2024 Week 1: Patriots 16, Bengals 10
Cincinnati was coming into this game with a great opportunity after the Ravens lost on Thursday Night Football. Getting off to a 1-0 start against one of the weaker teams in the league, while the Ravens started the season 0-1. Instead of taking advantage the Bengals floundered offensively, got bullied in the run game, and ultimately lost this game. Opportunity wasted.
Cincinnati is known for their slow starts, last year it took until week 5 for the Bengals to hit their stride, 2022 week 3. This is a trend that they will need to learn to kick if they want to compete for the #1 seed year-in and year-out. If history tells us anything, they will lose to KC this weekend, and then a bounce-back week 3 against the Commanders, sparking a 4-1 run. Doable looking at their schedule ahead.
I’m not sure the Bengals will even be in a place to compete in the AFC if Ja’Marr Chase gets the deal he’s asking for. Burrow and Chase alone could take upwards of 30% of their cap space. With that much money invested into offensive position players a large investment will need to go to the offensive line that is already very shaky… leaving nothing for the defense. Cincinnati may be on the road to salary cap hell and deferring contracts like the Saints have been for years.
============================
QB Report:
- Joe Burrow (21/29 for 164 yards, 0 TD/ 0 INT, 4 rushes for 15 yards) had a low output in this game. The Bengals offensive line stays as one of their weakest position groups and deserves some of the credit for the lower numbers, but this has remained a constant for the entirety of Burrows career. I give a lot of the credit to the Patriots corners, particularly Christian Gonzalez (2 tackles), for holding the Cincy air-raid in check.
- Jacoby Brissett (15/24 for 121 yards, 0 TD/ 0 INT) never had to make any real plays, just a bunch of short throws to change the pace of the offense, keep the defense in-check, etc. The Patriots were so effective running the ball Brissett didn’t need to be leaned on.
RB Report:
- Rhamondre Stevenson (25-120-1, 3 catches for 6-0/3) had a huge game. The Patriots played classic ‘defensive-player-now-head-coach’ football. They went up 7-0 and then decided to burn the clock and hope the game ends before they can lose, and that’s exactly what happened. Next week when New England has to play an offense that isn’t asleep at the wheel, we’ll see if their game plan changes.
- Nothing to note about Chase Brown’s (3-11-0, 3 catches for 12-0/3) or Zack Moss’s (9-44-1, 2 catches for 17-0/4) performance in this game.
WR/TE Report:
- Similar to Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase (6-62-0/6) never seems ready for week 1 either. Two games with 30 yards to start 2023 and then one of the highest scoring weeks for any WR last season in week 3, he sure didn’t play like he wants to prove he’s worth 150 million dollars.
- I thought Andrei Iosivas (3-26-0/6) was poised to have a big game here, with Chase playing and Tee Higgins out. Another credit to the Patriots defense locking him up here. I thought Iosivas was going to be the main slot this game and potentially for the season, but Chase got a good amount of snaps in that role, taking away from Iosivas and where he plays best. When Tee Higgins returns Iosivas returns fully to irrelevancy.
- Mike Gesicki (3-18-0/4) caught a TD that was reversed after a replay. He’s a non-factor right now but maybe when the Cincy offense picks back up?
D/ST Notes:
- As I’ve said all report, the Patriots secondary was stellar in this one. Christian Gonzalez and Marcus Jones (4 tackles) were lights out all game. Keion White (4 Tackles, 2.5 sacks, 2 TFL) also played a large role in the Cincy backfield.
