The New England Patriots improved to 10-2 with a 26-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals that hardly represented their sharpest performance during a nine-game winning streak.

New England didn’t turn either of its two red-zone trips into touchdowns, a growing problem for the offense all season. Up 17-13 in the third quarter, Mike Vrabel’s team squandered an opportunity to extend its lead.

A defensive pass interference on fourth-and-goal gave the Patriots a fresh set of downs at the 1-yard line, but the Bengals stuffed them inches shy of the end zone. Vrabel stressed the need to improve on goal-line offense during Monday morning’s interview on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show.”

“There’s a million things I could say right there, but I’m gonna try to say that it has to be better,” Vrabel said

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