The New England Patriots will look to right the ship on Saturday when they host the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Patriots have lost three of their last four games to drop to 7-7 on the season, searching for a win on Saturday to help keep their playoff hopes alive. But the Bengals might be the league's toughest out, with a 10-4 record and having won their last six games.

Here are four bold predictions for Saturday's game.

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4. Mac Jones has a bounce-back performance and scores multiple touchdowns

Jones' performance against the Las Vegas Raiders was arguably the worst of his career. He completed just 12-of-31 passes for 112 yards as he put up career-lows in completion percentage (41.9), yards per attempt (3.6) and expected completion percentage (minus-19.6, per Next Gen Stats).

Worst of all, Jones mostly operated with a clean pocket for the time in months—if not all season—as he wasn't sacked and was pressured just five times.

But I wouldn't count out the second-year quarterback, at least not yet.

In the four games prior to Sunday's debacle, Jones looked like he was starting to turn the corner. He looked poised against a great New York Jets defense, completing 23-of-27 passes while he was constantly pressured. He threw for a career-high 389 yards against the Minnesota Vikings.

Jones didn't play as well against the Buffalo Bills, though that had very little to do with him and was more on his surrounding situation. He also stepped up and made big plays when needed against the Arizona Cardinals the following week.

The optimistic point of view can very well point at Sunday's game against the Raiders being an outlier.

It's a bit easier to think Jones will have a better performance on Saturday when considering the opponent, too. The Bengals rank 20th in overall passing defense and have the third-fewest sacks in the league this season with 22. So, the Patriots' offensive line won't have as tough of a job on Saturday, either.

To make matters a bit better for Jones, key players like Jakobi Meyers and Rhamondre Stevenson are an extra week removed from injuries that cost them game action in Week 14 and he could potentially get running back Damien Harris back as well.

So, Jones has a fair amount of things going his way on Sunday. Of course, the offensive coordination being a mess again could completely throw things off again for Jones and the rest of the offense, but I'd expect at least a solid game from the quarterback on Sunday.

3. New England scores a red zone touchdown

You've all likely heard and read by now the Patriots own the league's worst red zone offense. They've scored a touchdown on just 37.8 percent of their red zone drives this season — yikes!

Sunday's game against the Raiders featured their most pathetic red zone performance yet. New England got the ball to the two-yard line and used two timeouts and had two touchdowns wiped off the board before settling for three points.

Saturday's game against the Bengals should be a better matchup for the Patriots' red zone offense. The Bengals rank 10th in red zone defense this season, giving up a touchdown on 53.3% of all drives their opponent reaches the red zone. However, they've struggled a bit in recent weeks as opponents have scored 63.6% of the time they've reached the red zone.

The Patriots' red zone struggles in recent weeks have come in part due to Harris' absence. The running back missed either all or part of five of the last six games and hasn't seen much playing time since he got hurt in the first quarter of Week 5. Last season, Harris powered his way to 15 touchdowns. His power inside the tackles is something the Patriots have missed for most of this year.

Harris could return on Saturday as he's been ramping up in practice recently and is questionable to make his return to the lineup.

2. Multiple Patriots rushers record 2+ sacks

The Bengals have kept Joe Burrow on his feet for much of the last two months. Burrow hasn't been sacked more than twice in a game since Halloween, when the Cleveland Browns sacked him five times.

Burrow will likely deal with the toughest pass rush he's seen this season on Saturday. Matthew Judon is second in the league in sacks with 14.5. While he hasn't recorded a sack in three of his last four games, he's mostly been getting to the quarterback, just not bringing him down.

Judon has recorded at least a few pressures per game in all but two games this season; in one of those games, he dropped back in pass coverage a season-high nine times.

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Opposite of Judon is Josh Uche, who has burst onto the scene since late October. He's recorded 11 sacks over the Patriots' last seven games. While he's racked up some sacks against backup offensive tackles, he's also beaten some higher-quality offensive tackles in recent weeks.

The Patriots will likely have to dial up some extra pressure on Burrow considering we've seen their secondary struggle against more talented receiving corps in recent weeks, and the Bengals' is arguably the best in football. Some blitzes could help the Patriots overcome that, leading to a big day for the pass rush.

1. Patriots cover, but lose

The Bengals are three-point favorites on Saturday, according to FanDuel. That's a surprising number considering they're 10-4 and on a six-game winning streak while the Patriots have lost three of their last four and look to be a wreck right now.

So, seeing a spread like that is always a bit tricky and eyebrow raising. The more you look into it, the more you could see the Patriots hanging in there against the Bengals. Sure, their offense is a dumpster fire. But their defense is still one of the best in the league and has what it takes to keep the Bengals out of the end zone.

Maybe it's just a good spot for New England, who gets to play at home on Christmas Eve as the weather is expected to be chilly with some decent burst of wind. While Cincinnati is on a big win streak with a huge matchup against the Buffalo Bills looming.

Still, I'd expect the defending AFC champs to win on Saturday, but in a close one, like 27-24.