So much for a Week 15 game between the New England Patriots and Cincinnati Bengals begin boring.

The host Bengals have eyes on the future entering this one and the Patriots have thoughts on the playoffs. Everyone else seems focused on where the visitor’s eyes were last weekend in Cleveland.

Here’s the backdrop and some facts for Sunday’s game.

 

The incident

Let’s get the big one out of the way first. The latest reports over the apparent Patriots taping of the Bengals’ sideline in Cleveland over the weekend say the camera caught about eight minutes of footage of Cincinnati coaches. The Patriots say the football operations have nothing to do with the media arm of the franchise, which made a mistake. Either way, the NFL is conducting an investigation of the matter.