Patriots fumble away comeback against Bengals, fall to 7-8 on season

FOXBORO -- So much for a happy holiday season in New England. The Patriots made a furious second-half comeback against the Bengals on Christmas Eve, but ultimately came up short for a 22-18 loss at Gillette Stadium.

The Patriots scored 18 unanswered points after going into halftime in a 22-0 hole. They had the ball inside the red zone down 22-18 in the final minute. 

But they found a new way to lose, with Rhamondre Stevenson fumbling away the comeback bid at the Cincinnati 8-yard line with 1:05 left. It's the first time Stevenson has lost a fumble all season.

"Probably doing more than I was supposed to do," Stevenson said after the loss. "I should have just went down."

It's not losing on an ill-advised lateral in a tie game, but this one certainly stings as well. New England is now 7-8 on the season and are an extreme longshot to make the playoffs with two weeks left.

"Tough loss for us here. There are things I want to do better and you have to keep working, keep working together," quarterback Mac Jones said after the loss. "We didn't quit. We fought hard. At the end of the day we have to score more points.

"That falls on me as a quarterback. Super disappointed but a lot to look back on and realize that we have fighters on this team," Jones added. "That's tough to say in a loss, but we do, we have fighters on this team. Everyone on offense, defense, and special teams fought to the end."

The Bengals totally outclassed the Patriots throughout the first half. The Cincy offense made it look easy on the team's opening drive, taking full advantage of New England's undersized corners against their big receivers. Joe Burrow hit 6-foot-4 receiver Tee Higgins for a 39-yard connection over Marcus Jones (5-foot-8) on the second play of the game. The Patriots had to burn a timeout before the next play, as they had 12 men on the field.

A few plays later, Burrow went back to Higgins from nine yards out, with the receiver dragging Jonathan Jones into the end zone for the game's first touchdown. 

The New England offense responded with a quick three-and-out. Facing a third-and-4 after Rhamondre Stevenson picked up six yards on the first two downs, the Patriots had receivers running downfield routes. The pocket quickly collapsed on Jones and he had no one to throw to, so he took off and was eventually brought down before the line of scrimmage.

Adding injury to insult, Hunter Henry suffered a knee injury when he collided with Jonnu Smith and was lost for the rest of the game.

The Bengals then marched 59 yards down the field on nine plays, with Burrow hitting tight end Trenton Irwin for an easy touchdown to put Cincinnati on top 12-0. Evan McPherson missing both of his PATs to start the game was the only thing that went wrong for the Bengals on Saturday.

The Pats followed with another three-and-out, and Michael Palardy nearly fumbled away his punt attempt. The Bengals started at their own 49-yard line after Palardy's 22-yard boot, and added a field goal to take a 15-0 lead early in the second quarter.

New England picked up its first first down 16 minutes into the game. But the Pats punted it away when Jones hit Jakobi Meyers short of the chains on a third-and-5. Devin McCourty picked off Burrow on Cincy's next possession to give the ball back to the offense, but the Patriots punted again when Jones was sacked on a third-and-5 at midfield.

Cincinnati added another touchdown drive ahead of halftime, and the Patriots walked off the field in a 22-0 hole to a chorus of boos inside Gillette Stadium. The Bengals racked up 303 yards of offense and 21 first downs in the first half. The Patriots had just 71 yards and three first downs.

The Patriots finally got on the board in the third quarter. But it was not because of the team's offense.

Rookie Marcus Jones scored his third touchdown of the year with a 69-yard pick-six off Burrow. It was his second interception of the season but first defensive score, joining his offensive and special teams touchdowns on the season.

Nick Folk missed the PAT though, so touchdown only made it a 22-6 game. 

But the defensive score inspired the offense to come to life. After the New England defense forced a three-and-out, the Patriots passed midfield for the first time of the afternoon. Mac Jones and Kendrick Bourne led New England on a 72-yard scoring drive, culminating in a five-yard touchdown connection between the two. Jones hit Bourne three times on the drive for 56 yards.

Jones couldn't connect with Meyers on New England's two-point try, making it a 22-12 game with 12:58 to play.

The Bengals got to the New England 25 on their next possession, but Irwin led a touchdown pass go off his fingertips on a third-and-4. McPherson's struggles continued as he missed a 43-yard field goal attempt with 9:10 left.

On New England's next possession, Jones hit Bourne down the sideline on a play that was initially called incomplete. But after Belichick challenged, it was overturned to a 28-yard reception down to the Cincy 29. Bourne made an incredible effort to get both feet inbounds and hold onto the ball. But the highlight goes to Belichick for throwing the challenge flag in disgust.

A few plays later, Jones was called for an intentional grounding for throwing the ball short of the line of scrimmage as he was being hit. Cincinnati challenged that Jones did not make a forward pass and the play should have been a fumble, but the ruling on the field stood.

Facing a third-and-24, Trent Brown was then hit with a false start -- his 11th penalty of the season. It didn't look good.

But Jones uncorked a deep pass for recently promoted practice squader Scotty Washington, who was heavily covered but was able to tip the ball to Jakobi Meyers for the 48-yard touchdown. Just like that, we had a ballgame.

However, Folk missed another PAT, and the Patriots trailed 22-18 with 6:08 left.

The defense then came up with another huge play. Burrow went short to Ja'Marr Chase on a third-and-3, but Matthew Judon stripped the ball out of the receiver's hands and Marcus Jones recovered at the Cincinnati 43. 

Jones was banged up on the play, but then returned to the field on offense. He promptly picked up 15 yards on a short pass by Mac Jones on a second-and-3, bringing the game to the two-minute warning.  

Stevenson carried it on the next four plays, but New England's best offensive player fumbled away the comeback bid with 1:05 to play. The defense forced a Cincinnati punt with 48 seconds left, but the offense only managed to get to their own 39 before turning it over on downs. Mac Jones' deep bid for Tyquan Thornton was knocked away, and the Bengals held on for the win.

It's the second straight week the Patriots have lost in heartbreaking fashion, and now their playoff chances are likely sunk.

New England closes the regular season with a home game against the Dolphins in Week 17, and a road game against the Bills in Week 18.