Ups & Downs: Patriots made heads-up plays they needed in Week 1 win over Bengals

BOSTON -- The New England Patriots are 1-0 to start the 2024 NFL season. Let that sink in for a moment.

After an offseason full of jokes at their expense and low expectations for the upcoming season, the Patriots quieted the doubters for at least one week. It was far from a perfect game for New England, but the Patriots stood tall and made plays in all three facets of the game against the Bengals.

They owned the ground on offense, and forced turnovers on both defense and special teams. The defense never let Joe Burrow get in a groove, and forced four three-and-outs throughout the 16-10 victory in Cincinnati.

Here are all the Ups and Downs from New England's Week 1 win over the Bengals. 

UP: Jerod Mayo's game plan

Mayo's goal going into the game was to establish the run on offense and not let the Bengals do the same when they had the ball. The Patriots did just that, controlling the clock and keeping Joe Burrow on the sideline throughout the victory.

The Patriots ran for 170 yards on their 39 attempts, while the Bengals mustered just 70 yards on the ground. New England had the ball for over 34 minutes on Sunday, and ran 64 plays to Cincinnati's 48. 

Mix that with stellar play on defense and special teams, and Mayo picked up a victory on his first Sunday as an NFL head coach.

UP: Rhamondre Stevenson runs wild

Stevenson led that ground attack for the Patriots with 120 yards and a touchdown on his 25 carries. He averaged 4.8 yards per attempt, and had four runs that went for over 10 yards. 

Stevenson was huge at the end of the game as he ran four times for 26 yards on New England's final possession to bleed the clock and get the Patriots out of town with a win. He made a sick shift move on a second-and-5 carry on that drive that went for nine yards, and then powered his way for nine more yards on a second-and-7 to force the Bengals to burn their final timeout. From there, Jacoby Brissett lined up in the victory formation for New England. 

UP: Kyle Dugger's heads-up plays

The Patriots safety was locked in when the Bengals got into the red zone in the second quarter. When it looked like he was beat by former New England tight end Mike Gesicki for a touchdown catch in the back corner of the end zone, Dugger got enough of a paw on the ball to jar it loose as Gesicki hit the ground. (It was initially ruled a catch before being overturned after a review.)

Then on the very next play, Dugger saw Tanner Hudson holding the ball like he wanted to give it away -- and he took it away. Dugger punched the ball out before Hudson could get into the end zone, and Marcus Jones recovered the fumble for the Patriots.

That's back-to-back plays that the Bengals should have had a touchdown, but Dugger turned them away. It was a great start to the season for one of the team's leaders on defense.

UP: Jacoby Brissett's pocket awareness

Brissett played smart throughout the win and had a really solid game behind a very iffy New England offensive line. His poise helped mitigate the pressure that Cincinnati sent his way, and Brissett used his legs to pick up some key first downs for New England early in the game.  

While he almost threw an end zone pick, it was knocked out of the defender's hands on a nice play by tight end Hunter Henry. Brissett wanted that one back, but overall he had a solid afternoon for the Patriots.

Somewhere in the middle: New England's offensive line

The line opened up some big holes for Stevenson and helped get the ground game going. That was good.

But they struggled in pass protection despite giving up just one sack, as Brissett was under some severe duress for most of the game. 

DOWN: New England's left tackles

Left tackle is a problem for the Patriots. We knew this, but was tough to watch at times on Sunday.

Chuks Okorafor started the game at left tackle, but he didn't even make it to the end of the first quarter. Vederian Lowe replaced him at that important position, and committed a false start during his first series.

At least Brissett was able to handle the Cincy pressure for most of the afternoon. But the quarterback took some big hits, and teams are going to look to exploit New England's left tackle woes all season.

DOWN: Patriots red zone play before the half

Brissett was nearly picked off in the end zone, and then got crunched on a third-down scramble when no one was open. The Pats ended up settling for a field goal instead of potentially adding seven points to the scoreboard.

UP: New England's Special Teams play

Joey Slye put all three of his field goal attempts through the uprights, Bryce Barringer put three of his five punts inside the 20, and long snapper Joe Cardona forced a fumble on a punt return for the Patriots. Not a bad day at all for the New England special teams unit.

UP: Keion White is a pass rush monster

After recording just one sack during his rookie season, White notched 2.5 sacks in his 2024 debut on Sunday. He was a wrecking ball all day with a forced fumble, four tackles, and another QB hit against the Bengals. He absolutely demolished the right side of the Cincinnati offensive line on a third-and-3 play in the second quarter when he bullied Alex Kappa. White ended up sharing a sack with Ja'Whaun Bentley (who had a team-high 12 tackles for the Patriots) on the play.  

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