The post-Belichick Patriots may not be the dumpster fire we expected
TThe post-Bill Belichick era for the New England Patriots has gotten off to a bright start. The Patriots hit the road on Sunday and defeated the Cincinnati Bengalsa long-awaited playoff team, 16-10. New coach Jerrod Mayo, a Belichick disciple turned replacement, got a soothing Gatorade bath in his debut game. The Patriots were eight-point underdogs, and their win was the most surprising result of Week 1 action.
On some levels, life after Belichick looked bleak for the Patriots. The coach who led the franchise to six Super Bowls is spending this year doing broadcasting, and there’s no recapturing the magic that Belichick and Tom Brady created together for nearly two decades. But through a different lens, the Patriots of yore died when Brady walked out the door in free agency in 2020. There was nothing left to salvage when the Patriots parted ways with Belichick at the end of last season and hired Mayo, his former linebacker and assistant coach. A fresh start seemed like the only reasonable choice at the time.
The Patriots may still have a long way to go, but Mayo’s first game could hardly have gone better. Drake Maye, the No. 2 pick in the draft, will remain the team’s backup quarterback for now, waiting and watching behind the veteran Jacoby Brissett, who started as Brady’s backup quarterback in 2016 and is back in Massachusetts after stints with four other teams. Brissett wasn’t great (15-of-24 passes for 121 yards, with no touchdowns or interceptions), but he was competent. Rhamondre Stevenson carried 25 times for 120 yards and scored the team’s lone touchdown.
More surprisingly, New England’s defense put the Bengals through the wringer. The Patriots traded talented edge rusher Matthew Judon to the Atlanta Falcons in mid-August, seemingly committing to a wasted season since they received a third-round draft pick next year. But the Patriots’ remaining players turned in an inspiring performance against two standout players — quarterback Joe Burrow and receiver Ja’Marr Chase — and the rest of the Cincy offense. Chase had a catch for 28 yards but was otherwise held in check. Burrow couldn’t find much in the way of open receivers on the field, throwing for just 164 yards on 29 throws. The Bengals failed to mount a robust run game with tailback Zack Moss (nine carries, 44 yards) face-planting home.
Things probably won’t stay this bad for the Bengals. No. 2 wideout Tee Higgins sat out with a hamstring injury, and his return should be a boon. But the team has looked shockingly lifeless and will need a major reset in a season that started with big ambitions.
On the other hand, the Patriots entered 2024 without such aspirations. Their realistic goals were to improve a bit from last year’s 4-13 mark and see strong development from Maye, their prized QB of the future. It’s too early to raise expectations, but any week the Patriots win a game while Maye continues to learn by watching is a good week. And this franchise hasn’t had many good days of late.
MVP of the week
Baker Mayfield, quarterback, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Mayfield was one of the comeback stories of last season, from the scrap heap to the Bucs’ franchise QB. After leading the team to the divisional round of the playoffs, Tampa rewarded the Cleveland Browns standout with a three-year, $100 million contract. Mayfield delivered in his first game on that deal, with impressive numbers: completing 24 of 30 passes for 289 yards and four touchdowns in a 37-20 victory over the Washington Commanders. Mayfield will never be an All-Pro passer, but he appears to be a much better player (and certainly a steal) than the man the Browns selected over him in 2022: Deshaun Watson, who had one of the worst performances of an increasingly wasted career in a 33-17 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. Mayfield likely has no regrets about the Browns cutting ties with him.
Statistics of the week
18. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ total points on Sunday came at the Atlanta Falcons, who managed just 10. Every one of those Pittsburgh points came off the right foot of kicker Chris Boswell, who went 6-for-6 on field goals. The Steelers never reached the end zone, but Boswell washed down kicks of 57, 51, 44, 56, 40 and 25 yards to tie a franchise record for field goals made. Somehow, that may not have been the most impressive feature of Boswell’s afternoon: Pittsburgh punter Cameron Johnston was injured in the fourth quarter, and a penalty on the play required Boswell to come out immediately and replace Johnston as a punt. The first punt of Boswell’s career went 43 yards for 40, giving the Pittsburgh defense some crucial breathing room in a one-score game. Few kickers have ever had a day as good as this one.
