Patriots-Bengals Week 1 news, notes, and fun facts
FOXBORO -- The Patriots will kick off a new era of New England football on Sunday when Jerod Mayo leads the team against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Mayo, 38, has the tall task of taking over for Bill Belichick, who led the Patriots to six Super Bowl titles and 296 wins over his 24 seasons on the sideline. Mayo right now is just hoping to put a competitive team on the field every weekend.
He's inheriting a team that went just 4-13 last season and is kicking off what could be a lengthy rebuild in New England. The expectations are not high for this team, and Mayo doesn't get an easy start with a Week 1 clash against the Bengals in Cincinnati.
But if the Patriots can somehow upset Joe Burrow and company on Sunday, Mayo would become the fifth New England head coach to earn a win in their first regular season game, joining Ron Meyer (1982), Raymond Berry (1984), Dick MacPherson (1991) and Pete Carroll (1997).
Here are the other news, notes, and fun facts to know about Sunday's Week 1 Patriots-Bengals tilt.
The Patriots on Opening Day
- The Patriots are 35-29 overall on Opening Day.
- New England is looking for its first Opening Day win since 2020, when the Pats beat the Miami Dolphins, 21-11, at Gillette Stadium.
- The Patriots are 12-14 on Opening Day on the road.
- The Patriots have 28 players on the 53-man roster that were not on the 53-man roster on Opening Day last season. Of those newcomers, 10 are rookies, including all eight members of the team's 2024 draft class.
- Two of those returning players were once teammates with Mayo: center David Andrews and long snapper Joe Cardona. They both played with Mayo in 2015, his final season before retiring as a player.
Patriots vs. Bengals
- Week 1 will be the 28th meeting between the Patriots and the Bengals. The Patriots lead the all-time series, 17-10, and have won seven of the last 10 matchups. The Bengals won the last matchup though, beating the Patriots 22-18 on Christmas Eve at Gillette Stadium in 2022.
- This will be the fourth time that the Patriots open a season against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals won their Week 1 matchups in 1972 and 2001 -- both in Cincinnati -- while the Patriots won, 38-24, in 2010 at Gillette Stadium.
- The Patriots are 7-7 in their visits to The Queen City, and are 3-2 at Paul Brown Stadium/Paycor Stadium.
- The Patriots gave Robert Kraft his first victory as Patriots owner with a 31-28 win over the Bengals at Riverfront Stadium on Sept. 18 in 1994.
- Both the Patriots and the Bengals finished in last place in their respective divisions last season. However, the Patriots landed in the basement of the AFC East with a 4-13 record while the Bengals were last in the AFC North at 9-8.
- Joe Burrow has won his only game against the Patriots, completing 40 of his 52 passes for 375 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions in a Bengals win at Gillette Stadium in 2022.
Patriots-Bengals Connections
- We'll see a few former Patriots lining up for the Bengals this Sunday. Center Ted Karras (who played for the Pats from 2016-19 and again in 2021) has started all 33 games for the Bengals since signing with Cincinnati in 2022. Tackle Trent Brown (who was with the Pats in 2018 and from 2021-23) signed with the Bengals in the offseason and will likely start at right tackle in Week 1. Tight end Mike Gesicki, who was with the Pats last season, also signed with Cincy in the offseason and could be an important target in the slot for Burrow.
- Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt served as Cincinnati's quarterbacks coach from 2018-19. Tight ends coach Bob Bicknell was also with the Bengals from 2018-20 as the team's wide receivers coach.
- Patriots guard Michael Jordan (2019-20) and tight end Mitchell Wilcox (2020-23) -- both on the New England practice squad -- previously played with the Bengals. Wilcox appeared in 48 regular season games and seven playoff games over his three seasons in Cincinnati.
Other Patriots Week 1 News and Notes
- If Jacoby Brissett can somehow rack up 300 passing yards on Sunday, it will be the second straight season and the 11th time overall that the Patriots have had a 300-yard passer on Opening Day. Mac Jones had 316 passing yards in New England's season opener against Philadelphia last season. The last time the Patriots had a 300-yard passer in back-to-back Opening Days was back in 2004 and 2005, when Tom Brady threw for 335 yards against Indianapolis and 306 yards against Oakland, respectively.
- The Patriots have not had a 100-yard rusher on Opening Day since Damien Harris hit the century mark on his 23 carries against the Dolphins in Week 1 of the 2021 season. They haven't had a 100-yard receiver on Opening Day since Rob Gronkowski had 123 receiving yards against Houston in 2018.
- The New England defense hasn't scored an Opening Day touchdown since 2010, which came against the Bengals. Linebacker Gary Guy picked off Carson Palmer and brought it back 59 yards for a touchdown in a 38-24 New England victory.
Tune in to Sunday's Patriots-Bengals showdown on WBZ-TV -- your television home of the New England Patriots! Pregame coverage begins at 11:30am with Patriots GameDay, kickoff is set for 1pm, and after the game stay tuned for Patriots 5th Quarter -- all on WBZ-TV!