When the New England Patriots traveled to Paycor Stadium on November 23, 2025, most observers expected a comfortable afternoon against a Cincinnati Bengals team unraveling under the weight of injuries and a disastrous losing streak. What they got instead was one of the most character-revealing performances of New England’s remarkable 2025 season — a 26-20 victory that required a comeback, two starters being carted off, and a gut-check defensive stand in the final seconds to preserve the win.
Mike Vrabel’s New England Patriots became the first NFL team to reach 10 wins in 2025 after holding on for that 26-20 victory, with the Patriots’ ninth straight win coming as a genuine battle of attrition — rallying from an early 10-point deficit while withstanding key injuries throughout the afternoon. The full New England Patriots vs Bengals match player stats paint a picture of a team with elite resilience, an emerging quarterback, and a supporting cast capable of delivering in the biggest moments.
Quick Facts:
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Date | November 23, 2025 |
| Venue | Paycor Stadium, Cincinnati, OH |
| Final Score | New England Patriots 26, Cincinnati Bengals 20 |
| Patriots Record | 10-2 (6-0 on the road) |
| Bengals Record | 3-8 |
| Patriots QB | Drake Maye — 22/35, 294 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT |
| Bengals QB | Joe Flacco — played full game |
| Top Performer | Hunter Henry — 7 catches, 115 yards (career high) |
| Notable Record | Evan McPherson — 63-yard FG (Bengals franchise record) |
| Patriots Streak | 9 consecutive wins |
How the Game Unfolded: A Quarter-by-Quarter Breakdown
The game started about as badly as it possibly could for New England Patriots vs Bengals Match Player Stats. Drake Maye completed only three of his first seven passes, including a pick-six that floated in the air before being intercepted by Geno Stone, who returned it 33 yards to give the Bengals a 10-0 lead just 41 seconds into the second quarter — New England’s first double-digit deficit since the second half of its season opener against Las Vegas. Adding to the chaos, left guard Jared Wilson had already been carted off on the game’s very first offensive series with a high ankle sprain.
Most teams might have crumbled under that weight. Instead, Maye got back on track on the ensuing drive, capped by a 28-yard touchdown to a wide-open Hunter Henry. Two minutes later, Marcus Jones turned the game on its head with one of the defensive plays of the season. The second half saw New England Patriots vs Bengals Match Player Stats grind out yardage with a makeshift offensive line, make two critical fourth-down stops, and escape with a field goal sealing a 26-20 victory.
Drake Maye’s Performance: Resilience Over Perfection
Drake Maye’s stat line from this game — 22-of-35 for 294 yards and a touchdown — doesn’t fully capture how difficult it was to produce those numbers. He threw a pick-six on one of the first meaningful plays of the afternoon. He lost the left side of his offensive line within the first three quarters. He was under consistent pressure from a Bengals defense that had little else to play for.
What stands out in the New England Patriots vs Bengals match player stats for Maye is his ability to reset mentally. “That’s what the league is about — battling adversity,” Maye said. “I gave them one early in the game and just battled back on the next drive.” He also crossed a personal milestone in this contest: Maye surpassed 3,000 passing yards on the 2025 season, reaching that mark for the first time in his NFL career. For a second-year quarterback managing an evolving offensive line and learning a new system under Mike Vrabel, that’s a benchmark worth noting.
His work in the fourth quarter was particularly impressive. When the Bengals cut the deficit to three with under five minutes remaining, Maye engineered a methodical drive, converting a key third-and-10 to Stefon Diggs and allowing Borregales to deliver the decisive field goal. The drive didn’t light up a highlight reel, but it reflected a quarterback who is clearly maturing under pressure.
Hunter Henry: A Career Night at the Right Time
If there is one player who defined the New England Patriots vs Bengals match player stats conversation, it is tight end Hunter Henry. Henry set a new career high with 115 receiving yards on seven receptions, surpassing his previous career-best of 109 receiving yards. In his tenth NFL season, that kind of performance isn’t just impressive — it’s remarkable.
Henry’s biggest moment came early in the comeback. After Geno Stone’s pick-six gave Cincinnati a 10-0 lead, Maye capped a nine-play, 70-yard drive with a 28-yard touchdown to a wide-open Henry in the end zone. That touchdown immediately steadied the ship and gave the Patriots something to build on. Henry continued to be Maye’s security blanket throughout the afternoon, winning matchups over the middle and consistently converting on third downs.
