CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bengals are seen by many as legitimate Super Bowl contenders.
They boast one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks in Joe Burrow, an All-World wideout in Ja’Marr Chase who believes he deserves an All-World contract — and the Patriots still found a way to beat them on the road in Sunday’s season opener as significant underdogs.
It wasn’t a particularly fluky upset either.
In addition to outscoring the Bengals 16-10, the Patriots outgained them 290 yards to 224, held the ball for significantly longer (34:03 to 25:57) and looked like the more well-coached team. In knocking off the Super Bowl hopefuls, Jerod Mayo’s group provided a road map to success in 2024. Now there’s not a ton of margin for error, but Sunday showed that the formula can work.
Be the more physical team
While quarterbacks populate highlight reels and fantasy points dominate conversations, the battle in the trenches still regularly decides football games. Sunday was a testament to that. The Patriots were dominant at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, and their secondary was also smacking Cincinnati’s pass catchers. They set the tone all afternoon.
There was no better illustration of New England’s superior physicality than their final drive. Facing a 4th-and-5 deep in his own territory with 2:26 remaining, Bengals coach Zac Taylor elected to punt the football away, betting that his defense would get him the ball back with all three timeouts.
Burrow never got another touch.
Rhamondre Stevenson steamrolled his way to a pair of first downs and Mayo received his first Gatorade bath as the Patriots went into victory formation.
“There comes a point in time where they know we’re going to run it, we know that we’re going to run it, all the fans know that we’re going to run it, and we’re going to have to pick up four yards,” Mayo said. “It’s really man-on-man in those instances. It has nothing to do really with Xs and Os. It’s about dominating the player across from you — and those guys did that.”
Added Davon Godchaux: “It’s like taking somebody, standing him up and punching them in the face.”
Get contributions from young guys
Sunday was a good afternoon for a number of Patriots defenders who haven’t yet celebrated their 26th birthday.
Second-year defensive lineman Keion White registered 2.5 sacks, second-year cornerback Christian Gonzalez made it a quiet afternoon for Chase, and third-year cornerback Marcus Jones scooped up a fumble and delivered a (surprisingly) thunderous third-down hit to force a punt.
“There was a plan — they wanted me to go with (Chase),” Gonzalez said. “That’s what you want. Being a corner, that’s your dream. Being able to do that is fun.”
This youth movement could find another level when all of the rookies on offense begin to take ownership on that side of the ball, too.
Win the turnover battle
This is an adage as old a football, but it rings as true as ever.
The Patriots aren’t explosive enough on offense to lose the turnover battle and win games. On Sunday, Jacoby Brissett didn’t throw an interception — Hunter Henry ensured that with some good offense on defense at one point — and New England forced three Bengals fumbles, recovering a pair. Contributions from all three phases gave them a 2-0 victory on the turnover battle. They needed it.
“Protecting the ball was huge, and getting two turnovers was huge,” Henry said. “Special teams played great, and we just played complementary football today, which was huge.”
Smart game management
Mayo’s in-game debut as a head coach couldn’t have gone much smoother.
To end the first half, Mayo managed the clock perfectly — perhaps with help from eye in the sky Evan Rothstein — bleeding it completely dry before a Joey Slye field goal send the Patriots into halftime. Taylor was using Cincinnati’s timeouts to try to get the ball back, but didn’t manage to.
Mayo and his staff also had the wherewithal to give Chuks Okorafor an early hook at left tackle after a turbulent start. The operation was noticeably smoother when Vederian Lowe replaced him; it was a good in-game adjustment.
Ultimately, Mayo arrived in Cincinnati with a solid plan of attack, and made the necessary adjustments to ensure his team left with a 1-0 record.
“It was just what our game plan was,” Brissett said. “Establishing a line of scrimmage, run the ball, stop the run, take away their big players and keep converting third downs. Stay on the field and score points when we get down there in the red zone. And I think we did that.”
