In the aftermath of the Patriots stunning win over the Bengals, Jerod Mayo made mention of the popular narrative surrounding his team.
So did defensive tackle Davon Godchaux.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft also introduced the subject when addressing the team in the locker room. He told the group the victory was especially meaningful in wake of all the negative commentary surrounding his football team.
“To all of you, no one outside of this room believed this could happen,” Kraft told the team via the Patriots social media video. “And every one of you contributed. I’m so proud of the new players, the new coaches. People had all the excuses it couldn’t happen, but you all did it.
“And I’m spoiled now because I’m going to plan on a lot more of those.”
The disrespect card made its way around the locker room. The Patriots certainly played with an edge against the Bengals. There was a message behind every forceful hit by the defense, and every surge forward by an offensive line that had been ridiculed at every turn by the naysayers.
Back when the Patriots were gobbling up championships, they used to invent slights to serve as motivation.
No need to make it up with this group. The attacks were real and plentiful.
There were predictions that they wouldn’t win a game. The offensive line was crucified. The offense didn’t get much, if any, respect. As for the defense, it was lumped in by association. But there were also those who questioned how good that unit would be, especially after having its best player (Matthew Judon) shipped out, and with Bill Belichick no longer calling the shots.
There were even suggestions the team should tank to secure the 2025 first-overall pick.
The Patriots happily took notes.
They enjoyed their underdog status. While Mayo said the team tries not to listen to anything on the outside, they didn’t ignore the noise. They embraced the insults ahead of Week One and were motivated to prove everyone wrong.
Mayo acknowledged that captain Ja’Whaun Bentley addressed the team before the game. It was a sermon filled with all the negative “noise” from the outside.
“They definitely hear everything you guys (in the media) say,” Mayo said. “As a head coach, I always tell them don’t pay attention to it. Whether it’s social media, or the radio, or the newspaper, they definitely hear it. But we all have a chip on our shoulder.”
Godchaux played that up following the game after emphasizing it during the week.
“Nobody’s giving us a chance,” the veteran defensive tackle said. “After we string a couple of wins, I still want everybody to stay on that side and keep us underdogs.”
After the 16-10 win over the Bengals, will he get his wish?
Godchaux thought it was “disrespectful” for the Patriots to be 8.5-point underdogs against Cincinnati in the first place. Well, there’s more fuel on the horizon.
The Patriots open as 3.5-point underdogs against the Seattle Seahawks, who travel to Foxborough on Sunday. So the Bentley & Co. will have more fuel for Week Two.
But if they continue to play as well as they did against the Bengals, and carry out the game plan to perfection every week, they won’t be taken lightly by the oddsmakers, or opposing teams much longer.
How much did Mayo feed the fire last week?
“They don’t need me to play up the noise, it’s everywhere,” Mayo said. “After hearing Bentley address the team before we walked out … I know they hear it. It can be good or bad depending on the individual.
“At the same time, it doesn’t matter. As soon as you cross the white lines, all the noise and all that stuff has to disappear.”
Mayo has expressed belief in his players, and in turn, they have conveyed faith in him. Against the Bengals, the coaching staff and the players were all in sync.
“We try not to hear anything on the outside and I told those guys all week, ‘It’s all about us in this building,’” Mayo said immediately after the win. “There’s no one going to come in here on a white shining horse and save the day. I said, ‘Look, you guys are here for a reason and that’s all we got. That’s all we need.’”
Mayo saying he doesn’t care how much pundits are putting the team down, that he believes in the guys in the room is a clever way of using the doubters to his advantage.
While Mayo only briefly crossed paths with Rodney Harrison, who loved creating slights, the Patriots coach knows the history. Belichick also loved to make use of bulletin board material not just from opposing players, but from the media.
So Mayo learned how to push buttons.
What did Harrison think? Did he see Mayo borrowing a well-used motivational tactic from the past to spur the team to victory?
“They won at the line of scrimmage on both sides,” the Patriots Hall of Famer told MassLive by text on Sunday, “and great job by Mayo motivating those guys.”
Wink, wink.
Having been a member of the media for a short time after he retired, Mayo knows how it works.
“Some of the things they hear is simply not true. I try to remind them, whether you guys (in the media) say the offensive line can’t move bodies, whatever it is, it’s on film. All of those things,” Mayo said. “Some people will be contrarian. I tell them it’s (the media’s) job to put that noise out there. Our job is to go out and win football games.”
For Week One, that job was very well done.
