ReFo: NE @ CIN, Week 5 | ProFootballFocus.com

An uncharacteristic offensive effort by the Patriots was marred by poor guard play, as LG Logan Mankins (-3.8) and RG Dan Connolly (-2.8) were generally handled by the Bengals’ defensive front. Granted, going up against DT Geno Atkins doesn’t help, as Mankins can attest. Atkins bull rushed him into QB Tom Brady’s lap with 4:39 to go in the first and later notched a sack that was negated by a Cincinnati offsides penalty. It was more of the same in the run game, as Atkins continually got inside Mankins to affect Patriots’ blocking schemes. As for Connolly, most of his issues came in pass protection where he graded at -2.7 on his way to surrendering a sack, hit, and two hurries on 45 drop-backs. Atkins got the better of him for the two hurries, while DE Wallace Gilberry notched all three hits, including one that saw him get into Brady’s face in 1.7 seconds at the 0:22 mark of the second quarter.