Where Patriots Can Improve After Week 1 Victory Over Bengals

The New England Patriots opened their 2024 season on the right foot by defeating the Cincinnati Bengals, 16-10, in Week 1. That only leaves room for growth and improvement moving forward for first-year head coach Jerod Mayo.

New England's defense, which forced two Cincinnati turnovers, stood out above all else. Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was sacked three times, threw for only 164 yards and couldn't put together any momentum to overcome the Patriots. As impressive of a performance as New England showcased, there's still a need to take steps forward amid what'll be a new chapter of Patriots football.

So what should New England aim to accomplish in Week 2 against the Seattle Seahawks?

"I think you need to increase the play-action percentage," NESN.com's Keagan Stiefel said on the "Foxboro Rush" podcast. "I expected -- so maybe it's me and my own bias, but I think a lot of other people expected as well -- for them to be a play-action heavy team when they were gonna throw the ball it's gonna be off play-action. And they ran the ball so well on Sunday against Cincinnati. I don't know if they're gonna be able to continue doing that against other defenses. We're gonna talk about Seattle later -- that's one of the best defensive lines in football."

It's been four years since the last time the Patriots and Seahawks squared off.

You can watch the full episode of NESN's "Foxboro Rush" here: