Where the Patriots landed in NFL power rankings after Week 1

The Patriots entered Week 1 of the season as pronounced underdogs in Cincinnati against the Bengals.

Yet despite pulling off an improbable victory — 16-10 in Jerod Mayo’s first game as head coach — New England remains buried in several major NFL power rankings.

Though an admittedly imperfect and subjective system, power rankings can offer a snapshot of the more general (or national) view of the Patriots in relation to the rest of the NFL.

In that regard, New England is still being judged as a negligible quantity.

In the ESPN power ranking, the Patriots were listed 30th prior to the start of the season (out of 32 NFL teams). Following the unexpected win over the Bengals, New England now sits 24th (the same in respective ranking terms — though very different in proportional competition — as Boston College).

In Patriots reporter Mike Reiss’s ESPN blurb attached to the rankings, he credited Mayo’s leadership.

“The first-year head coach had his team ready to play in Cincinnati after running what nine-year veteran QB Jacoby Brissett said was one of the most challenging training camps he has experienced,” wrote Reiss. “Mayo noted that conditioning and controlling the line of scrimmage would be deciding factors in Week 1, and the players responded with a performance that included 39 rushing attempts, two forced fumbles and one fourth-down stop.”

Pro Football Talk also gave the Patriots a rankings bump, though after having started as the 31st-ranked squad, even a six-team leapfrog still landed New England in 25th: The six-spot improvement was the second-highest in the league, yet Mayo’s team remain in the bottom third of the league.