CINCINNATI — New England Patriots coach Jerod Mayo was presented with a game ball by owner Robert Kraft after Sunday’s 16-10 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, his first career win.

Kraft passed Mayo the ball in the locker room, prompting loud cheers from the players.

“It was special. I’m just grateful for the opportunity,” Mayo said, adding that he presented a game ball to executive director of player personnel Eliot Wolf for his first win in that role. “My message to the players was that without them, I’m nothing. I made sure they knew that. All credit goes to those guys.”

The 38-year-old Mayo, who succeeded Bill Belichick after 24 years, is the only Patriots coaches to win in their first regular-season game, along with Ron Meyer (1982), Raymond Berry (1984), Dick MacPherson (1991) and Pete Carroll (1997).

“He was elated, excited, overjoyed. He should be. It’s his first,” quarterback Jacoby Brissett said of Mayo. “He got us ready to go — not just this week, but back to (the spring). … Nobody believed in us, but he kept preaching that ‘the people are the ones that matter,’ and it came true.”

The underdog Patriots defeated the deficit Bengals behind a hard-charging running game, totaling 170 yards on 39 carries while limiting a Joe Burrow-led offense without receiver Tee Higgins (hamstring) to 224 total yards. A plus-two turnover differential, as well as a fourth-down stop in the second half, were major factors in the outcome.

As Kraft presented the game ball to Mayo, it was noted that Kraft’s first win as owner also came in Cincinnati: 31-28 on September 18, 1994.

“It’s a great moment, getting him his first win, coming away, starting the season off right,” veteran safety Jabrill Peppers said of Mayo. “He’s a players’ coach, great with the X’s and O’s, great motivator. He’s just a guy you want to play for.

“He’s a really funny guy, but when it’s time to work, it’s time to work. I think that’s a great mix. He treats his players like professionals and it’s up to us. We take that seriously.”

Davon Godchaux, a veteran defenseman with eight years of experience, poured Gatorade on Mayo as time ticked away.

“Legendary — first African-American coach in New England history,” Godchaux said. “I’ll tell my kids I was a part of that and I’m excited about it.”

According to ESPN Research, the Patriots, who were 7.5-point underdogs, pulled off the biggest upset in Week 1 since 2018, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the New Orleans Saints as 10-point underdogs.

New England, after its first Week 1 win since 2020, hosts the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

Their longest play in Sunday’s opener was 17 yards, a pass from Brissett to receiver Tyquan Thornton, making them the first team to win a season opener without a 20-yard play since the Broncos beat the Ravens in 2015.

The 16 points were the fewest in a Week 1 win in franchise history (1968, 1991).