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A home underdog? Thats not a familiar role for Bill Belichick and Tom Brady but thats the reality for a struggling New England Patriots team getting ready to host what has been the best team in football, the Cincinnati Bengals. Catch the game on TSN with coverage starting at 7pm et/4pm pt. The unbeaten Bengals have allowed a league-low 33 points in 2014 and are the only team in the NFL to allow 16 points or fewer in every game. Offensively, Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton has piled up a solid 95.4 passer rating while distributing the ball to multiple threats. Three different Bengals have at least 12 receptions in the teams first three games -- wide receivers A.J. Green and Mohamed Sanu as well as and running back Giovani Bernard. This is nothing more than a good first quarter (of the season), said veteran offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth. You cant let up. October is a month for adjustments. Teams begin to find out who they are. October is a big month. The Bengals come into that big month off a bye week but when last seen in Week 3 the club was punishing Tennessee, 33-7. Bernard rushed for a pair of scores against the Titans and Dalton became the first Cincinnati quarterback to record a receiving touchdown. It was a good effort in all three phases, noted Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis. Probably our best effort of the season. We did a good job of handling the windy conditions offensively. Dalton finished 15-of-23 for 169 yards and one interception, but hauled in an 18-yard scoring pass from Sanu in the second quarter as the Bengals extended their franchise-record, home-winning streak to 12 games. Green returned from a toe injury to amass 102 yards on six catches against Tennessee and Bernard totaled 47 yards on 14 carries, while rookie Jeremy Hill chipped in with a rushing score. Things have been far tougher, almost uncharacteristically so, for the Patriots, who are coming off a 41-14 drubbing at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football. Dressed in a sea of red, the raucous crowd at Arrowhead Stadium set another Guinness world record as Jamaal Charles returned from a sprained right ankle and scored three touchdowns in the rout. The Chiefs fans reclaimed the record for loudest outdoor sports venue in the first half. Their noise level of 142.2 decibels broke the 137.6 mark that the Seattle Seahawks faithful set on Dec. 2. Kansas City previously set the record on Oct. 13. New England failed to crack the 300-yard barrier for the third time in four games in that noise after doing it just four times last season. The Patriots totaled 290 yards. Brady was 14-of-23 for 159 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions and Brandon LaFell caught six passes for 119 yards and a score for the Patriots, who suffered their worst defeat since losing to San Diego 41-17 in 2005. Couldnt really move the ball consistently on offense and turned the ball over in the second half, Belichick surmised New England holds a 14-9 advantage over the Bengals in the all-time series between the two clubs but Cincinnati topped the Pats, 13-6, last year by holding New England to 248 net yards. Were a totally different team and Im sure theyre a totally different team, said Bengals defensive end Wallace Gilberry. WHAT TO WATCH FOR There is some serious debate going on regarding Brady, who is just 60 passing yards shy of becoming the sixth player in NFL history with 50,000. Some believe the 37-year-old, three-time Super Bowl winner has reached what is an inevitable decline for any athlete and the one battle we all eventually lose, the fight against Father Time. Others insist Brady has plenty left in the tank but is struggling because the Patriots have failed him by not providing adequate threats outside the numbers or a competent offensive line. Whatever thesis you subscribe to, heres the reality: the Pats have the 29th-reanked offense in the NFL, Bradys 79.1 passer rating is a dismal 29th in the league and hes connecting on what projects to be a career-worst 59.1 percent of the passes. Things got so bad in Kansas City that Belichick lifted the long-time star for rookie second-round pick Jimmy Garoppolo, who promptly led New England on a late scoring drive. Like (coach Belichick) always says, ignore the noise and just stay focused on what we need to do, Brady said. Stay focused on what our process is to try to make the improvement. Weve got an important job to do this week and the clock is ticking. Opposing defenses no longer fear the Patriots and are jumping the underneath routes to Julian Edelman and Ron Gronkowski with no fear of getting beat over the top. The Bengals, on the other hand, are extremely balanced