Nothing about explosive plays. Nothing about the hurry-up offense. Nothing about stretching the field.
For Bill Belichick, the Patriots played their brand of football on Sunday against the Bengals. Even though that brand of football included just 15 completed passes and 128 yards through the air, he was proud of his team's effort and the product his players put on the field. He told them as much in the visitor's locker room in Cincinnati.
"That was getting back . . . to Patriot Football there," Belichick said. "Plus-five turnovers. Taking good care of the ball. Four picks and a fumble recovery. Hundred seventy-five yards on the ground. Making progress. Making progress. That'll be a winning formula. Don't turn the ball over, run the ball, play good in the kicking game, play good defense. That'll win for us."
On the one hand, he's not wrong. If the Patriots can generate that many turnovers against any opponent, those teams will have a hard time winning. But against better offenses — offenses that feature, say, Patrick Mahomes or Lamar Jackson instead of Andy Dalton — is that "formula" one the Patriots can bank on?
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It nearly worked out for them against the Chiefs two weeks ago. The Patriots held Mahomes to 57 yards passing and three points in the second half, and their comeback bid was snuffed out in part due to some questionable officiating.
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Still, in 2019, the passing game is king. And even for a run-heavy offense like the one that won Super Bowl LIII, throws needed to be completed in critical moments in order to put them over the top. Tom Brady found Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski for key gains in overtime of the AFC title game in Kansas City. He hit Gronkowski down the seam to set up the only touchdown of the game to win Lombardi No. 6.
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Can the Patriots get those types of passing-game contributions when needed? Will Edelman or Mohamed Sanu be healthy enough to come through if called upon in those spots? Will James White be able to fight through more frequent double-teams to provide a spark? Will rookie wideout N'Keal Harry serve as an answer to what ails this offense after an impressive Week 15?
That remains to be seen, but Belichick liked what he saw on Sunday — despite how the passing game looked.
