The Cincinnati Bengals were the biggest favorite of Week 1 of the NFL season.
They were favored by as many as eight points.
Zac Taylor’s team was held to just 10 points, and while their defense held the Patriots to 16 points, New England’s offense is far from proficient.
With that in mind, plenty of fans took to social media to react to this shocking upset.
The #Patriots are kneeling out an upset win over the Bengals, Jerod Mayo’s first as head coach. Gutsy performance by the Pats defense and a huge Rhamondre game with 171 rushing yards as a team.
New England is 1-0. Who would’ve thought?
— Evan Lazar (@ezlazar) September 8, 2024
Patriots with the biggest upset of that week
— DomThePatsFan (@domthepatsfan) August 31, 2024
What do y’all think was the biggest upset of today’s NFL games? 🤔💥
For me, it has to be the Patriots taking down the Bengals 16-10. 😲💪🏾 #NFL #UpsetAlert #NEvsCIN
— FantasyMagic (@jamesabaileyjr) September 9, 2024
The TV pundits hardly mentioned this huge upset. The Patriots have a good defense. Belichick was good at that.
— rrlse (@priusport) September 9, 2024
Clearly, Jerod Mayo had his guys ready to play and take the field on the road.
The Patriots were projected to have one of the worst records in the entire league, and perhaps that was the motivation they needed to get the job done.
Also, even if Matthew Judon is long gone, it seems like Mayo will continue to build on Bill Belichick’s strong defense.
As for the Bengals, they’ve gotten to slow starts way too often in the Joe Burrow era.
Their offense was completely out of sync, with Ja’Marr Chase struggling and Tee Higgins being out.
Even so, people need to give credit where it’s due, and the Patriots’ defense made sure to keep Joe Burrow on his toes throughout the course of the entire game.
Chances are that the Patriots won’t look this sharp for most of the season, and Rhamondre Stevenson won’t rush for 120 yards in every game.
Likewise, the Bengals won’t be held to ten points very often.
For now, however, Coach Mayo is 1-0.
