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Will the New England Patriots finally meet their match (offensively, at least) this coming Monday night in Cincinnati?

Thanks to his 4-TD, 300-yard passing performance against Buffalo this past Sunday, Patriots QB Tom Brady was named this week’s AFC Offensive Player of the Week.

But this week’s opponent, the Bengals, have some players who can put up equally impressive numbers.

“This is a very talented and explosive team,” head coach Bill Belichick began at his Wednesday press conference.

“Offensively, I think we know who all of the playmakers are. Certainly [Carson] Palmer and T.J. [Houshmandzadeh] and Chad [Johnson] and Rudi [Johnson], they're a very explosive group. They score a lot of points. They've been right at the top of the league in points every year. What are they now, 30 a game? Something like that, or close to it.” 

“Every time we play them it's a high scoring game,” Brady offered when asked about the Bengals’ offense prior to practice on Wednesday. “We're trying to make plays; they're trying to make plays. Those games are tough.”

“They can score from anywhere and they can score in a hurry,” Belichick added.

“It seems no matter who they put out there, they score. They use a lot of different people in their receiver combinations. When Rudi missed most of the second half last week against Seattle, [Kenny] Watson ran the ball well. He was very productive.  It almost doesn't seem to matter who is out there. If that ball is moving down the field, it's usually moving pretty fast.”

And while Cincinnati’s defense surrendered 51 points to the Cleveland Browns earlier this season, Brady still sees them as a formidable foe.

“Yeah, they have great speed [defensively] and I think the entire scheme is set up to force offenses into bad plays. They have a bunch of players who take advantage of that - Deltha O'Neal, he has a bunch of picks off of me.

Dexter Jackson is very instinctive back there. Madieu Williams is a great athlete playing back there in the secondary. Leon Hall, [a] rookie, had a pick last week. Johnathan Joseph is a very - he's coming along great, so they have some talented guys back there.

They put pressure on the quarterback and I think that's why those turnovers are so high, because they're forcing quarterbacks to get rid of the ball quickly because of their pass rush. And if you throw it up to those guys on defense, they don't drop it too often.”

Brady’s coach concurred with the QB’s assessment.

“Defensively, this is a turnover-driven team,” Belichick continued. “Cincinnati has been at the top of the league in turnovers the last few years. They're up there again. They're very conscious of getting the ball out one way or another, whether it be by scheme or by technique or by the style of play that their players use.”

As lopsided as New England’s victory over Cincinnati was last season, Brady feels the Patriots need to play even better this year to beat the Bengals.

“They know us very well. It seems like we play them every year,” he explained. “I hope this is a game that we go out there and play the best we have played. Even last year, we beat them but we left a lot of plays out on the field.”

 
Wednesday Practice Notebook

All the Patriots active roster and practice squad players were on the field Wedneday afternoon. The players wore helmets, shoulder pads, and shorts.

Black jerseys were awarded again this week to players who had an outstanding performance in recent practices. The hard-working recipients were QB Matt Gutierrez, WR Bam Childress, and DB Ray Ventrone.

New England made a roster move on Wednesday, re-signing DL Zach West. The 6-5, 305-pound rookie from UTEP was with the Pats during training camp. He’s once again wearing jersey number 69.