One of the reasons why the Patriots were big underdogs to the Bengals heading into Sunday’s game was the way the New England offensive line looked in the preseason.
They struggled in both run and pass blocking and came into the opener without left guard Sidy Sow available, but there were no signs of trouble in Cincinnati. The Patriots ran for 170 yards and Jacoby Brissett was only sacked once in the 16-10 win.
On Monday, head coach Jerod Mayo said that he felt too much had been made of the offensive line’s summer struggles.
“I’ve been saying it for a long time,” Mayo said, via a transcript from the team. “I think the whole offensive line conversation has been overblown. Every game, every preseason game, those guys have done a good job moving bodies and establishing toughness on the line of scrimmage. They did that yesterday. I’m not really too concerned with the offensive line. Those guys are going to get better every week.”
Results from the first Sunday of a football season can lead to the same kind of overreactions that Mayo argued against on Monday morning, so the Patriots blockers will need to string together a few strong performances to fully put the questions about the unit to bed.