Video of the week
The Indianapolis Colts drafted Anthony Richardson with the No. 4 pick in the 2023 draft, betting they could turn his size, athleticism, and arm strength into a great NFL quarterback. An injury in the fourth game of his rookie season put the Richardson experience on hold for nearly a year. But now the 22-year-old is back, and one of his first throws of 2024 was one of the most impressive any football fan will ever see in their life. Richardson had just slipped and sent a pass rusher flying when he quickly charged and fired a stunning 60-yard touchdown to Alec Pierce to give Indy an early lead against the Houston Texans. The list of quarterbacks capable of making that throw is short. In fact, there may only be one name long: Richardson. The Colts lost to the Houston Texans, 29-27with Richardson completing just nine of 19 passes but racking up 212 yards.
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Elsewhere in the competition
Jim Harbaugh returned to the NFL with a 22-10 victory for his Los Angeles Chargers over the Las Vegas Raiders. When Harbaugh last coached in the league in 2014, neither the Chargers nor the Raiders were even in their current cities. It was a triumphant return for Harbaugh, who spent the intervening years building Michigan to a national championship at the college level. Tailback J.K. Dobbins was his team’s star in Week 1, carrying 10 times for 135 yards and a touchdown. Harbaugh’s prized quarterback Justin Herbert didn’t have his most efficient day (144 yards and a touchdown) but managed to avoid major upsets.
“To move forward, they’ve got to stop going backward.” With quotes like that, Tom Brady’s debut as an announcer wasn’t exactly a great success. Our own Aaron Timms has more to say about a stumbling performance.
Thought the Carolina Panthers were bad last season? Wait until you see them this time. The NFL’s worst-run franchise lost 47-10 at the New Orleans Saints to start the year. It was a miserable debut for head coach Dave Canales, and it was perhaps a few degrees worse than the one for quarterback Bryce Young in his second year. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft was an unmitigated disaster, not throwing well all afternoon and looking completely overwhelmed against a New Orleans defense that was more than happy to feast on him. Young completed just 13 of his 30 pass attempts for no touchdowns and two interceptions. There’s no real light at the end of the tunnel in Charlotte yet, but at least the Panthers keep their own first-round pick for next year. That’s an improvement over 2024, when the top pick they earned through poor play went to the Chicago Bears instead.
Tyreek Hill had a strange day. Police arrested the Miami Dolphins superstar wideout on his way to the team’s stadium Sunday morning, briefly handcuffing him and holding him facedown on the ground. Hill’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said officers let the situation escalate unnecessarily. He was free by warmup time, though, and had a typical afternoon afterward: a comeback win over the Jacksonville Jaguars with seven catches for 130 yards. The Jaguars had a 93.2 percent chance of winning late in the game, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, but ultimately blew a game they had led 14-0. Hill’s biggest contribution was an 80-yard catch-and-run touchdown to Tua Tagovailoa. He celebrated, of course, with a handcuff theme partyMiami Police have already one of the officers on site designated to administrative tasks.
The NFL’s new “dynamic kickoff” system had its first day of real action. In the new system, both tacklers and blockers line up much closer to the returner’s end zone, and no one is allowed to move until the ball lands in a “landing zone” between the returner’s goal line and the receiving team’s 20-yard line. The league’s goal is to get more (and more exciting) kickoff returns while reducing the chance of injury. It will take some time to see how teams respond to the rule, but Sunday was an encouraging start. Last season, only four kickoff returns resulted in TDs. On Sunday, DeeJay Dallas of the Arizona Cardinals took one home from 96 meters against the Buffalo Bills. Even one kick return touchdown in the NFL every week would add a lot of fun.