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Mike Reiss, ESPN Staff WriterSep 8, 2024, 06:44 PM ET
- Mike Reiss is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the New England Patriots. Reiss has covered the Patriots since 1997 and joined ESPN in 2009. In 2019, he was named Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. You can follow Reiss on Twitter at @MikeReiss.
CINCINNATI — New England Patriots coach Jerod Mayo was presented a game ball by owner Robert Kraft after Sunday’s 16-10 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals to acknowledge his first career win.
Kraft delivered the ball to Mayo in the locker room, which led to a rousing cheer from players.
“It was special. I’m just appreciative of the opportunity,” Mayo said, adding that he presented a game ball to executive director of player personnel Eliot Wolf for his first win in the role. “My message to the players was without them, I’m nothing. I made sure they knew that. All the praise goes to those guys.”
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The 38-year-old Mayo, who succeeded Bill Belichick after 24 years, joins Ron Meyer (1982), Raymond Berry (1984), Dick MacPherson (1991) and Pete Carroll (1997) as the only Patriots coaches to earn a win in their first regular-season game.
“He was ecstatic, elated, overjoyed. He should be. It’s his first one,” quarterback Jacoby Brissett said of Mayo. “He got us ready to go — not only this week but going back to [the spring]. … Nobody believed in us, but he kept preaching that ‘the people are the ones that matter’ and that came to fruition.”
The underdog Patriots beat the shorthanded Bengals behind a hard-charging running game, totaling 170 yards on 39 carries, while limiting a Joe Burrow-led offense that was 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 key factors in the outcome.
As Kraft presented the game ball to Mayo, it was noted that Kraft’s first career win as an owner also came in Cincinnati — 31-28 on Sept. 18, 1994.
“It’s a good moment, getting him his first win, on the road, 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, and a great motivator. He’s just a guy you want to play for.
“He’s a real 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 as professionals and it’s up to us. We take that seriously.”
Jerod Mayo joins Ron Meyer (1982), Raymond Berry (1984), Dick MacPherson (1991) and Pete Carroll (1997) as the only Patriots coaches to earn a win in their first regular-season game. AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster
Eight-year veteran defensive tackle Davon Godchaux dumped Gatorade over Mayo on the sideline as the clock wound down.
“Legendary — first African-American coach in New England history,” Godchaux said. “I’ll be telling my kids I was a part of that, and excited to be.”
The Patriots, as 7.5-point underdogs, pulled off the biggest Week 1 upset since 2018, according to ESPN Research, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the New Orleans Saints as a 10-point underdog.
New England, after its first Week 1 victory since 2020, next hosts the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
Their longest play in Sunday’s opening win was 17 yards — a completion from Brissett to receiver Tyquan Thornton — as they became the first team to win a season opener without a 20-yard play since the Broncos beat the Ravens in 2015.
The 16 points tied for the fewest in a Week 1 victory in franchise history (1968, 1991).