and can beat you in a multitude of ways offensively. They have a lot of good players, Belichick admitted. Theyre well-coached. Theyre tough, theyre physical. Its been a while since Ive seen a team thats as complete as they are. Dalton receives a lot of criticism and he is certainly not Brady in his prime but hes been tremendously consistent with 33 career wins since arriving as a second-round pick out of TCU in 2011. At the end of the day, youre not going against the quarterback, but everybody is going to compare you to the other quarterback, Dalton said. Anytime you can win against guys like (Brady), its big. It shows what this team is capable of doing. Ive got a lot of confidence. You go into those games expecting to win. OVERALL ANALYSIS The Bengals should expect to win. While the Patriots will remain in the postseason hunt for the foreseeable future simply because the AFC East is so bad, its looking more likely that the Bengals have replaced them as one of the few, true Super Bowl contenders on the AFC side of things. Cincinnati is just too well-rounded in all phases to lose to a Patriots team which cant seem to get out of its own way offensively. Sports Network predicted outcome: Bengals 27, Patriots 17 Jaylen Brown Jersey . Hamilton signed offensive linemen Mike Filer, Joel Reinders, Landon Rice and Carson Rockhill. Reggie Lewis Jersey . -- The Oakland Raiders expect to have starting right tackle Tony Pashos back for Sundays game against the Houston Texans. http://www.authenticcelticsproshop.com/Bill-Russell-Jersey/ . - The Oakland Athletics say they are stopping negotiations to extend their lease at the Coliseum. Larry Bird Jersey . Bale has had a successful debut season in Spain, and Ancelotti appears ready to reward him with a starting role on Saturday. Ancelotti says "Gareth had some problems at the beginning (of the season) but when he found good physical condition he scored a lot of goals, he had a good impact on the team. Red Auerbach Jersey . Third-place Madrid fell behind and settled for a 2-2 draw earlier at Osasuna in a match both sides finished with 10 men, and Barcelona didnt let the chance escape. Barcelona, still without the injured Lionel Messi, again turned to Neymar after his hat trick against Celtic in the Champions League on Wednesday to convert a penalty on the half-hour mark and restore the lead in the 68th after Villarreal levelled.Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - Matt Read and Sean Couturier picked up a goal and assist each to stoke Philadelphias 4-1 victory over New Jersey on Thursday. Wayne Simmonds and Jakub Voracek also lit the lamp for the Flyers, who kicked off their final homestand of calendar year 2014 with their second win in three outings. Claude Giroux and Mark Streit chipped in a pair of assists to back a 17-save effort by Ray Emery. Philadelphia continues its residency on Saturday afternoon by welcoming Carolina. Martin Havlat provided the sole offense for the Devils, who have lost eight of their last 10 overall. Cory Schneider surrendered three goals on 35 shots in defeat. Schneider flashed the right pad to deny a Simmonds one-timer from the right wing with 7 1/2 minutes played in the third period... The hosts received the final break in the contest, as Michael Raffl was pulled down from behind by Mike Cammalleri with 4:55 left in regulation and the hosts cashed in as Simmonds screened Schneider and managed to flip home a Streit rebound 39 seconds later. Voracek hit the empty net with 2 1/2 minutes remaining, shortly after Schneider was removed. Despite committing the games second infraction, the Flyers picked up the games first goal while shorthanded.dddddddddddd Read was tripped up at the blue line tracking a puck that eluded Devils defenseman Marek Zidlicky, got up, skated up the right wing and dished across for a one-timer from Couturier from the left side at 6:12 of the first period. Couturier and Read teamed up again with the former feeding the latter from the left-wing boards to the right side of the crease for an easy tap-in at 13:37. Emery slid across to stop a Steve Bernier breakaway backhander in the first three minutes of the second, but couldnt catch up to Havlats deflection of a Scott Gomez offering on a power play with 6:58 remaining in the second period. Game Notes Read snapped a seven-game goal drought ... The Flyers recorded a power-play goal for the sixth straight game, the longest current streak in the NHL ... New Jersey had won a franchise (KC/COL/NJ) record four in a row in Philadelphia and seven of nine (7-1-1) since January of 2011 ... Cammalleri returned to action after missing two games, while Dainius Zubrus missed his second contest due to a leg laceration ... Prior to the contest, the Devils placed forward Damian Brunner on waivers. ' ' '