FOXBOROUGH – Even though they nearly roared back from a 22-0 halftime deficit, the New England Patriots' offense struggled again for much of Saturday's 22-18 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Patriots only ran 17 plays on five drives in the first half and the offense didn't get the ball into Bengals territory until the end of the third quarter. New England's offensive struggles on Saturday are just a continuation of how it's played for much of the season, especially in recent weeks, as it ranks in the bottom 10 in many offensive metrics under Matt Patricia.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick took responsibility again for his team's offensive struggles under their unusual offensive coaching staff, though he didn't give much of a lengthy answer when asked how responsible he is for the lack of production.

“I'm the head coach,” Belichick said.

There were some interesting decisions made again on the offensive side of the ball for the Patriots on Saturday. In the waning moments of the first half, they appeared like they were going to try and score when Mac Jones completed an 11-yard pass to Jakobi Meyers to move them to their own 36-yard line. But after they called a timeout, the Patriots decided to kneel the ball and go into halftime.

Even though there were only four seconds left in the half when the Patriots decided to kneel it, the whole sequence was a bit weird, especially considering how they approached a similar situation at the end of last week's game against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Belichick explained that he just want to reassess their approach following the first play.

“See what happened, see how much we gained on that play,” Belichick said. “In the end, didn't feel like it was much we could do there.”

Another surprise was the Patriots' decision to not only play Kendrick Bourne but to also see him be so involved in the offense after not seeing much action this season. Bourne had a 29-yard end around on the Patriots' first play of the second half before catching six passes for 100 yards with an impressive touchdown catch.

It's been rumored that Bourne's spent much of the season in the doghouse due to potential internal strife about the Patriots' offensive setup. Belichick wouldn't say why Bourne's playing time and action have been so infrequent this season.

“No particular reason,” Belichick said when asked why he's seen so few opportunities.

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With Saturday's loss, the Patriots fall to 7-8 on the season as their playoff hopes continue to slim down. Belichick had another brief answer when asked how the players can stick together over the final two weeks.

“Do what we've been doing,” Belichick said.

The Patriots will have an opportunity to help their playoff hopes next week when they host the 8-6 Miami Dolphins, who face the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.