The post-Belichick Patriots may not be the dumpster fire we expected

The post-Bill Belichick era for the New England Patriots is off to a sunny start. The Patriots went on the road Sunday and beat the Cincinnati Bengals, a widely anticipated 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 level, the Patriots’ life after Belichick figured to be bleak. The coach who brought the franchise six Super Bowls is spending this year doing broadcasting gigs, and there’s no recapturing the magic that Belichick and Tom Brady conjured together for nearly two decades. But through a different lens, the Patriots of old died when Brady walked out the door in free agency in 2020. There was nothing left to preserve by the time the Patriots parted ways with Belichick at the end of last season and hired Mayo, his former linebacker and assistant coach. A fresh start was, at that point, the only reasonable choice.

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The Patriots may still have a long slog in front of them, but Mayo’s first game could hardly have gone better. No 2 overall draftee Drake Maye remains the team’s backup quarterback for a bit longer yet, waiting and watching behind journeyman Jacoby Brissett, who started out as a Brady backup in 2016 and now finds himself back in Massachusetts after stints with four other teams. Brissett wasn’t much good (15-of-24 passing 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 only touchdown.

More surprisingly, the New England defense put the Bengals through the blender. The Patriots traded talented edge rusher Matthew Judon to the Atlanta Falcons in mid-August, seemingly consigning themselves to a lost season as they added a third-round draft pick next year. But the Patriots’ remaining players delivered an inspired performance against two outstanding players – quarterback Joe Burrow and receiver Ja’Marr Chase – and the rest of the Cincy offense. Chase had a 28-yard catch but was otherwise kept in check. Burrow could find little in the way of open receivers down the field and only netted 164 yards on 29 throws. The Bengals didn’t establish a robust run game with tailback Zack Moss (nine carries, 44 yards) and face-planted at home.

It’s not likely to stay this bad for the Bengals. No 2 wideout Tee Higgins didn’t play as he nursed a hamstring injury, and his return should be a boon. But the team looked shockingly lifeless and will need a comprehensive reset in a season that began with major aspirations.

On the other hand, the Patriots came into 2024 with no such aspirations. Their realistic goals were to be a bit better than last year’s 4-13 mark and see strong development from Maye, their prized QB of the future. It is still too early to revise expectations upward, but every week the Patriots win a game while letting Maye continue to learn by watching is a good one. And lately, this franchise hasn’t seen many good days.

MVP of the week

Baker Mayfield, quarterback, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Mayfield was one of the comeback stories of last season, going from the scrap heap to the Bucs’ franchise QB. After getting the team to the divisional round of the playoffs, Tampa rewarded the Cleveland Browns castoff with a three-year, $100m contract. Mayfield provided good returns in his first game on that deal, putting up impressive numbers: 24-of-30 passing for 289 yards and four touchdowns in a 37-20 win over the Washington Commanders. Mayfield will never be an All-Pro passer, but he looks like a much better player (and certainly more of a bargain) than the man the Browns chose over him in 2022: Deshaun Watson, who turned in one of the worst performances of an increasingly lost career in a 33-17 blowout loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. Mayfield likely does not regret the Browns cutting ties with him.

Stat of the week

18. The total points on Sunday for the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Atlanta Falcons, who could only score 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 found the end zone, but Boswell flushed his kicks from 57, 51, 44, 56, 40, and 25 yards, tying a franchise record for made field goals. Somehow that may not have been the most impressive feature of Boswell’s afternoon: Pittsburgh punter Cameron Johnston suffered an injury in the fourth quarter, and a penalty on the play required Boswell to trot out immediately and replace Johnston as a punter. The first punt of Boswell’s career went 43 yards and netted 40, providing critical breathing room for the Pittsburgh defense in a one-score game. Few kickers have ever had a day as good as this one.

Video of the week

The Indianapolis Colts made Anthony Richardson the No 4 pick in 2023’s draft, betting that they could translate his size, athleticism, and arm strength into a great NFL quarterback. An injury in the fourth game of his rookie season paused the Richardson experience for nearly a full year. But now the 22-year-old is back, and one of his first throws of 2024 was one of the most impressive heaves any football fan will ever see in their life. Richardson had just slipped and had a pass-rusher bearing down on him when he quickly loaded up and fired a gorgeous 60-yard touchdown to Alec Pierce, giving Indy an early lead against the Houston Texans. The list of quarterbacks capable of making that throw is very short. It may in fact just be one name long: Richardson. The Colts lost to the Houston Texans, 29-27, with Richardson completing just nine of 19 passes but getting 212 yards on them.

Elsewhere around the league

• Jim Harbaugh returned to the NFL with a 22-10 win for his Los Angeles Chargers over the Las Vegas Raiders. When Harbaugh last coached in the league in 2014, neither the Chargers nor Raiders were even in their current cities. It was a triumphant return for Harbaugh, who spent the intervening years building Michigan into a national championship college program. Tailback JK Dobbins was his team’s star in Week 1, carrying 10 times for 135 yards and a touchdown. Harbaugh’s prized quarterback Justin Herbert did not have his most efficient day (144 yards and a touchdown) but avoided big trouble.

• “In order to move forward they need to stop from going backward.” With quotes like that, Tom Brady’s broadcasting debut wasn’t exactly a smash hit. Our own Aaron Timms has more on a stumbling performance.

• You thought the Carolina Panthers were bad last season? Wait until you see them this time around. 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 that for second-year quarterback Bryce Young. The 2023 No 1 overall pick was an utter disaster, misfiring on his throws all afternoon and appearing totally overwhelmed against a New Orleans defense that was all too happy to feast on him. Young completed just 13 of his 30 pass attempts for no touchdowns and two interceptions. There is no real light at the end of the tunnel in Charlotte yet, but at least the Panthers retain their own first-round pick for next year. That’s an improvement on 2024, when the top pick they’d earned with poor play instead went to the Chicago Bears.

• Tyreek Hill had a weird day. Police apprehended the superstar wideout for the Miami Dolphins on his way to the team’s stadium on Sunday morning, briefly handcuffing him and holding him face down on the ground. Hill’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said officers needlessly escalated the situation. He was free by warmup time, however, and then had a typical afternoon: a comeback win over the Jacksonville Jaguars that included seven catches for 130 yards. The Jaguars had a 93.2% chance to win late in the game, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, but ultimately frittered away a game they had led 14-0. Hill’s biggest contribution was an 80-yard catch-and-run touchdown from Tua Tagovailoa. He celebrated that score, naturally, with a handcuff-themed celebration. Miami police have already assigned one of the officers on the scene to administrative duties.

• The NFL’s new “dynamic kickoff” had its first day of real action. In the new system, both tacklers and blockers set up much closer to the returning team’s end zone, and nobody can move until the ball comes down in a “landing zone” between the goalline and the receiving team’s 20-yard line. The league’s aim is to encourage more (and more exciting) kickoff returns while lessening the likelihood of injuries. It’ll take some time to see how teams respond to the rule, but Sunday brought an encouraging start. Last season, just four kickoff returns went for TDs. On Sunday, the Arizona Cardinals’ DeeJay Dallas took one to the house from 96 yards against the Buffalo Bills. Even one kick return touchdown in the NFL every week would be a lot of added fun.

• Josh Allen, who threw for two touchdowns on Sunday and ran for another two, injured his left (non-throwing) hand during the Bills’ win over the Cardinals. He went into the x-ray room after the game but did not have his hand wrapped when he talked to reporters.