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Patriots stock watch: Here’s who stood out and struggled in win over Bengals
Drake Maye had a shaky start, Marcus Jones made an explosive play, and Hunter Henry came up big.
The Patriots overcame a shaky start from Drake Maye to secure their ninth consecutive win on Sunday against the Bengals in Cincinnati.
Depending on it’s severity, the knee injury rookie left tackle Will Campbell suffered in the third quarter could wind up being the biggest story of the day. New England’s revamped offensive line has been key to their success, and Campbell is a big part of that.
This was a close win against a struggling team without its two best players. Cincinnati’s offense did not pack much of a punch without Ja’Marr Chase and Joe Burrow.
New England’s pass rush was lackluster, but the secondary held up strongly for the most part. Marcus Jones changed the game with an interception return for a touchdown that gave the Patriots their first lead of the day.
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Maye eventually found his footing and made some big throws while his starting left guard and tackle were out.
Here’s a look at who stood out and struggled in the win.
Stock Up
Marcus Jones
Jones’s effort on his pick-six was remarkable. He was about 10 yards behind the intended receiver when Flacco first looked his way.
A pump-fake and a hesitant throw gave Jones time to dart in front of Tahj Brooks and jump the route. Jones was so fast on the return that he had time to spin around and backpedal before he crossed over into the end zone.
It was Jones’s second-career pick-six. His other one, also against the Bengals, came in 2022 during his rookie season.
Hunter Henry
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Henry was Maye’s most dependable target on Sunday. He had seven catches for 115 yards and a wide-open touchdown.
This was Henry’s first 100-yard game since New England’s overtime loss to Seattle in Week 2 of last year.
The steady tight-end crossed over the 500-yard mark for the season.
Harold Landry
Landry was one of three Patriots to hit the quarterback on Sunday, and the only one to record a sack.
It was his first game credited with a full sack since Nov. 2 against Atlanta.
The Patriots’ pass rush did not wreak much havoc against Cincinnati, but Landry had some early production.
DeMario Douglas
Douglas’s emergence as a deep-threat continued on Sunday.
He had just one target, but it went for 37 yards as Maye hit him on a seam route, threading the ball between three defenders on his best throw of the day.
Douglas has an explosive play (20+ yards) in six of the Patriots’ 12 games this season, including each of the last five.
Stock Flat
TreVeyon Henderson
The Patriots’ run game was not particularly effective. Henderson got the bulk of the carries (18) and totaled 66 yards. His longest carry of the day went for nine yards. He did not score a touchdown.
With the exception of the Tampa Bay game, the production was pretty close to what Henderson has been delivering this season.
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With multiple offensive line starters getting injured against Cincinnati, it was tough sledding for the run game.
Christian Gonzalez
The Patriots’ secondary turned in a strong performance on Sunday. Tee Higgins was limited to five catches for 31 yards. Cincinnati had 197 receiving yards as a team.
Gonzalez was a big part of the smothering coverage which held up well despite getting little pressure from a Milton Williams-less front seven.
He was in coverage on the Bengals’ only passing touchdown of the game to Mitchell Tinsley, which came during a big moment.
But for the most part, Gonzalez and the defensive backs were solid.
Stock Down
Drake Maye
The interception that Maye threw at the beginning of the second quarter was horrendous.
He threw the ball way over Henry’s head and into the waiting arms of Cincinnati’s Geno Stone, who ran it back for a touchdown. The pick-six gave Cincinnati an early double-digit lead.
Maye looked unusually uncomfortable early on, but eventually picked things up. His final stat line (22-for-35, 294 yards, one TD, one INT) ended up being pretty solid.
But the lack of ball security put the team in a big hole early on, something that could be a problem against better competition.
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K’Lavon Chaisson
For the most part, Chaisson has been a playmaker this season but Sunday was far from his best performance.
One tackle. No tackles for loss. No quarterback hits, and also had a penalty in the first half.
Mack Hollins
Hollins caught just two of his five targets on Sunday for 30 yards. He had put together a strong stretch over the last few weeks.
This was one of his least productive performances in a while.
The tight ends got the bulk of the action for the Patriots on Sunday, so the lack of production wasn’t just on Hollins. But less than half of his targets resulted in catches, which is not what New England is used to getting from him.
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