Cincinnati, Ohio – The Patriots held on for a 26-20 victory over the Bengals at Paycor Stadium on Sunday, securing a 10-win season for the first time since 2021.

Starting with the positives, the Patriots now have their longest winning streak since the 2015 season at nine games. Although we'll get to the bigger picture, let's not take winning for granted. This team won eight games over the last two seasons and has now accomplished something it hasn't since Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman, and company were playing football in Foxboro nearly a decade ago. It's hard to win in this league, especially while playing your 12th consecutive game without a bye week on the road. For those reasons, we won't hold a tight game against a lesser opponent against them – just take care of business.

Having said that, the Patriots had a tough day health-wise with LT Will Campbell (knee), LG Jared Wilson (ankle), DT Khyiris Tonga (chest), and special-teamer Brenden Schooler (ankle) all leaving the game early. The Patriots offensive line, which has been a huge part of their turnaround, started the same five for the 11th time in 12 games, but lost its all-rookie left side to injuries on Sunday, which looms large over this win.

Until we have more clarity on the severity of their injuries, we won't speculate on how long Campbell and the other injured Patriots might be out. Either way, it puts a damper on what was a ninth consecutive win to improve to 6-0 on the road. Speaking after the game, head coach Mike Vrabel didn't have any injury updates.

Along with the injuries, there were a few key areas to improve as the competition gets stiffer down the stretch. New England was stuffed on two goal-to-go situations, including a third-quarter drive where they ran six plays from the 1-yard line but failed to score, resulting in zero points after being stuffed on a fourth-down run. The Pats defense also gave up its ninth scoring drive in 12 games on the Bengals opening drive, and a 37-yard field goal drive to end the half, giving up two chunk plays in under 30 seconds.

To be fair, the 63-yarder by Bengals K Evan McPherson was a franchise record. Still, the goal-to-go and end-of-half execution are the situational football sequences that'll hold more weight when the Patriots play higher-stakes games in December and January. It's disappointing to take a more somber tone to lead off game observations following a win, but injuries and shaky situational football kept a lesser team in Sunday's game.

Here are eight takeaways as the Patriots improve to 10-2 on the season with a win over the Bengals in Cincinnati in Week 12.

1. Play of the Game: CB Marcus Jones Turns the Tide with Pick-Six in Second Quarter

After the Patriots found themselves in an early 10-0 deficit, New England retook control of the game with two touchdowns in less than two minutes in the second quarter.

New England's offense orchestrated a 9-play touchdown drive that made the game 10-7. Then, the Patriots answered an earlier pick-six by the Bengals defense with one of their own by slot CB Marcus Jones. Jones, who signed a contract extension with the team earlier this season, is having a terrific year that could earn him some accolades when the time comes.

On their first pick-six since the 2023 season (Kyle Dugger vs. Miami), New England plays the early down in quarters coverage with a four-deep, three-under zone coverage. Flacco sees the deep-zone coverage taking away his downfield routes, and thinks he's just going to harmlessly check it down into the flat to RB Tahj Brooks. Instead, NCB Marcus Jones was baiting Flacco to throw the check-down the entire time, and jumped the flat for a 33-yard pick-six that was a sweet, sweet play by Jones.

The Patriots defense made some key plays when it counted, including the pick-six and closing out the win by stopping the Bengals game-winning drive attempt, with Jones in the middle of it all.

2. QB Drake Maye Sets New Career High with 294 Passing Yards in Sunday's Win

Although it started off shaky, Maye bounced back from a slow start to set a new career-high in passing yards with 294 yards on Sunday.

It wasn't the 300-yard performance we were hoping for, but the test of a true MVP is bouncing back from some in-game adversity. After throwing his first-career pick-six, Maye helped erase the double-digit deficit by going 22-of-35 for 294 passing yards and a touchdown. In the advanced metrics, Maye added +0.21 expected points in another solid outing, all things considered.

Maye's best throw of the day was a dot on a 37-yard seam-splitter to WR DeMario Douglas, who also made a great diving catch. The Bengals drop into a cover-two zone with LB Barrett Carter running with Douglas up the shoot. Maye throws Douglas open by ripping the ball around Carter, whose back is to the line of scrimmage, and Douglas makes a great grab. Those are the franchise quarterback throws from Maye that we are accustomed to seeing.

As for the pick-six, the Patriots ran a unique formation with LG Ben Brown flexed out wide, forming a perimeter screen for RB TreVeyon Henderson with only four offensive linemen blocking for Maye. Rather than taking the screen, which had favorable numbers (three over two), Maye sees TE Hunter Henry flash open running the left seam. He tries to layer a throw into his tight end over the first level and in front of S Geno Stone. Unfortunately, the pass sails, and Stone returns it for a touchdown.

Maye has set an extremely high bar, but again, not every game is going to be perfect. In some ways, seeing Maye bounce back positively from a slow start was a good thing. Now, it's about fine-tuning. In particular, having some better answers to pressure. On Sunday, Maye was just 3-of-10 for 34 yards and a sack against the blitz – an area to improve.

3. TE Hunter Henry Sets New Career High with 115 Receiving Yards on 7 catches vs. Bengals

The Patriots also got a career performance from their top tight end, who, along with Austin Hooper, was a calming presence when the offense needed them.

