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

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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’…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/post-belichick-patriots-may-not-071509425.html

Author : The Guardian

Publish date : 2024-09-09 07:15:09

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