primary damage offensively for New England tonight. Morris, filling in for Laurence Maroney, had his 4th career 100 yard rushing game, Moss became the first player with 4 consecutive 100 yard games to start a season and Brady completed 78% of his throws.Â
Defensively the team wasn’t as good as it has been but the expolosiveness of the Cincinnati offense led them to leave more people back than they usually do resulting in only one sack of Carson Palmer.Â
Overall a good effort but not nearly as dominating as the last three games.
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
NE – Gostkowski 31 yard FG – 3-0 Patriots
NE – Brady 1 yard TD pass to Vrabel – kick good – 10-0 Patriots
2nd Quarter
CIN – Palmer 1 yard TD pass to Houshmandzadeh – kick good – 10-7 Patriots
NE – Brady 7 yard TD pass to Moss – kick good – 17-7 Patriots
3rd Quarter
NE – Morris 7 yard run – kick good – 24-7 Patriots
CIN – Graham 40 yard FG – 24-10 Patriots
4th Quarter
NE – Gostkowsi 36 yard FG – 27-10 Patriots
CIN – Graham 48 yard FG – 27-13 Patriots
NE – Â Brady yard 14 TD pass to Moss – kick good – Patriots 34-13
Offensive Player of the Game
Sammy Morris, playing in place of Laurence Maroney had 21 carries, 117 yards and a TD.
Defensive Player of the Game
Asante Samuel had 4 tackles and a big interception.
Turning Point(s) of the Game
Patriots 62-yard TD drive to answer the Bengals first TD and put the lead back to 10 with about 4 minutes left in the half.
Samuel’s interception of Bengal QB Carson Palmer just shy of the goal line with Bengals driving at end of the second half.
Offensive Leaders/Notes
 In addition to Morris, Tom Brady was 25 of 32 for 231 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT, Randy Moss had 9 catches for 102 yards and 2 TD’s.
Patriots were 5 of 10 in 3rd down efficiency. Â
Two false starts on a drive in first quarter put them in 3rd and 14 they had to punt for only the 4th time all year.
Sammy Morris had a big run of 49 yards to give them first and goal on the 2 they would score on a Brady TD pass to Vrabel.
Pats used Mike Vrabel and Junior Seau with full back Heath Evans on the goal line.
Holding penalty early in the second quarter brought back a 1st down gain, that with a blown up screen and an incomplete pass puts them at 3rd and 23. Brady was then intercepted at the Pats 35.
Punishing drive by the Patriots on their second TD using mostly runs by Morris and capping it with a TD pass to Moss.
Patriots run a nice reverse with Wes Welker for a 16 yard gain in the 3rd quarter. Then followed it up with a 16 yard pass to Moss and 15 yards were added for a late hit on Brady to get into the Red Zone.
Pats go for it on 4th and 1 at the Bengals 7 and Morris scored capping an 81 yard drive.
Patriots have a running play on third and short blown up by Cincinnati’s Robert Geathers and had to settle for a FG in the 4th quarter.
Matt Cassel relieved Brady with two minutes left in the game.
Defensive Leaders/Notes
In addition to Samuel, Adalius Thomas had 5 tackles and 1 sack, Randall Gay had 4 tackles and an interception and Ty Warren had 4 tackles.Â
The Patriots held the Bengals to 0 for 7 on 3rd downs.
Big sack on 3rd and 11 by Thomas on Bengals first drive to force a punt.
Good pressure on Palmer on 3rd down in the second drive forcing a punt.
Bengals had 17 yards (5 passing, 12 rushing) in first quarter.
Poor tackling on a 21-yard pass to Johnson down the sideline to set up the 1st Bengals TD.
Defense looked soft in the last 4 minutes of the 2nd quarter with Bengals going no huddle but Samuel picked off Palmer with 1:14 left in the half at the two yard line.
On 3rd and two they ran a fullout blitz and Tedy Bruschi leaped to slap the ball away.
Randall Gay intercepted Palmer with under 3 minutes left to close out the game.
Special Teams Leaders/Notes
Stephen Gostkowski  was 2 for 2 on FGA’s and 4 for 4 on extra points.
After Bengals first TD, the kick off is short and returned to the 38 by the Patriots. This would lead to a 62-yard scoring drive.
Stephen Gostkowski started the 2nd half with a touchback on the kickoff
Poor decision late in the game by Ellis Hobbs to try to run a kick off from 7 yards deep in the end zone. He failed to make it to the 20.
Coaching Decisions
Cincinnati challenged the Morris run saying he stepped out of bounds (upheld).
Injuries
Lamar Marshall (CIN) carted off with left Achilles injury will not return. (1st qtr)
Madieu Williams (CIN) left the game after tackling Morris on the 49 yard run (1st qtr). Returned later in the game.
Landon Johnson (CIN) left game after tackling Morris in 2nd qtr. Suffered an eye injury walked off the field with training staff. Did not return.
Dan Koppen (NE) unknown injury on Morris 3rd qtr TD run. He returned to the game.Â
The Officials
Tonight’s referee was Jerome Boger (4th year in NFL, 2nd as a referee).
The officials missed late hit on Chad Johnson after he went out of bounds in the fourth quarter.Â
Game Notes
Patriots RB Laurence Maroney was inactive for the game due to a groin injury.
Bengals RB Rudi Johnson was also inactive with a hamstring injury.
The Bengals decided against shooting the pigeons and went instead with trying to scare them with laser light pens.
Patriots are 0-3 in challenges this year.
Is ESPN’s Michelle Tafoya trying to look like Pat Benatar for a reason?
The Bengals wore their orange alternate jersey tonight. Prior to tonight they had never lost while wearing them. The NFL allows teams with a third jersey to wear them twice during the season.
Former Patriots and Bengals RB Corey Dillon was contacted this weekend by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His agent told them he wasn’t interested.
The Patriots scored on their first drive of the game for the fourth consecutive week (2 TD’s, 2 FG’s).
Mike Vrabel’s TD catch was the 9th of his career.
Tom Brady set a NFL record for most completions (79) in first 100 passes of the season.
I’ve asked my Cincy friends before and I’ll say it again, what’s with the guy in the orange storm trooper outfit?
Asante Samuel started his first game of the season.
Tonight’s crowd was the largest in Bengals history 66, 113.
Post Game Press Conferences
For the post game comments of Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady go to this link.Â
Press conferences are via Patriots.com
Things To Work On For Next Week
Red Zone defense and playing receivers tighter defensively.
Next Week’s Opponent
The Patriots host the Cleveland Browns and old friend Romeo Crennel at Gillette Stadium at 1 p.m. on Sunday. The game will be seen regionally on CBS and on the Patriots Rock Radio Network.
Rest of the AFC East Results
Buffalo (1-3) edged the NY Jets (1-3), 17-14
Oakland (2-2) whipped Miami (0-4), 35-17
Other AFC Games of Note
Indianapolis (4-0) pounded Denver (2-2), 38-20
Cleveland (2-2) beat Baltimore (2-2), 27-13
Arizona (2-2) shut down Pittsburgh (3-1), 21-14
