Surprise, surprise.
The Patriots have opened the season with a 16-10 upset road win over Cincinnati.
It’s the first time the Patriots have won a regular-season opener since 2020.
There are, of course, many reasons why the Patriots were able to pull this win off. Here are three big ones that stood out:
Patriots got some timely punch-outs
This Patriots’ defense showed early on that it has a nose for the football.
Long snapper Joe Cardona literally put his facemask on the ball to force a fumble on a punt early in the third quarter.