Patriots
It was the first New England win in Week 1 since the 2020 season.
Surprise, surprise.
The Patriots have opened the season with a 16-10 upset road win over Cincinnati.
It’s the first time the Patriots have won a regular-season opener since 2020.
There are, of course, many reasons why the Patriots were able to pull this win off. Here are three big ones that stood out:
Patriots got some timely punch-outs
This Patriots’ defense showed early on that it has a nose for the football.
Long snapper Joe Cardona literally put his facemask on the ball to force a fumble on a punt early in the third quarter. The hit jarred the ball loose from the arms of Cincinnati’s Charlie Jones and Jaylinn Hawkins dove on it to give the Patriots the ball just outside of the redzone.
The biggest momentum swing of the game came during a pair of plays from Kyle Dugger late in the second quarter. At first, it appeared that Dugger had gotten beat by former Patriot Mike Gesicki on a 15-yard touchdown grab that would have tied the game at 7. However, the ball came out as Gesicki hit the ground and the officials ruled it incomplete after a review.
Dugger went and got the Patriots the ball back on the very next play. Cincinnati tight-end Tanner Hudson carried the ball high and loose as he hauled in a 13-yard catch and rumbled to New England’s two yard line. Dugger smacked the ball out, and Marcus Jones scooped it to complete the touchdown-saving play.
These are positive developments for a Patriots defense that ranked in the bottom third of the league in takeaways, turnover differential, and fumbles recovered last season.
They also went a long way in keeping Cincinnati scoreless until the final minute of the third quarter on Sunday. Cincinnati had a 13-play, 63-yard drive that probably should have ended in a touchdown when Hudson fumbled.
The offensive line was surprisingly decent
First things first, a note of praise for the Patriots’ offensive line which took the brunt of the criticism during the preseason.
Was it pretty? No. But New England did enough up front to get the win.
Quarterback Jacoby Brissett took his share of hits, but was only sacked once. The Patriots primarily moved the ball on the ground and with quick passes, averaging five yards per completion.
They also averaged 4.8 yards per carry. Cincinnati gave up 4.7 yards per carry last season, which tied for the second-worst mark in the NFL. Rhamondre Stevenson posted his first 100-yard game of the season, bouncing off of would-be tacklers and picking up chunks of yardage after contact.
None of that would have been possible without New England’s offensive line, which played shorthanded without guard Sidy Sow. They plugged in Michael Jordan from the practice squad, started rookie Layden Robinson, and for the most part looked better than they had during training camp.
The offensive line was the team’s biggest question mark heading into the game, and the group — led by veterans Mike Onwenu and David Andrews — turned in a winning performance.
Keion White had a monster game
Second-year defensive lineman Keion White had more sacks on Sunday (2.5) than he did in all of last season.
White was overpowering at times, using bull rushes to knock his blocker backward and put pressure on Joe Burrow.
His power also helped disrupt the Cincinnati run game with a pair of tackles for losses. The Bengals were held to 70 yards on 16 carries, with most of the production coming in the second half.
It was a dominant start for the young defensive lineman who is expected to play a big role in replacing Matthew Judon’s production this season.
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