It is foolish to read too much into any one game. Beating the Bengals in Week 1 doesn’t mean the Patriots are going to the playoffs, and it doesn’t even mean they’re going to be a good football team in 2024.
But winning the first game has increased importance in any season, and it’s especially so this year.
It was the first game of the Jerod Mayo era, the first game with a roster compiled by Eliot Wolf, the first game with Jacoby Brissett as the starter, etc., etc., etc. There were so many first impressions being created both from the outside and retrospectively. Having those be positive can go a long way.
Fans who had been bracing themselves for doom and gloom for the next five months are now a little more excited about Sunday afternoons. The entire region will be in a better mood as a collective result.
The players, who spent the offseason and the preseason hearing self-proclaimed experts predict how bad they were going to be, can find strength, for at least a week, in rubbing their noses in it.
Without any games to evaluate, everything Mayo did and said publicly during the preseason had been analyzed and overinterpreted. But in his first game, he and his coordinators looked incredibly capable.
The Patriots beat a good team. Power rankings don’t mean much before the season, but for context, NFL.com had the Bengals as the sixth best team in the league and ESPN had them ninth, while the same lists had the New England No. 31 and No. 30, respectively.
People love to quote Mike Tyson’s famous line. “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth,” and Mayo even referenced it in his postgame remarks. But nobody talks about how that exchange affects the puncher. If you hit an opponent in the mouth and they get wobbly, suddenly confidence floods in and the punches feel easier to throw.
New England’s swagger in small doses all afternoon. Back-to-back three-and-outs to start the game on defense. Taking a lead. Forcing a fumble and turning it into more points at halftime. Stopping Cincinnati on fourth down and then running out the clock.
The Patriots were one of 32 teams who entered this week believing they’d be good. But when the game started some got punched in the mouth and some delivered the blows.
Instead of belief, they have evidence. New England’s plan worked. Mayo’s preparation worked. That will make the players trust the philosophy and trust those creating it.
Coming into the season, if the Patriots were going to beat the Bengals, logic would have suggested that their much-hyped rookie receiving class would have had to be part of it. But they were quiet. Ja’Lynn Polk had one catch on his only target. Javon Baker was inactive. That’s encouraging because there’s likely more to get from that group. Instead their leading receivers — albeit with modest statistics — were Austin Hooper, Tyquan Thornton and K.J Osborn.
The Patriots were a combination of opportunistic and lucky, but good teams usually are. They pounced on the Bengals’ mistakes and avoided costly ones of their own.
That was good enough to leave Cincinnati at 1-0. They’ll have to improve to continue to win and keep the optimism growing.
“We’re still not where we want to be,” Mayo said. “But we’re headed in the right direction.”
After last year’s season-long backslide, that’s a good place to start.
Follow MassLive sports columnist Matt Vautour on Twitter at @MattVautour424.
