Jerod Mayo knew what it will take for the Patriots to defeat the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium: New England wanted to manage the road of scrimmage and play nicely on particular groups.
Effectively, it is one factor to say these issues and it is one other to go on the market and do it.
That is what the Patriots did in their beautiful 16-10 victory in opposition to Joe Burrow and the Bengals on Sunday. And in doing so, the Patriots confirmed their blueprint for achievement in 2024.
“We talked about establishing the operating recreation and with the ability to cease their operating recreation to make them one dimensional, we did an excellent job with that,” Mayo informed reporters after the win, per a team-provided video. “It was nice.”
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New England rushed for 170 yards on 39 makes an attempt (4.4 yards per carry). The Patriots out-snapped Cincinnati by 16 performs. They tasked operating again Rhamondre Stevenson with shouldering the load in Alex Van Pelt’s outdoors zone scheme. The Patriots even loaded up on the road and featured a jumbo tight finish in offensive deal with Caedan Wallace. That labored efficiently to the tune of a 5.3 yard-per-rush common within the first half.
Stevenson later requested Van Pelt to begin operating extra downhill behind middle David Andrews and proper guard Layden Robinson. Stevenson noticed these guys consuming away at Cincinnati’s defensive entrance. That technique labored simply nice, too, as proof by Stevenson’s 4 consecutive runs for 26 yards with two minutes remaining. Stevenson’s hard-fought first downs put the sport away after New England began the drive with 2:13 left. On the time, Cincinnati owned its three timeouts and the two-minute warning.
The power to maneuver the ball on the bottom helped New England’s go safety, which was an underwhelming side of coaching camp. It appeared to be a difficulty in Week 1, as nicely. Jacoby Brissett was below strain and took some massive hits whereas Chukwuma Okorafor was changed at left deal with simply 13 snaps into the sport, per ESPN’s Mike Reiss. Vederian Lowe took over for Okorafor. The operating recreation ensured that wasn’t the principle takeaway from the competition.
The blueprint wasn’t simply on the offensive aspect, although.
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The Patriots protection pressured a pair of Bengals turnovers and sacked Burrow 3 times. Keion White and firm managed the road of scrimmage as Cincinnati gained simply 70 yards on the bottom. The longest run of the day for the Bengals was eight yards.
“They got here out on fireplace,” Mayo stated of the protection. “We challenged these guys. Everybody was speaking about Cincy’s offense and the way explosive they’re, they usually answered the decision. It began up entrance, all these defensive linemen, they did an excellent job controlling the road of scrimmage.”
White completed with 2 1/2 sacks, security Kyle Dugger recorded a key pressured fumble and the secondary appeared to have Burrow and firm out of kinds all through. Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez adopted Ja’Marr Chase and held the star wideout to a quiet six catches.
“It was a complete unit effort,” Mayo stated.
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And on particular groups? Veteran lengthy snapper Joe Cardona pressured a fumble on Cincinnati’s punt return firstly of the second half. Brenden Schooler regarded just like the league’s greatest at his place, as nicely.
The Patriots will face stiffer competitors than what the Bengals provided in Week 1. Cincinnati had one of many worst run defenses within the league final 12 months, in spite of everything. But when New England can stick with its script from the season opener, the Patriots certainly will exceed the expectations of these outdoors One Patriot Place.
