Bedard: Thanks to his defense, Jerod Mayo's vision for the Patriots was near-perfect in upset of Bengals

CINCINNATI — The roar coming from the victorious Patriots' locker room easily penetrated the thick concrete walls in the bowels of Paycor Stadium.

Robert Kraft had just given Jerod Mayo the game ball for his first victory as head coach of the Patriots (in his first game), and the audible reaction was thunderous. It wasn't the normal post-game reaction. Sure, opening day victories bring a certain amount of fervor, and the first wins for any head coach are met with widespread approval in the locker room.

But this felt different. Maybe there is something to Mayo's desire for vibes and his caring for the players — the kind of stuff that exhibits a lot of eye rolls among football lifers. Maybe it will be the secret sauce for this Patriots team, a Mayo Magic-type vibe. There are 16 more games to play out, so we'll have to see.

But all I do know is something felt different in that Patriots locker room on Sunday. It was one part a feeling that something had been lifted off the players' shoulders. Another part of the players just having not only the head coach's back, but that of several others in that position for the first time, be it coordinators Alex Van Pelt, DeMarcus Covington and Jeremy Springer.

"That was a great feeling, it really was," said Kyle Dugger, who had the defensive play of the game with a forced fumble at the goal line, said of Mayo's game ball. "The way he's really just communicated to us and came to us and leaned on us as individuals, getting feedback from us, having it be a back and forth relationship has been huge. I can't speak for everybody, but I know that's meant a lot to me, and we've been very receptive to that. So yeah, it's meant a lot."

"I don't think people understand, I think it's the plan that he put in place with us this week, he foresaw for us to get to this point," said Jacoby Brissett. "He just kept on preaching the people in this room that are ones that matter, and that came to fruition. Week One, new head coach, new offensive coordinator, new defensive coordinator, all these things that stacked up against us and none of that mattered once we got between those white lines. And once we got on that plane to come here, the vision was clear, and the communication was clear, and we came and executed that plan."

Not sure Mayo could have drawn this one up much better.

Basically everything he (and Eliot Wolf) touched turned to gold in the Patriots' stunning (and dominating) 16-10 victory over Joe Burrow and the Bengals on Sunday at a very quiet Paycor Stadium.

The quarterback Mayo selected as his starter, Brissett, showed exactly why Mayo put his faith in the veteran over talented rookie Drake Maye. Brissett didn't turn the ball over (the Patriots only did that once all of last season). He picked up big first downs with his legs. He striped a few huge third down passes in the right place. And he took some hellacious hits in the pocket.

"I thought he showed great toughness, and to have a tough football team, it doesn't just come up front, it has to come from every position in the quarterback, doing some things like that, some dirty work, taking those hits keeping going, just being steady, that's how they show toughness and Jacoby was that for us today and did a great job," said David Andrews. 

Rhamondre Stevenson, who received a big contract extension in the offseason, was a bowling bowl with 120 yards on 25 carries. Even the Patriots' beleaguered offensive line with a bunch of misfit toys assembled by Wolf came together and did its job, especially after Chuks Okorafor appeared to be benched for Vederian Lowe in the middle of a first half drive after Okorafor allowed Brissett to get blasted one too many times. Rookie guard Layden Robinson had a pancake on Stevenson's touchdown run.

Mayo said this team was going to run the ball and play defense. There's no greater exhibition of your physicality and ability to run the ball than with 2:13 left, needing two first downs to finish off the game and rushing for 5, 9, 3 and 9 yards to finish off the game.

"I mean, there comes a point in time where they know we’re going to run it, we know we’re going to run it and all the fans know that we’re going to run it -- and we’re gonna have to pick up four yards," Mayo said. "That’s the challenge that I always offer those guys and. look, it’s really man-on-man in those instances. It has nothing to do, really, with x’s and O’s. It’s about dominating the player across from you, and those guys did that."

Speaking of that, Mayo's decision in camp to have the team in pads virtually every day they could be, practicing in the teeth of the heat around midday and still running the hill, playing his starters more than most teams in the preseason game ... it all paid off today. The Bengals weren't ready for this game (they hardly ever are in season openers), but Mayo's Patriots definitely were.

Especially on defense. Oh, the defense ... Mayo's pride and joy.

They hit hard and often. They made Burrow get rid of the ball in 2.54 seconds (third fastest in Week 1 after the late games). His intended air yards of 5.6 was fourth-fewest and a testament to the differing pre- and post-snap looks that seemed to cause Burrow some confusion and hesitation. Ja'Marr Chase only had six targets for 62 yards as Christian Gonzalez had a strong debut.

“Yeah, they came out on fire," Mayo said. "We challenged those guys. Everyone’s talking about, Cincy’s offense and how explosive they are, and they answered the call. Up front, started up front. All those defensive linemen, those guys did a good job controlling the line of scrimmage. The second-level players, the LBs, they did a good job coming downhill, couple plays in the pass game and then really our safeties and corners, those guys did a good job covering. So it was a total unit victory."

Don't forget the special teams. Joey Slye, the kicker Wolf brought in to challenge Chad Ryland, and who Mayo picked after the camp competition, was a perfect 3 for 3 and blasted all four of his kickoffs out of the end zone. Punter Bryce Baringer had a net average of 45.6, and good old Joe Cardona had his first career forced fumble that led to a field goal.

For one week, a lot of things that Mayo believes in went right.

"My message to the players -- they gave me the Gatorade shower and things like that -- but, without them, I’m nothing. I made sure they knew that," Mayo said. "They crossed the white lines. I always talk about empowering the players to go out there and play. I always talk about awareness really being the number one thing and those guys taking ownership. So all the praise goes to those guys. They did a great job."

This is the part of the episode where we warn you not to read too much into Week 1, which tends to be an outlier. Especially against a Bengals team that has a history of laying stinkers in the season opener (they lost 24-3 to the Browns last year, and Burrow threw four interceptions losing in overtime to Mitch Trubisky the year prior). The Patriots were also a little fortunate that Hunter Henry broke up an end zone interception, Stevenson recovered his own fumble, and Mike Gesicki was Mike Gesicki when he allowed Dugger to break up what should have been a touchdown. And winning 16-10 like this is not a recipe for success over the course of a season.

But for one glimmering Sunday on the banks of the Ohio River it was. Mayo's vision came to reality, if not perfection. And the Patriots are 1-0 heading into Sunday's home opener against the Seahawks.

"They knew the plan. It was articulated well throughout the week and they executed," Mayo said. "You could have all the mantras and things that you want. But on game day, it all comes down to execution. You can have all the rah-rah speeches. It’s all about discipline. Those are the things that hopefully that we can continue to build on going forward.”