By Darryl Harding Sr-
Order up… the Pats season opener victory sandwich comes with Mayo on the side. Jerod Mayo in his debut as NFL head coach brings the New England Patriots to a surprising victory against the Cincinnati Bengals.
In an amazing season opener performance New England’s defense thwarted the Bengals for the entire 1st half and ⅔ of the 3rd quarter. By then Pats had already scored 13 points with two field goals and a Rhamondre Stevenson touchdown.
Constantly chewing up yards Stevenson relentlessly pounded the ball for 120 yards during the contest. Considering Cincinnati had a total of 70 yards on the ground, including running backs and the quarterback, Patriots starter Jacoby Brissett just had to minimize turnovers in order to triumph.
Scrambling for an additional 32 yards, coupled with 120 passing yards Brissett controlled the tempo and allowed no turnovers. Cincinnati fumbled twice, once as Bengals tight end Tanner Hudson was about to cross the goal line.
Another notable notch in the Pats defense belt was a key stop on 4th and 2 with about half of the time elapsed in the 3rd. All in all an excellent and unexpected win.
owner Bob Kraft commented after the game as he awarded Mayo the game ball, “people had all the excuses that it couldn’t happen, but you all did it.” New England’s schedule is tough facing the Seahawks, the 49ers and the Dolphins, all debut winners, in three of their next four games.