Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots Defeat Cincinnati Bengals 16-10 SPECIAL EDITION: ‘Mondre, Mayo, Jacoby and More

Starting point is 00:00:00 The New England Patriots were on to Cincinnati in more ways than one, and now they start the season 1-0. Stick around, you're about to be locked in to this special game recap edition of the Locked On Patriots Podcast. You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcastots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful, and thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots the daily part of your New England Patriots coverage and also your first listen each and every day.

Starting point is 00:00:40 Remember, Locked On Patriots is not only a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day, but we're also free and available on all platforms, including YouTube, so smash that subscribe button, download and follow Locked On Patriots wherever you get your podcasts to ensure you're getting the latest episode

Starting point is 00:01:00 as soon as it's available. I'm your host, Mike DeBate, and I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots Country of Athlon Sports. So reach out to me and let me know what's on your mind on X at M-D-A-B-A-T-E-N-F-L. And while you're out there showing some love to Locked On Patriots social media style,

Starting point is 00:01:18 please be sure to follow our account there as well at L-O underscore Patriots. And Pats fans, it's been a long time since your New England Patriots were an afterthought underdog to open the season, and let's face it, very few of us, including yours truly, gave

Starting point is 00:01:36 them much of a chance to pull out the victory in the Queen City on Sunday. But I'm happy to admit that I was wrong, and I'll take my comeuppance, all baked up in some humble pie and to boot I'll even take mine a la mode running back Ramondre Stevenson looked fantastic as he rushed for 120 yards in a first quarter touchdown Joey Sly kicking three field goals and New England winning Gerard Mayo's debut as head coach, beating a still-working-the-kinks-out version of the Cincinnati Bengals 16-10 on Sunday at Paycourse Stadium.

Starting point is 00:02:12 And the Patriots earning their first kickoff weekend victory since they did so back in September of 2020, a 21-11 victory over Miami at Gillette Stadium. An exciting upset win for the Pats in every sense of the word and we're going to break it all down for you between tonight's episode and don't forget more analysis coming on Monday with your good friend and mine Thomas Murphy joining me here in the hot seat so we are just scratching the surface when it comes to Patriots Bengals coverage but probably the biggest takeaway from this one is Gerard Mayo winning his debut as head coach. First regular season game, he joins former Patriots coaches Ron Meyer

Starting point is 00:02:52 in 1982, Raymond Berry in 1984, Dick McPherson in 1991, and Pete Carroll back in 97 as the only Patriots coaches to win their first regular season game. Their first regular season game with the Patriots, that is. And another distinction for Gerard Mayo, he actually joins Robert Kraft in getting his first win in one of the top spots in the organization against the Cincinnati Bengals. Yeah, that's right. Robert Kraft actually got his first victory as owner of the New England Patriots

Starting point is 00:03:24 back on September 18th in 1994 when the Patriots defeated the Bengals back at the old Riverfront Stadium, 31-28. And as you can imagine, this was an emotional moment for Gerrard, rightfully so. After the game, Mayo was given the game ball by Robert Kraft, and this was a great moment of pride for both Gerrard and for Robert Kraft, especially after all the upheaval this offseason, the uncertainty surrounding what Gerrard's performance was going to be. And let's face it, it's not easy having to follow a legendary head coach

Starting point is 00:03:56 like Bill Belichick. That is not an enviable task for anyone. But I give a lot of credit to Gerrard. He handled it with class today, and his team came ready to play in all three phases. That's how winning is done, and that's why the Patriots won on Sunday against the Bengals. And even though they were underdogs coming into this game, Mayo and the Pats didn't buy into the negative hype. In fact, after the game, when Gerard spoke with the media, he said, and and I quote we're not trying to hear

Starting point is 00:04:25 anything from the outside I told those guys meaning Gerard telling his team all week it's about us in this building there is no one going to come in here on a white shining horse and save the day I said look you guys are here for a reason it's all we got and it's all we need and that's exactly what the Pats did on the pay course stadium field on sunday they looked like a team that knew they could beat the bengals and that's exactly why they did all eyes were on jacoby brissett and he did not disappoint in this one i thought a solid outing by the veteran finished 15 of 24 for 121 yards a qbr of 51.3 i thought jacoby was particularly efficient at moving the chains he picked up three first downs via scrambles and his presence at the line of scrimmage provided

Starting point is 00:05:13 stability and it also provided a veteran savvy that's why he's in there folks drake may has a ton of talent i know a lot of you out there in Patriots Nation are clamoring to see more of Drake May. Believe me, you're going to get a heavy dose of him in due time, but when he's ready, and by his performance today, Jacoby proved that the ship is sailing in the right direction with him at the helm for the time being. Now, if you want to say the offense was surprisingly efficient, I think that's a pretty good way to describe them. Defensively, I thought the Patriots looked in mid-season form in this one. Got to give a lot of credit to DeMarcus Covington. He had his unit ready on Sunday. They played a mix of different coverages, which I think helped to

