Patriots Respond To Naysayers After Stunning Win Vs. Bengals

On paper, the New England Patriots don’t have that one or two players who jump off the page and make people think the team will win many games this season. But, on any given Sunday, any football team can win in the NFL, and the Patriots did just that by pulling out a stunning upset win over the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium to open their season.

Experts and most fans didn’t believe New England did enough in the offseason to get the Patriots out of the cellar this season, and even if no one else believed in them, they believed in themselves.

“I don’t think people understand the plan that (Jerod Mayo) put in place with us this week and the work that he foresaw for us to get to this point … nobody believed in us,” Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett told reporters after the win, per a team-provided video.”He just kept on preaching, ‘The people in this room are the ones that matter.’ And that came to fruition.

“Coming on the road versus a good team, Week 1, new head coach, new offensive coordinator, new defensive coordinator. All these things stacked up against us and none of that mattered once we got between those lines and we got on that plane to come here. The vision was clear. The communication was clear, and we came and executed that plan.”

Mayo won his first game as head coach in the Patriots’ post-Bill Belichick era and earned his first Gatorade bath on the sidelines. The first-year head coach said he didn’t use the Bengals being the favorites as motivation.

“Not at all, not at all. We try not to hear anything on the outside,” Mayo told reporters. “I told those guys all week it’s all about us in this building. There’s 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.’ That’s all we got, and that’s all we need.”

Even though the Patriots were the underdogs heading into their matchup with the Bengals, defensive tackle Davon Godchaux doesn’t believe the win was actually a statement game.

“I feel like each and every year, the media would come up with a whole bunch of different phrases, whether it be the ‘No Name defense’ or things like that,” Godchaux told reporters. “But, we come out each and every week, and we’re eager to work. We’re just names that y’all necessarily ain’t paying attention to. We ain’t high on y’all list, but that doesn’t mean we ain’t dynamic players. That don’t mean we ain’t got guys that’s eager to get after it.

“… At the end of the day, the real gonna recognize and we just look to progress each and every day. Hopefully, y’all catch on, and maybe you don’t. We’re just going to keep rocking, so we don’t really care.”

The Patriots will look to build on their Week 1 victory when they host the Seattle Seahawks in their home opener at Gillette Stadium next Sunday.