The 16-10 final score doesn't do the New England Patriots' Week 1 win justice. Jerod Mayo's group played a near-perfect game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
There were game-changing plays on offense, defense, and special teams. Tight end Hunter Henry broke up a likely Jacoby Brissett interception and the Patriots finished the drive with a field goal. Safety Kyle Dugger forced a fumble at the goal line to prevent a Bengals touchdown. Long-snapper Joe Cardona forced another fumble on a punt return, resulting in another field goal. Cornerback Jonathan Jones' clutch fourth-down stop in the third quarter led to three more points for New England.
It was a gutsy performance and a feel-good victory, but are these kinds of wins sustainable? NBC Sports Boston's Patriots insider Tom E. Curran shared his take on Tuesday's Quick Slants.
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"It's impossible to anticipate each week that you're gonna make plays that immediately save points," Curran said. "Like that strip by Dugger, the guy's on the doorstep and you come up with a strip like that. You can't anticipate that. Hunter Henry having the opportunity to make a heady play in the end zone and pry loose an interception on one of the lone bad throws that Jacoby Brissett had, you can't count on that.
"But what that does and should remind us as we move forward is, live in a little bit of reality with this Patriots team. That's an awesome win, what you did on the road against an elite team that didn't play at its best, but an elite team. But it was razor thin. So you're gonna have to win on those margins on a weekly basis."
Curran isn't convinced the Patriots can make enough of these plays to flirt with playoff contention. However, Sunday's performance showed they can make this season more interesting than many anticipated it would be heading into the campaign.
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"I don't think this team is gonna be hustling around 8-9 or 9-8," Curran added. "There's gonna be a lot of games like this, though, that are gonna come down to those margins. Can they win enough to get five, six, or seven (wins)? That's the question that people weren't really saying, 'Yeah, they can' before.
"We know the momentum matters so much in sports. And culturally, what it does is it amplifies to this team that Jerod Mayo, Eliot Wolf, Scott Peters the offensive line coach, (offensive coordinator) Alex Van Pelt, (defensive coordinator) DeMarcus Covington, they know what they're doing."
The Patriots doused Mayo with Gatorade and awarded him the game ball after his first career head-coaching win. They'll look to celebrate his first victory at Gillette Stadium when they welcome the Seattle Seahawks to Foxboro next Sunday.
Kickoff for the Week 2 matchup is set for 1 p.m. ET.
You can watch the full episode of Quick Slants with Curran and co-host Kayla Burton below or on YouTube: