The post-Invoice Belichick period for the New England Patriots is off to a sunny begin. The Patriots went on the highway Sunday and beat the Cincinnati Bengals, a extensively anticipated playoff group, 16-10. New coach Jerrod Mayo, a Belichick disciple turned alternative, obtained a soothing Gatorade bathtub in his debut recreation. The Patriots have been eight-point underdogs, and their win was essentially the most stunning results of Week 1 motion.
On some stage, the Patriots’ life after Belichick figured to be bleak. The coach who introduced the franchise six Tremendous Bowls is spending this yr doing broadcasting gigs, and there’s no recapturing the magic that Belichick and Tom Brady conjured collectively for practically twenty years. However by a special lens, the Patriots of previous died when Brady walked out the door in free company in 2020. There was nothing left to protect by the point the Patriots parted methods with Belichick on the finish of final season and employed Mayo, his former linebacker and assistant coach. A recent begin was, at that time, the one affordable selection.
The Patriots should have a protracted slog in entrance of them, however Mayo’s first recreation might hardly have gone higher. No 2 general draftee Drake Maye stays the group’s backup quarterback for a bit longer but, ready and watching behind journeyman Jacoby Brissett, who began out as a Brady backup in 2016 and now finds himself again in Massachusetts after stints with 4 different groups. Brissett wasn’t a lot good (15-of-24 passing for 121 yards, with no touchdowns or interceptions) however he was competent. Rhamondre Stevenson carried 25 instances for 120 yards and scored the group’s solely landing.
Extra surprisingly, the New England protection put the Bengals by the blender. The Patriots traded gifted edge rusher Matthew Judon to the Atlanta Falcons in mid-August, seemingly consigning themselves to a misplaced season as they added a third-round draft choose subsequent yr. However the Patriots’ remaining gamers delivered an impressed efficiency towards two excellent gamers – quarterback Joe Burrow and receiver Ja’Marr Chase – and the remainder of the Cincy offense. Chase had a 28-yard catch however was in any other case stored in test. Burrow might discover little in the way in which of open receivers down the sector and solely netted 164 yards on 29 throws. The Bengals didn’t set up a strong run recreation with tailback Zack Moss (9 carries, 44 yards) and face-planted at residence.
It’s not prone to keep this unhealthy for the Bengals. No 2 wideout Tee Higgins didn’t play as he nursed a hamstring harm, and his return ought to be a boon. However the group appeared shockingly lifeless and can want a complete reset in a season that started with main aspirations.
Alternatively, the Patriots got here into 2024 with no such aspirations. Their reasonable targets have been to be a bit higher than final yr’s 4-13 mark and see robust growth from Maye, their prized QB of the longer term. It’s nonetheless too early to revise expectations upward, however each week the Patriots win a recreation whereas letting Maye proceed to study by watching is an efficient one. And recently, this franchise hasn’t seen many good days.
MVP of the week
Baker Mayfield, quarterback, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Mayfield was one of many comeback tales of final season, going from the scrap heap to the Bucs’ franchise QB. After getting the group to the divisional spherical of the playoffs, Tampa rewarded the Cleveland Browns castoff with a three-year, $100m contract. Mayfield offered good returns in his first recreation on that deal, placing up spectacular numbers: 24-of-30 passing for 289 yards and 4 touchdowns in a 37-20 win over the Washington Commanders. Mayfield won’t ever be an All-Professional passer, however he seems like a a lot better participant (and definitely extra of a discount) than the person the Browns selected over him in 2022: Deshaun Watson, who turned in one of many worst performances of an more and more misplaced profession in a 33-17 blowout loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. Mayfield doubtless doesn’t remorse the Browns slicing ties with him.
Stat of the week
18. The entire factors on Sunday for the Pittsburgh Steelers on the Atlanta Falcons, who might solely rating 10. Each a type of Pittsburgh factors got here off the proper foot of kicker Chris Boswell, who went 6-for-6 on discipline targets. The Steelers by no means discovered the top zone, however Boswell flushed his kicks from 57, 51, 44, 56, 40, and 25 yards, tying a franchise file for made discipline targets. By some means that will not have been essentially the most spectacular characteristic of Boswell’s afternoon: Pittsburgh punter Cameron Johnston suffered an harm within the fourth quarter, and a penalty on the play required Boswell to trot out instantly and substitute Johnston as a punter. The primary punt of Boswell’s profession went 43 yards and netted 40, offering important respiration room for the Pittsburgh protection in a one-score recreation. Few kickers have ever had a day pretty much as good as this one.
