Merril Hodge says Bengals can compete with the Patriots

[*ochocincos*]

The arguing over whether the Bengals could beat the Patriots can be argued different ways.

The Bengals have proven that they CAN because they've beaten the Patriots once in the six matchups since Belichick and Lewis have been the HCs for their respective teams (Bengals 13-6 in 2013).

However, it could easily be argued that the Bengals have hardly any chance to beat the Patriots for when Hodge is talking about, which is the postseason. The reason? Look at how the two teams have performed in the postseason since both HCs have taken over their respective franchises.

The fact of the matter is that if healthy, the Bengals have a VERY talented team that could compete with and possibly beat the Patriots. However, given the playoff records of both teams since 2003, there will be a ton of skepticism unless 1) the Bengals actually win 1 or more playoff games this year, and then 2) the Bengals actually play and beat the Patriots in the postseason.

I, for one, agree with Hodge that the Bengals could compete with the Patriots if the playoffs were this weekend and they were playing each other. But the season has to play out and injuries will happen to both teams in some way. It would be great for both Marvin Lewis and the Bengals to get a win against the Patriots in the posteason, but the Patriots would be a HUGE favorite going into such a game (rightfully so).