Starting point is 00:05:55 confuse Cincinnati a little bit, but they really leaned more into their zone structures. That helped to limit a lot of the Bengals' ability to make big plays. That defense as a whole limited Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow to only 167 passing yards on 29 attempts. In fact, Burrow didn't even hit his first explosive pass until the second half and only averaged 5.6 air yards per attempt. Not a great day for the Cincy Phenom. Now, I'll concede, and I think we all have to concede, that a lot of the Bengals' offensive woes came from not having T. Higgins in the lineup, a rusty Jamar Chase, and of course, Burrow himself looked like he was still clearing some of the cobwebs from his injury last year. But that should not take away from the fact that the Patriots' defense played solid

Starting point is 00:06:44 in all three levels, the front, the linebackers in the middle, and of course, the defensive secondary. These guys all had roles and they all executed them with enough efficiency and dare I say at times even some excellence to keep that Bengals offense at bay. And they deserve a lot of credit for that. Now, if you recall last week's crossover with locked on Bengals my good friends and colleagues James Rapine and Jake Lisco I did not predict the Patriots were going to be successful on this but I did mention that if

Starting point is 00:07:16 they were to keep this game close and have that puncher's chance for a victory they were going to have to establish the run control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, and win the turnover battle. Well, lo and behold, folks, the Patriots did just that to pull off the upset. The most important thing that they did on Sunday, they controlled the line of scrimmage. They only allowed 10 points on defense. Again, I think they did it against a talented Bengals offense, even without Tee Higgins in the lineup, even with Jamar Chase being a shell of what he usually is and Joe Burrow having some struggles, there's still a lot of offensive talent in Cincinnati, and the Patriots held it in check by controlling the line. On the offensive side of the ball, they did it by deploying a strong rushing attack.

Starting point is 00:08:02 I mentioned Ramondre Stevenson earlier. Antonio Gibson still looked like he was bothered by his hip injury a little bit, but ultimately he contributed as well. Jermichael Hasty got in there. Patriots rushed for a combined 170 yards. So the running game did its part. And of course, they limited their mistakes. And credit the Patriots, they capitalized on Cincinnati's mistakes.

Starting point is 00:08:24 They won the turnover battle 2-0. And this is a big deal for the Patriots, they capitalized on Cincinnati's mistakes. They won the turnover battle 2-0. And this is a big deal for the Patriots. They had only one game last season with zero turnovers, and that was against the Jets on September 24th, and they won that game 15-10. So while winning the turnover battle looked to be a problem for the Pats last year, looks like they put in a lot of effort to make sure that they're winning those battles again this year. Those two turnovers were forced and recovered fumbles, and this may be an even bigger deal for the Patriots because they did it against a Bengals team that lost just two fumbles last year. In the whole season, the Patriots forced two fumbles

Starting point is 00:08:59 against this team in one game, in the opening game of 2024. Kyle Duggar forcing a fumble on Bengals tight end Tanner Hudson at the one yard line that was recovered by Marcus Jones. He ran that back for a bit. That was a textbook fumble recovery, turning that into a positive game for the Pats. And then in the third quarter, long snapper Joe Cardona forcing a fumble the first time he's done so in his career on a punt that was recovered by safety Jalen Hawkins and again to do so against Cincinnati was a pretty big deal every other NFL team last season in 2023 had at least five fumbles once again Cincinnati had only two that was tied for the fewest fumbles lost by a team in the Super Bowl era, the 2019 Saints, the 2014 Vikings, and the

Starting point is 00:09:46 2002 Chiefs were the others that did so. So again, rarefied air for the New England Patriots, getting the job done when it comes to winning the turnover battle. So the Patriots followed a tried and true blueprint to victory, but which players stood out above the rest? Well, in just a moment, I'm going to provide my players of the game in all three phases when this special edition of the Locked On Patriots podcast, reaction to the 16-10 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals,

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Starting point is 00:12:05 16 to 10 at Paycourt Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, the Queen City. The Patriots right now sit at 1-0. And again, I don't think a whole lot of us saw this one coming, but I know Patriots fans out there are excited and you should be. The Patriots put in a solid performance in all three phases a lot of players stood out in this one but who stood out above the rest well that's a question i'm about to answer for all of you and let's start on the offensive side of the ball and where else would we start that's right folks ramondre stevenson looking fantastic as always he is my offensive player of the game and I'm sure a lot of you are probably nodding in agreement on that. His fifth career 100-yard rushing performance,

