CINCINNATI — New England avoided mistakes and controlled the ball to upset the Bengals, 16-10, to win head coach Jerod Mayo’s debut on Sunday afternoon.
Rhamondre Stevenson rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries and Keion White had 2.5 sacks, leading a strong defensive effort that stunted Cincinnati’s big-play offense.
“It was special,” Mayo said Sunday. “Really special. I just want to thank the Kraft Family just for the opportunity. And for not really getting into the middle of anything we do football-wise. Pretty much turned the keys over to (GM) Eliot (Wolf) and myself, the rest of the staff. I’m just appreciative of the opportunity and the fact that we came in here today and represented.”
Players doused Mayo with a few gallons of blue Gatorade as the final seconds ticked off the clock in the first game the Patriots played under a coach not named Bill Belichick in more than two decades.
Joey Slye converted three field goals, including two in the second half that prevented the Bengals from closing within more than six points. New England sacked Burrow three times and capitalized on two turnovers.
Joe Burrow was held to 164 yards on 21-of-29 passing and no touchdowns. Ja’Marr Chase had six catches on six targets for 62 yards.
Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett completed 15 of 24 passes for 121 yards. Brissett was moved to tears — before and after the game — and credited Mayo with being a master motivator.
“Mayo came up to me, before the game and he like started laughing and he’s like, ‘Man, you’re about to win us this game. You’re about to ball out,'” Brissett said.”I had never heard that from a coach y’know? And that meant a lot to me.”
Burrow said the Patriots effectively took away the deep shots for four quarters on Sunday. He said he would have to “watch the tape” to discern whether he missed deep shots to Chase with Tee Higgins (hamstring) unavailable for Week 1.
“They did a good job. They had a good plan. I was just taking underneath, taking what they gave me,” Burrow said.
Following a team-record 80-yard punt from rookie Ryan Rehkow, the Patriots marched down the field for the first points of the game, a 3-yard Stevenson run into the end zone untouched for a 7-0 Patriots lead on the first play of the second quarter.
Tanner Hudson caught a Burrow pass and was running toward the goal line when Patriots safety Kyle Dugger stripped the ball at the Patriots 2. Marcus Jones returned it to the New England 18. The Patriots pushed the ball to the Cincinnati 14 over the final five minutes of the half and added to their lead with a 32-yard Slye field goal to grab a 10-0 advantage.
Slye added another field goal and gave the Patriots a 13-0 lead after recovering a fumble by Patriots return man Charlie Jones.
The Bengals finally broke through with a nine-play, 90-yard drive in the third quarter. Running back Zack Moss plunged in for a 5-yard score up the middle after Burrow had last a fumble at the 10, recovered by the Patriots. But Burrow was ruled down before the ball came out.
Burrow dropped to 1-4 in season openers.
“We’ve got 16 games to play. Starting 0-1 is certainly not a hole we wanted to be in,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said. “But I feel good about how this team will regroup.”
–Field Level Media