After the pick-six, the Patriots went back to their bread-and-butter: under-center with heavy personnel on the field. The Pats ran a few lead plays with FB Jack Westover in the backfield, and then went to their two tight ends to hunt matchups against Cincy's linebackers in coverage, which led to several open-window throws for Maye. The offense settled down on their fourth possession with a 9-play TD drive, with Henry's 28-yard touchdown being the exclamation point.

On the touchdown, New England ran its version of the sail concept, where WR DeMario Douglas comes in motion from the opposite side of the formation to create the flat route, making it a three-level concept that pulls S Geno Stone down into the short zone distribution to account for the motion. WR Mack Hollins then clears out the deep-third defender for Henry, who runs the corner or sail route into the zone void for a wide-open touchdown.

Maye also worked several short crossing routes to Henry that hit for big plays, and the Patriots got a positive play to Hooper on their play-action spinner series, where Maye does a 180-degree spin in the pocket coming off a play-fake out of shotgun. Overall, Henry and Hooper were New England's leading receivers in Sunday's game (10 catches, 154 yards). As two experienced players on this younger roster, the veteran tight ends always seem to deliver.

4. CBs Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis III Battle with Bengals WR Tee Higgins

On Sunday, the Bengals were down star WR Ja'Marr Chase (suspension), setting up a showdown between New England's outside corners and Higgins, a great player in his own right.

Gonzalez shadowed Higgins for most of the afternoon, covering the Bengals star on 15 of his 25 routes (60%). Gonzo allowed three catches on three targets for 20 yards vs. Higgins, while Davis III allowed one catch for three yards and an iffy defensive pass interference call. The Pats also did a nice job of being aware when Higgins lined up inside the slot, which he did on three routes (zero catches). One coverage rep, in particular, that stood out was Gonzalez smothering a Higgins slant that allowed captain Harold Landry III to register an early sack.

Without his running mate in Chase, New England keyed in on Higgins, who had a modest five catches for 31 yards before exiting the game late in the fourth quarter.

5. Highlighting the Patriots D-Line Rotation Without Standout DT Milton Williams

Another area where the Patriots are overcoming a major injury is on the interior defensive line, where New England was without DT Milton Williams, who was placed on injured reserve due to an ankle injury. Then, NT Khyiris Tonga left the game early due to a chest injury. Alongside stud DT Christian Barmore, the Patriots leaned on DT Cory Durden (33 snaps), practice-squad elevation Jeremiah Pharms Jr. (20 snaps), and DT Eric Gregory (18 snaps). On a positive note, Durden continued to play well with three more hurries and two run stuffs, while Barmore had two pressures, and EDGE K'Lavon Chaisson led the team with four pressures.

However, the run defense continued to show some cracks on Sunday. Bengals RB Chase Brown became the first 100-yard rusher vs. the Patriots this season, carrying the ball for 107 yards on 19 carries. Over the last three games, New England has allowed 5.2 yards and +0.09 EPA per rush with a 58.3% success rate. In the first nine weeks, the run defense was shutting down opponents, holding them to 3.6 yards per rush, -0.14 EPA per rush, and a 38.1% success rate. Defensively, the run defense has shown some decline in recent weeks.

6. RB TreVeyon Henderson Continues in Lead Role in Patriots Backfield

With veteran RB Rhamondre Stevenson returning from a three-game absence due to a toe injury, the Patriots continued to ride the hot hand, featuring their rookie running back. Henderson played 65.2% of the offensive snaps, or 43 total, while leading the team with 21 touches. Henderson grinded out 66 rushing yards on 18 carries. In his 21 snaps, Stevenson had some struggles, rushing for just five yards on six carries, albeit in some short-yardage situations. The snap split sounds about right, but even with a banged-up offensive line, the late-down execution will hopefully improve moving forward.

7. OT Vederian Lowe and G/C Ben Brown Could Have Larger Roles Moving Forward

Returning to the big picture, the Patriots turned to two starters from the 2024 season, Lowe and Brown, to replace their two rookies on the left side of the offensive line. On Sunday, the Patriots managed the injuries with Maye under pressure on 35.2% of his drop-backs, with Brown and Lowe allowing two pressures each. That said, the offensive line shares in the struggles New England had on the goal line. When you have multiple tries to punch it in from the 1-yard line, you need to be able to get a yard for a touchdown. Brown and Lowe will be in the spotlight until the rookies return.

8. K Andy Borregales Makes All Six Kicks, New KO Return, Schooler (Ankle) Leaves Game

On an eventful day for the Patriots special teams, rookie K Andy Borregales continues to be Mr. Automatic. Although we don't want to jinx him, Borregales made all six of his kicks, including going 4-of-4 on field goals of 52, 45, 41, and 19 yards. The 52-yard field goal in the fourth quarter proved to be a huge make, extending the Pats lead to six points.

Another positive takeaway was rookie WR Kyle Williams potentially finding a new role as a kickoff returner. Williams was called upon with WR Efton Chism III inactive and delivered with a 36-yard return. Williams' straight-line speed fits well on kickoff returns, and with the Patriots now healthy at wide receiver, they can afford to put Williams on returns. Unfortunately, the Patriots special teams also suffered a key injury with coverage ace Brenden Schooler leaving Sunday's game with an ankle injury.

Heading into the season, one area of concern for New England was its roster depth. The Patriots did a great job with improving the talent on the roster in the offseason, but now they'll need to prove they've built up enough depth along the offensive line, interior defensive line, and other areas. Hopefully, they get some good news on the injury front. If not, it's a huge test to see if they can overcome injuries to key players that have helped this team to a 10-2 start.

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