Starting point is 00:12:52 finished with 25 carries for 120 yards, and again, you can probably label this one the return of the run for the New England Patriots. They didn't have a rusher last season go for over 100 yards, not in any point in 2023. And this is the first 100-yard rushing performance that Ramondre has had since he had 172 rushing yards against the Las Vegas Raiders back in December of 2022. His 25 attempts matched his career high. He had 25 rushing attempts against the Detroit Lions on October 9th of 2022. So a big game for Ramondre Stevenson in his debut in this Alex Van Pelt offense. And all day long, you could see that Ramondre looked very comfortable in this offense, picking up 12, 14, 17 yards. Of course, he gets the Patriots' first touchdown of the year,

Starting point is 00:13:41 really showing off everything he can do, but a lot of jump cuts, a lot of inside zones. In fact, Evan Lazar of Patriots.com reported after the game that Stevenson actually lobbied offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt for the Patriots to run more downhill, and the Patriots did get downhill with power and duo blocking schemes, and it worked. Stevenson attacked the Bengals' defensive backs on the edge, and that made him even more effective than usual. Just an overall great day for Romandre. Once again, he is my player of the game on offense. On the defensive side of the ball, I think you could make the argument for Christian Gonzalez. He had a great game coming back from a season-ending injury last year, holding Jamar Chase to only six catches for 62 yards.

Starting point is 00:14:26 That's a pretty good showing. And if he continues to lock down the opposing team's top weapon, that's going to make the Patriots' defense even more formidable than it was last year. But I have to go with Keon White here. Coming into this game, everybody was hyping Keon White as being the potential next Matthew Judon. Now, as much as I love Matthew and as much as I miss him here in New England, Keon White looked pretty, pretty, pretty good on Sunday. Credited with two and a half sacks, three quarterback hits, one forced fumble. His average separation to the quarterback was a team best 1.8 yards. And he is proving that he really may have the ability to be a monster pass rusher in

Starting point is 00:15:06 this league. His first sack against Joe Burrow came for a loss of four yards on a second down play in the first quarter. In the second quarter, he combined with linebacker Juwan Bentley on a five-yard sack of Burrow on a third and three to stop a drive, and then he dropped Burrow for a two-yard loss on the third down in the fourth quarter and this was by far Keon's best game as a New England Patriot. Last year you didn't get a chance to see it all that much. In fact the only sack that he had as a rookie came when he dropped quarterback Tommy DeVito who clearly went home to find his shine box on that one. That was for a nine-yard loss against the Giants on November 28th last year. But once again, you're seeing not only the quickness, not only the field savvy, but the

Starting point is 00:15:50 strength and the fearsome nature of the way this kid plays football. He had a day, and in my opinion, I think he won the day on defense for the Patriots. And that's saying a lot because this entire unit as a whole played very well. But if you're asking me to pick one guy out that I think had the monster game here, I have to go with Keon White. Last but certainly not least, I definitely want to give a major tip of the cap to Brendan Schooler, who is my player of the game on special teams. Like Jerron Mayo, he faces the tall task of replacing a legend, and that, of course, is Matthew Slater. You all know the regard with which I hold Matthew Slater, one of my favorite

Starting point is 00:16:31 Patriots of all time, to me, one of the best guys I've ever met in any walk of life. Well, I think Slate would be very proud of his protege and his performance on Sunday. Schooler had a career-high three special teams tackles, and that's a big performance considering previously he's had five games where he's had two special teams tackles. He is capable of being that leader on the third phase, something Matthew Slater did with ease for so many years. This is something that Brendan Schooler now looks ready to do, and based on his performance on Sunday, I think the future of the Patriots special teams unit looks bright under the tutelage of coordinator Jeremy Springer. And of course, with Brendan Schooler playing a major role.

Starting point is 00:17:15 Folks, the breakdowns of the Patriots 16 to 10 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals is just beginning because on Monday, a legend himself, Thomas Murphy, is going to join me, and we're going to break down his monster keys to victory. Which keys led to the Patriots' win? Which of Murph's keys still need to be turned? And we will hear what Murph has to say about that much-maligned offensive line and their performance on Sunday, which, dare I say, wasn't as bad as we thought.

Starting point is 00:17:44 All this and more is going to be discussed. So folks, stay locked in to the Locked On Patriots podcast. Download, subscribe to, follow wherever you get your podcasts. Trust me, you are not going to want to miss a single second of the action. And in the meantime, tip of the cap, and I thank all of you for joining me here on this special edition Game Recap Primer episode of the Locked I thank all of you for joining me here on this special edition game recap primer episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast. I'm your host, Mike DeBate, reminding all

Starting point is 00:18:09 of you to stay safe, to stay well, and to be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great night, everyone, and we'll see you back here again on Monday on Locked On Patriots.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots Defeat Cincinnati Bengals 16-10 SPECIAL EDITION: ‘Mondre, Mayo, Jacoby and More

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