Henry’s highlights included a 23-yard catch-and-run that overcame a first-and-20 situation caused by a holding penalty, a 17-yard gain over the middle, and multiple third-down conversions that extended drives in crucial moments. On a day when the running game was inconsistent and the offensive line kept losing personnel, Henry was the anchor of the Patriots’ passing attack.
Marcus Jones and the Defensive Turning Point
Special teams and defensive contributions were just as vital as offensive output in this game. Marcus Jones returned an interception 33 yards for a touchdown — the second pick-six of his career, both coming against the Bengals, and his team-leading third interception of the 2025 season. The play came at a pivotal moment, flipping the script immediately after Henry’s touchdown had trimmed the deficit.
“I was just watching the quarterback’s eyes,” Jones said. “I saw him flash toward the running back, so I didn’t want to go down there too soon.” It was exactly the kind of anticipatory, instinctive play that separates good cornerbacks from great ones. Jones read Joe Flacco’s screen pass to Tajh Brooks perfectly, stepped in front of the route, and scored untouched from 33 yards to give New England Patriots vs Bengals Match Player Stats a 14-10 lead.
The Patriots’ defense also delivered two critical fourth-down stops in the game’s most intense moments. New England stuffed Cincinnati at the 1-yard line in the third quarter and then broke up Flacco’s final throw from the New England 26 with just 18 seconds on the clock — the latter preserving the victory and ending Cincinnati’s last hope. Harold Landry III also added a key third-down sack of Flacco that pushed Cincinnati out of field goal range in the second half.
Andy Borregales: The Quiet Force Behind Every Win
One of the underappreciated storylines in the New England Patriots vs Bengals match player stats is what kicker Andy Borregales contributed. Borregales went 4-for-4 on field goals, with three of the four coming from 41 yards or beyond — including the game-sealing 52-yarder with 1:51 remaining. Without those four field goals, New England’s offensive struggles in the red zone (they went 0-for-2 on red zone trips) would have cost them the game.
Borregales going 4-for-4, with three attempts from 41 yards or longer, tells the story of how New England Patriots vs Bengals Match Player Stats won games that season. With a 0-for-2 red zone afternoon and two offensive linemen on carts, the margin should have been thinner; the 52-yarder with 1:51 remaining ultimately closed it out. His consistency throughout the 2025 season has been one of the most reliable elements of the Vrabel-era Patriots.
Cincinnati’s Bright Spots: McPherson’s Historic Kick and Chase Brown’s Ground Game
The Bengals didn’t fold quietly. Despite their struggles, Cincinnati produced some genuinely impressive individual performances that deserve recognition in any complete recap of these player stats.
Evan McPherson delivered the game’s single most spectacular play when he drilled a 63-yard field goal on the final play of the first half. McPherson, kicking from the Bengals’ ‘B’ logo at midfield, was straight down the middle, and the kick had plenty of distance. McPherson also held the previous team record with a 58-yarder from 2021. He had already come close to an NFL record earlier in the season: McPherson had a kick that would have been an NFL-record 67 yards at Green Bay on October 12, but a LaFleur timeout before the snap nullified it, and his second attempt fell short.
On the ground, Chase Brown ran 19 times for 107 yards — season highs in both carries and rushing yards — providing Cincinnati with its most consistent offensive element throughout the afternoon. With Joe Burrow sidelined by a turf toe injury and Ja’Marr Chase serving a one-game suspension for a separate incident, the Bengals leaned heavily on their run game, and Brown answered the call. Mitchell Tinsley also stepped up in Chase’s absence, catching a 17-yard touchdown from Flacco in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to three and make things very interesting in the final minutes.
The Injuries That Shaped the Game
No full breakdown of the New England Patriots vs Bengals match player stats is complete without addressing the injury story that shadowed everything else. New England won despite the left side of its offensive line being carted off. Left guard Jared Wilson injured an ankle on the game’s first series, and rookie left tackle Will Campbell had a knee injury in the third quarter.
Will Campbell suffered a sprained MCL and was placed on injured reserve the following week, while Jared Wilson left the stadium in a walking boot. Ben Brown replaced Wilson and ultimately played 68 offensive snaps. The fact that Maye still threw for 294 yards behind replacement linemen is a testament to both his ability to process quickly and the preparation instilled by the coaching staff.
