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

After an offseason filled with jokes about their own expenses and low expectations for the upcoming season, the Patriots silenced the doubters for at least a week. It was far from a perfect game for New England, but the Patriots held their ground and made plays in all three facets of the game against the Bengals.

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

Below are all the highlights and lowlights from New England’s Week 1 win over the Bengals.

UP: Jerod Mayo’s Game Plan

Mayo’s goal for 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 for the duration of the win.

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

Combine that with excellent play on defense and special teams, and Mayo earned a win on his first Sunday as NFL head coach.

UP: Rhamondre Stevenson goes wild

Stevenson led the 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 of 10-plus yards.

Stevenson was huge late in the game when he ran four times for 26 yards on New England’s final possession to bleed the clock and put 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 nine yards, and then he ran nine more yards on a second-and-7 to force the Bengals to use their final timeout. From there, Jacoby Brissett lined up in the winning formation for New England.

UP: Kyle Dugger’s Heads-Up Games

The Patriots safety was locked in as the Bengals entered the red zone in the second quarter. When it appeared he was being beaten by former New England tight end Mike Gesicki for a touchdown catch in the back corner of the end zone, Dugger got enough of his paw on the ball to dislodge it as Gesicki hit the ground. (It was initially ruled a catch, but was overturned after a review.)

Then, on the next play, Dugger saw Tanner Hudson holding the ball as if he was going to give it away — and he took it away. Dugger knocked the ball out before Hudson could get into the end zone, and Marcus Jones recovered the fumble for the Patriots.

Those were back-to-back plays where the Bengals should have had a touchdown, but Dugger held them off. 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 very solid game behind a very questionable New England offensive line. His composure helped to ease the pressure Cincinnati put on him, 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, which was knocked out of the defender’s hands on a nice play by tight end Hunter Henry. Brissett wanted it 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 allowing just one sack, as Brissett was under heavy pressure for most of the game.

DOWN: New England’s Left Tackles

Left tackle is a problem for the Patriots. We knew it, but it was hard 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 key position and made a false start on his first series.

Brissett was able to handle Cincy’s pressure for at least most of the afternoon. But the quarterback took some big hits, and teams will be looking to exploit New England’s left tackle woes all season.

DOWN: Patriots red zone play before halftime

Brissett was nearly intercepted in the end zone, then crushed on a third-down scramble when no one was open. The Pats had to settle for a field goal rather than potentially add seven points to the scoreboard.

UP: New England’s Special Teams play

Joey Slye blasted all three of his field goal attempts through the uprights, Bryce Barringer fired 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 New England’s special teams unit.

UP: Keion White is a monster in the pass rush

After recording just one sack during his rookie season, White recorded 2.5 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 completely demolished the right side of Cincinnati’s 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.