Video of the week
The Indianapolis Colts made Anthony Richardson the No 4 choose in 2023’s draft, betting that they may translate his dimension, athleticism, and arm energy into an amazing NFL quarterback. An harm within the fourth recreation of his rookie season paused the Richardson expertise for practically a full yr. However now the 22-year-old is again, and certainly one of his first throws of 2024 was one of the crucial spectacular heaves any soccer fan will ever see of their life. Richardson had simply slipped and had a pass-rusher bearing down on him when he shortly loaded up and fired a stunning 60-yard landing to Alec Pierce, giving Indy an early lead towards the Houston Texans. The checklist of quarterbacks able to making that throw may be very brief. It could in truth simply be one title lengthy: Richardson. The Colts misplaced to the Houston Texans, 29-27, with Richardson finishing simply 9 of 19 passes however getting 212 yards on them.
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Elsewhere across the league
Jim Harbaugh returned to the NFL with a 22-10 win for his Los Angeles Chargers over the Las Vegas Raiders. When Harbaugh final coached within the league in 2014, neither the Chargers nor Raiders have been even of their present cities. It was a triumphant return for Harbaugh, who spent the intervening years constructing Michigan right into a nationwide championship faculty program. Tailback JK Dobbins was his group’s star in Week 1, carrying 10 instances for 135 yards and a landing. Harbaugh’s prized quarterback Justin Herbert didn’t have his most effective day (144 yards and a landing) however averted massive hassle.
“As a way to transfer ahead they should cease from going backward.” With quotes like that, Tom Brady’s broadcasting debut wasn’t precisely a smash hit. Our personal Aaron Timms has extra on a stumbling efficiency.
You thought the Carolina Panthers have been unhealthy final season? Wait till you see them this time round. The NFL’s worst-run franchise misplaced 47-10 on the New Orleans Saints to start out the yr. It was a depressing debut for head coach Dave Canales, and it was maybe a number of levels worse than that for second-year quarterback Bryce Younger. The 2023 No 1 general choose was an utter catastrophe, misfiring on his throws all afternoon and showing completely overwhelmed towards a New Orleans protection that was all too completely happy to feast on him. Younger accomplished simply 13 of his 30 cross makes an attempt for no touchdowns and two interceptions. There is no such thing as a actual mild on the finish of the tunnel in Charlotte but, however a minimum of the Panthers retain their very own first-round choose for subsequent yr. That’s an enchancment on 2024, when the highest choose they’d earned with poor play as an alternative went to the Chicago Bears.
Tyreek Hill had a bizarre day. Police apprehended the famous person wideout for the Miami Dolphins on his strategy to the group’s stadium on Sunday morning, briefly handcuffing him and holding him face down on the bottom. Hill’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, mentioned officers needlessly escalated the state of affairs. He was free by warmup time, nonetheless, after which had a typical afternoon: a comeback win over the Jacksonville Jaguars that included seven catches for 130 yards. The Jaguars had a 93.2% likelihood to win late within the recreation, in response to the NFL’s Subsequent Gen Stats, however finally frittered away a recreation that they had led 14-0. Hill’s largest contribution was an 80-yard catch-and-run landing from Tua Tagovailoa. He celebrated that rating, naturally, with a handcuff-themed celebration. Miami police have already assigned one of many officers on the scene to administrative duties.
The NFL’s new “dynamic kickoff” had its first day of actual motion. Within the new system, each tacklers and blockers arrange a lot nearer to the returning group’s finish zone, and no person can transfer till the ball comes down in a “touchdown zone” between the goalline and the receiving group’s 20-yard line. The league’s purpose is to encourage extra (and extra thrilling) kickoff returns whereas lessening the chance of accidents. It’ll take a while to see how groups reply to the rule, however Sunday introduced an encouraging begin. Final season, simply 4 kickoff returns went for TDs. On Sunday, the Arizona Cardinals’ DeeJay Dallas took one to the home from 96 yards towards the Buffalo Payments. Even one kick return landing within the NFL each week could be a number of added enjoyable.
Josh Allen, who threw for 2 touchdowns on Sunday and ran for an additional two, injured his left (non-throwing) hand in the course of the Payments’ win over the Cardinals. He went into the x-ray room after the sport however didn’t have his hand wrapped when he talked to reporters.
