After just one game, New England Patriots rookie head coach Jerod Mayo has his first NFL victory.
Sunday, New England defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 16-10 in a game headlined by fumbles, sacks and Patriots third-year running back Rhamondre Stevenson.
Here are three takeaways from New England’s Week 1 bout:
New pair of coordinators look phenomenal
Patriots first-year coordinators Alex Van Pelt (offense) and Demarcus Covington (defense) had promising performances that should leave fans hopeful for the future of the team.
The offense looked miles better than it did in 2023 under former OC Bill O’Brien, rushing for a total of 170 yards, converting on 40% of its third downs and not turning the ball over. There were some struggles in converting in opponent territory, but there were very few negative takeaways aside from that.
Continuing the theme from 2023, Covington’s unit looked fantastic. They recorded three sacks, forced a red-zone fumble and held Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow to 164 passing yards.
