No Matthew Judon. No Christian Barmore. No Bill Belichick on the sideline (or Steven, for that matter). No way the Patriots could shut down Joe Burrow and the Bengals, right? Wrong. Taking a page out of his predecessors' books, first-year defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington devised a plan that stifled a Cincinnati team with Super Bowl dreams.
"We had a great game playing there from DC (Covington)," said Kyle Dugger. "So just execute, execute. Tackle well. Fundamentals, play after play."
"They came out on fire," said Jerod Mayo after the game. "We challenged those guys. Everyone was talking about Cincinnati's offense and how explosive they are. And they answered the call."
In many ways, the Pats rolled out a similar game plan to the one they had when they played Cincinnati in 2022, and how many teams have adjusted to Burrow since he took the Bengals to the Super Bowl in 2021-22 season. Soft zone with the goal of keeping the receivers in front of the defensive backs and linebackers, and a four-man rush. The Pats brought only the four on 77% of the snaps (per Next Gen Stats), but their work established a day of defensive dominance.
"Yeah, we just felt pretty good about our matchups, not only on the edge, but also inside," said Mayo when I asked him about that group during Monday morning's availability. "And I'm so proud. I am. I'm so proud of the guys up front. If you were just to go back and look at their stories - here you go, guys. Here are some articles you guys can write - if you were to go back and look at their stories, the Godchauxs of the world, the (Deatrich) Wises of the world, the (Jeremiah) Pharms of the world, guys that literally were on the brink of being out of the league and to go out there and perform that way, it's just a special thing.
"And, you know, I understand, look, these guys understand that, like you're only as good as your last game, but at the same time, to see those guys play with that sense of urgency was great. And you know, through film study and through the coaching staff, DeMarcus and the rest of his staff, they did a great job being able to generate pressure by the front four."
The plan was on display from the opening drive. On the game's second play (2nd and 6), the Pats had Anfernee Jennings, Daniel Ekuale, Godchaux, and Keion White smash the pocket. White beat former teammate Trent Brown (ahem) to the inside and was responsible for a strip sack of Burrow. On the very next play, Covington had the defense show six potential rushers at the line of scrimmage but then peeled back Ja'Whaun Bentley and Dugger - both threatening the line's left side - into coverage. Burrow was hurried by Ekuale's interior push, throwing short of the sticks. There's your first three-and-out.
On the next series, after a pair of runs, the Pats again went with four in the pass rush. Godchaux muddied the pocket so Burrow couldn't step up, and Josh Uche drove left tackle Orlando Brown back, forcing Burrow to once again open the escape hatch on a quick throw in front of the chains. Marcus Jones used his excellent closing speed to submarine the tight end and out came the punt team.
The third straight three-and-out saw a little more variety from Covington. On first down, Burrow was operating in quick mode, and four of his receivers ran routes within four yards of the line of scrimmage. Chase Brown caught the ball underneath and was immediately drilled by Dugger for a four-yard gain. On second down, the Pats let their four do the work of five or six. Wise showed up this time, heading up the field and getting pushed past the QB (usually a no-no). But showing they had already rattled Burrow, he didn't just step up and look to throw. He tucked and ran, sliding short of the first down.
On third-and-two, the Pats decided to play man, with Christian Gonzalez shadowing Ja'Marr Chase (he did so on 20 of Chase's 28 snaps). They had five players on the ball and another, Dugger, lurking. At the snap, the Pats got a strong push from Uche and Wise off the edges. White delivered penetration off the right guard. Bentley overpowered the right guard. Then Dugger came flying up from the second level, and even though he was redirected by the back, I scribbled 'pocket chaos' in my notes. Burrow's eyes came down to look for an exit, and he missed a wide-open Charlie Jones, who was running away from Marcus Jones (he had slipped). That was a huge miss, and Burrow was sacked by White and Bentley.
"I think we got to the second quarter before they got a first down," said Jacoby Brissett (he was correct). "If we do that, we're going to be all right."
In this space, I had wondered if the absences of Judon and Barmore would prevent this defense from being a top 5, top 10 unit, as was presumed by fans and media alike. As Mayo mentioned, it's only one game, but there was that same vibe from this group as the ones we've seen in years past. They were so fundamentally sound; the tackling was damn near perfect, and they got the ball out (Dugger's forced fumble as Tanner Hudson was walking into the end zone was arguably the play of the game).
"We just names that y'all doesn't necessarily ain't paying attention to," said Bentley post-game, with a smirk. "We ain't high on y'all list, but that doesn't mean we ain't got dynamic players, (that) we ain't got guys that (are) eager to get after it, that we don't have guys that's gonna give you issues running off the field. So it's like, at the end of the day, the real gonna recognize.
"We just look to progress each and every day, and hopefully, y'all catch on, and maybe you don't, but we just gonna keep rocking so we don't really care."
Bentley's not lying until he gets to the very end. They do care, and they have for as long as I can remember, long before Bentley was knocking people on their asses. Lawyer Milloy felt that way. Rodney Harrison. Mike Vrabel. Tedy Bruschi. Willie McGinest. You name 'em, and they would all now confess to hearing the noise, getting pissed off about it, and then taking it out on anyone who got in their way, and even some who didn't (Ted Washington hit me with a purposeful elbow in 2003 after that season-opening loss in Buffalo). Even if some of what Bentley references comes from a dark corner of the internet or some bobo on social media, who am I to argue if that's the chip they want to play? It's worked before, and it may work again. It sure did in week one, where the whole was greater than the sum of their parts.