Over the past several weeks, the Cincinnati Bengals have been entwined in a bitter contract dispute with one of their best players. Former All-Pro Wide Receiver Ja’Marr Chase has established himself as one of the best receivers in the NFL and subsequently (and rightfully so) is demanding to be paid like it. That demand has driven a wedge between Chase and this front office as there is a heated discussion regarding exactly how much money he deserves to be paid and until that contract negotiation is ironed out, there is a serious risk that Chase will holdout of the first game of the season.
Dumb Luck for the Cincinnati Bengals
Luckily for the city of Cincinnati, the organization came up lucky and ended up with their least competitive game of the season on paper in weak one. The New England Patriots have holes all over their roster and will be experiencing some serious growing pains with first time head coach Jerod Mayo serving at the head in Foxboro. New England finished last season 4-13 and given the fact that they drafted a rookie quarterback with thier first round pick (who will likely be on the bench during the week one matchup), very little has changed for the Patriots’ struggling roster.
On top of that, this usually stout defensive front is reeling at the recent losses of two of its best defensive linemen. Edge defender Matthew Judon was abruptly traded to the Atlanta Falcons last month due to his impatience for suffering through a long rebuild and defensive tackle Christian Barmore suffered spontanneous blood clots that have yet to be assessed to see if Barmore’s playing career is still even feasible in the long run. Without these two defenders, the team will be starting veteran defensive tackle Davon Godchaux at the nose tackle position.
Even with solid inside linebacker Jahlani Tavai providing run support from the interior, this is a unit that is begging for Cincinnati to run the ball up the middle. Even though this group finished fourth in the NFL in rush defense last season with an average of 93.2 rushing yards allowed per game, the amount of change that has gone on with this team over the past few seasons begs for Cincinnati to push a supposedly revamped rushing attack behind running backs Zack Moss and Chase Brown.
Even with their statistical dominance against the run last season, the New England pass defense is the better unit on paper. With an outstanding group of returning defensive backs like Chrisian Gonzalez, that may be a tough defensive unit to throw to in the first game. At the very least, this team should rely on the running attack to soften this defense for the play-action attack regardless of whether or not Chase plays.
Follow me on Twitter at @Super_Squatch76. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in college and NFL news, click here! If there is a topic you’d like me to cover or a question you’d like to ask, feel free to contact me at my email timothy.mcbride76@gmail.com.
