FOXBOROUGH — What does it say about the current state of the Patriots that Sunday’s prime-time visit from a team that hasn’t won a playoff game in almost 24 years is being viewed as some kind of litmus test?
Or, to be fair, what does it say about the state of the Cincinnati Bengals?
If the Patriots were ever in need of an overmatched, confidence-restoring, get-well opponent, this might be the week, with New England reeling from a 41-14 loss at Kansas City on Monday, bombarded with questions about their aging quarterback, Swiss cheese offensive line, lack of pass-catching weapons, and having one fewer day to prepare for Sunday’s game. For many years, the Bengals would have fit the bill perfectly.
But not this year, it seems. Cincinnati is one of only two undefeated teams in the NFL; the Bengals and Arizona Cardinals are coming off bye weeks, and still perfect at 3-0. Cincinnati has a win at Baltimore, and home victories over Atlanta and Tennessee. They’ve outscored their opponents, 80-33, flexing a defense that is young and fast and has allowed only 3 first-half points, and riding an offense that has committed only one turnover, and allowed no sacks.
The Patriots also lost to Cincinnati last season, 13-6, the only time in more than five years that New England has been held without a touchdown.
So if the Patriots are going to bounce back and avoid a two-game skid, they’ll need to beat a Cincinnati squad that, at least so far, has looked like one of the better teams in the NFL. The Bengals have trailed for all of 48 seconds.
“This is a team that likes to get ahead and stay ahead. They’ve done that in all their games this year,” Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said before Wednesday’s indoor walkthrough practice. “That’s why they’ve been pretty successful.
“This is a team that gave us all we could handle last year, and it’s a great opportunity for us to go out on a Sunday night game and try to play a lot better than we played last week.”
What might make Sunday such a challenge for the Patriots is the fact that the Bengals appear to be strong in the areas that have given New England trouble this season. They can pressure the quarterback with four rushers (seven sacks in three games) and have taken advantage of that on the back end by intercepting six passes. The Bengals, at plus-6, lead the NFL in turnover differential.
The Bengals got to Brady last season, sacking him four times and forcing one interception. They also held the Patriots to 1 for 12 on third-down conversions and have carried that over from last season to this one; at 31.7 percent, Cincinnati ranks second in the league defensively for third-down conversions. That’s still been a problem area offensively for the Patriots, who are 27th at converting third downs, at just 36.2 percent.
After watching the Chiefs pile up 443 yards, the Patriots get ready to face a versatile Cincinnati offense led by quarterback Andy Dalton, receiver A.J. Green, and running back Giovani Bernard. The Bengals, with new offensive coordinator Hue Jackson taking over for new Redskins coach Jay Gruden, have pledged to run it more, but they also possess an ability to hit the big pass play: They have four plays of 46 yards or longer, and two of those went for more than 75.
“Their offense has put up points each week. Dalton is doing a great job of getting the ball to the go-to guys and taking care of the ball,” said Patriots safety Devin McCourty. “It’s going to be tough for us defensively, but I think coming off a bad loss like that, a challenge like this will tell us a lot about us as a defense. We’ve got to be ready.”
Putting some heat on Dalton would help, but the game itself might do that, and that would benefit the Patriots. Dalton, in his fourth season, led the Bengals to the playoffs in each of his first three seasons. But he’s still looking for his first playoff win; Cincinnati lost wild-card games all three years (Texans twice, then Chargers), and hasn’t won a playoff game since Jan. 6, 1991. Bernard wasn’t even born then. In fact, every other team in the NFL has won a playoff game more recently than the Bengals.
But back to Dalton. He’s 2-7 in games that were either held in prime time or in the playoffs. The bigger the stage, the smaller he’s played. In those nine games, Dalton has thrown 11 interceptions and only six touchdown passes.
The Bengals, though, rewarded Dalton with a contract extension before this season, and the numbers (six years, potentially $115 million) drew some arched eyebrows for someone who has yet to win a postseason game. But the deal was structured in a team-friendly way that gives Dalton some up-front guaranteed money, then could pay him millions in escalator bonuses tied to the team’s success, including playoff and Super Bowl wins.
“Yeah, some of the people keep saying we haven’t played well in night games, prime time, whatever it is, but we’re setting out to win this game. We’re not worried about the past, it’s about what we’re doing now,” Dalton said. “So we’re excited about getting the opportunity to play Sunday night against a good team, and to really show what this team is made of.”
Unlike Brady, Dalton has had time to throw this season, and has spread the ball around evenly (Green, Bernard, and Mohamed Sanu all have 12 catches). He’s even caught a touchdown pass from Sanu, on a trick play.
Rested, healthy, and confident, the Bengals will be out to prove that their unbeaten record should be taken seriously, even though the franchise rarely has been since that most recent playoff win, over the Houston Oilers. Coming into Gillette Stadium and handing the Patriots a second straight prime-time loss would serve as a start. Strange as it sounds, beating the Bengals at home and handing them their first loss of the season could also serve as a start for the Patriots.
“I don’t think Sunday [is a measuring stick]. We’re just going to go out there and play,” said Green. “We’re not worried about the playoffs right now. All we can do is control what’s ahead of us, and that’s the Patriots.”
Michael Whitmer can be reached at mwhitmer@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeWhitmer.