Cincinnati Bengals at New England Patriots (+1)
What do we believe?
When it comes to the Cincinnati Bengals, it seems almost impossible to accept how good they have become over the past few years. But every time the New England Patriots stumble we find it hard to believe they are truly bad.
The answer is simple — Bill Belichick and Tom Brady — but the question is still worth asking: why do we expect success when the quality of play appears to have declined?
No matter how poor they look on a given night, the Patriots still manage to win an incredible amount of games — double-digit wins for eleven straight seasons. While the time might be approaching where we consider the Bengals to be in a class above the Patriots, nothing has indicated that it has arrived. Yet.
The Bengals are every bit as good as advertised, but head coach Marvin Lewis holds a lackluster 4-6-1 record coming off a bye week with Cincinnati.
The Patriots are a mere 8-0 in their last eight games following a loss.
New England wins by a touchdown, silencing some critics for the time being, and beats the spread.