On the Cincinnati side, Tajh Brooks left with a concussion and cornerback Marco Wilson exited with a right hamstring injury and did not return. Tee Higgins was also lost late in the contest, further depleting a Bengals offense already missing its two biggest weapons.
Historical Context: What This Win Meant
The 26-20 final score alone doesn’t convey what this win represented in the broader arc of the 2025 NFL season.
New England’s victory was their ninth straight win, making them the first team in the 2025 NFL season to reach 10 victories. Even more impressive was the company they joined in the record books. New England joined the 1961 Houston Oilers as the only teams in NFL history to win nine straight games with at least 23 points scored and no more than 23 points allowed in each game of the streak.
For Cincinnati, the loss continued a painful downward spiral. The Bengals fell to 3-8 with their eighth loss in nine games since Joe Burrow’s turf toe injury ended his season in Week 2 — a run from which they never truly recovered in 2025. Head coach Zac Taylor acknowledged the difficulty after the game: “Just been one of those years where we haven’t found a way at the end of the game, and that’s been frustrating. It’s important to everyone to keep at this thing and find a way to get some momentum.”
The win placed New England at 10-2 with a 2.5-game lead in the AFC East and half a game ahead of Denver for the top seed in the AFC at that point in the 2025 season.
What’s Next: Implications for Both Teams
For the Patriots, the victory validated everything Mike Vrabel had been building since taking over. Their ability to win road games — improving to 6-0 on the road with the win at Paycor Stadium — under pressure, against injury adversity, and without elite offensive production was the clearest indicator yet that this team had genuine Super Bowl aspirations. The next challenge was a home matchup against the New York Giants, a game they were expected to control.
For Cincinnati, the most important news was on the horizon: Burrow’s return for the Bengals’ Thanksgiving night game at Baltimore. Burrow did return for their Thanksgiving game, but the 2025 season was already beyond repair for Cincinnati by that point. The bigger focus for the franchise shifted toward keeping Burrow healthy and making the offseason moves necessary to rebuild the supporting cast around him heading into 2026.
Conclusion
The November 23, 2025 game between New England and Cincinnati was not a clean win. It was gritty, uneven, and required contributions from every corner of the roster. The New England Patriots vs Bengals match player stats tell the story of a team that won ugly but won decisively when it mattered most — Drake Maye bouncing back from a pick-six to throw for nearly 300 yards, Hunter Henry delivering the best game of a decade-long career, Marcus Jones reading Flacco for a pick-six of his own, and Andy Borregales splitting the uprights four times from distances that would have given many kickers pause.
For Cincinnati, Evan McPherson’s 63-yard bomb and Chase Brown’s 107-yard rushing performance were genuine highlights in an otherwise difficult afternoon. The game was closer than the final score suggests, but the Patriots made every big play when the moment demanded it. That, ultimately, is the difference between a team on a nine-game winning streak and one that has lost eight of its last nine.
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(FAQs)
What was the final score of the Patriots vs Bengals game on November 23, 2025?
The New England Patriots defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 26-20 at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio.
How did Drake Maye perform against the Bengals?
Maye finished 22-of-35 for 294 yards and a touchdown, also crossing 3,000 passing yards for the 2025 season for the first time in his NFL career.
What was Hunter Henry’s stat line in this game?
Hunter Henry posted seven receptions for 115 receiving yards, setting a new career high and surpassing his previous best of 109 yards.
What made Evan McPherson’s field goal historic?
McPherson’s 63-yard field goal on the last play of the first half was the longest in Bengals franchise history, surpassing his own previous team record of 58 yards set in 2021.
Why was Ja’Marr Chase not playing for the Bengals in this game?
Ja’Marr Chase served a one-game suspension for spitting on Pittsburgh’s Jalen Ramsey in Week 11, with Mitchell Tinsley starting in his place.
What injuries did the Patriots suffer during the game?
Left guard Jared Wilson injured an ankle on the game’s first series, and rookie left tackle Will Campbell sustained a knee injury in the third quarter, leaving both starting members of the left side of the offensive line unable to continue.
What winning streak did New England extend with this victory?
The 26-20 win was the Patriots’ ninth straight victory and made them the first team in the 2025 NFL season to reach 10 wins, pushing their overall record to 10-2.
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