What we learned from the Patriots' surprise Week 1 victory

After just one game, New England Patriots rookie head coach Jerod Mayo has his first NFL victory.

Sunday, New England defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 16-10 in a game headlined by fumbles, sacks and Patriots third-year running back Rhamondre Stevenson.

Here are three takeaways from New England's Week 1 bout:

New pair of coordinators look phenomenal

Patriots first-year coordinators Alex Van Pelt (offense) and Demarcus Covington (defense) had promising performances that should leave fans hopeful for the future of the team.

The offense looked miles better than it did in 2023 under former OC Bill O'Brien, rushing for a total of 170 yards, converting on 40% of its third downs and not turning the ball over.  There were some struggles in converting in opponent territory, but there were very few negative takeaways aside from that.

Continuing the theme from 2023, Covington's unit looked fantastic. They recorded three sacks, forced a red-zone fumble and held Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow to 164 passing yards.

One of the most electric plays on the defensive side came on this fourth-down tackle by cornerback Jonathan Jones:

Stevenson kicks off a potential career year

The 26-year-old showed fans why he was worth his four-year, $36-million extension signed in June, rushing and receiving for 125 yards and the team's only touchdown.

Some of his best plays came late in the fourth quarter, picking up two first downs on four attempts to take away Cincinnati's remaining timeouts and the 2:13 left in the game.

After seeing how he dominated Sunday, New England — which feature an unflattering collection of quarterbacks and wide receivers — may be inclined to lean heavily on Stevenson, their best offensive player. That may mean fans will see Sunday's performance replicated several other times throughout the season.

Second-year pass-rusher Keion White shows out

There was uncertainty about New England's pass-rush after standout defender Matthew Judon was traded to the Falcons in August.

After Week 1, however, it seems White — who is entering his second season — may be the replacement New England was searching for. He recorded 2.5 sacks and forced a fumble on Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.

He will need to piece many more solid performances together to truly fill Judon's shoes, but he is off to a great start.