Mayo didn’t exactly look like a rookie coach either. He got his team ready to play, the Patriots didn’t lose the ball and only got five penalties for 40 yards. At the end of the first half, he masterfully maneuvered the clock and got it down to zero before his team kicked a field goal. And Mayo told CBS in the first half that if the Patriots hadn’t scored a touchdown on the third try, he would have tried on the fourth, which was absolutely the right decision.

Sunday’s win was like a certificate of completion for Mayo’s performance in training camp and he mastered it with flying colors.

▪ Jacoby Brissett proved why he was the right choice as the Patriots’ starter in Week 1. His numbers aren’t exactly stellar — 15 of 24 for 121 yards — but he was exactly the kind of fielder the Patriots need.

Brissett didn’t lose the ball, kept the Patriots out of tight situations, looked calm in the pocket, worked the clock expertly and, most impressively, avoided sacks. Brissett was under pressure all game and took several tough hits, but finished the game with just one sack for minus 1 yard while running seven times for 32 yards. Brissett led two scoring drives of at least 7 minutes and 20 seconds and did a great job of running the clock down to zero at the end of the first half.

He made only one glaring error, throwing a 50-50 ball to Hunter Henry in the end zone that was nearly intercepted. And the Patriots struggled in the red zone, converting only one of four passes for a touchdown. But Brissett’s performance was the epitome of “winning” football.

The Patriots may not be able to win every week when Brissett only throws for 121 yards. But that was the Patriots’ path to victory – they ran the ball well, made some plays and didn’t make any mistakes.

▪ Kudos to the offensive line, which was the Patriots’ biggest question mark coming out of training camp. The pass defense wasn’t perfect, as Brissett took several tough hits and had to play defense. But they absolutely dominated the Bengals’ defensive front, with Rhamondre Stevenson running 25 carries for 120 yards and making several big gains. One key seemed to be replacing Chukwuma Okorafor with Vederian Lowe at left tackle early on. This was a very encouraging performance by the offensive line.

▪ The Patriots offense’s response in the fourth quarter was particularly great after the Bengals had cut the score to 13-7. The Patriots drove 52 yards, converted a couple of third downs, ran 7:24 off the clock and finished the drive with a 37-yard field goal, putting the game back up by two points.

▪ The Patriots’ defense got plenty of help from both established players and newcomers. Linebackers Ja’Whaun Bentley (12 tackles, half a sack) and Jahlani Tavai (four tackles, one for loss) were standouts. Safety Kyle Dugger made a great play knocking the ball out of Tanner Hudson’s hands as Hudson was about to go for a touchdown. And Jonathan Jones made a great tackle on fourth-and-2 to keep Andrei Iosivas away from the posts.

But Keion White, filling in for Matthew Judon, also had 2.5 sacks. Christian Gonzalez did a good job limiting Ja’Marr Chase to six catches for 62 yards. And Marcus Jones was fantastic, making two great tackles in the open field, intercepting a pass in the end zone and recovering a fumble.

Ben Volin can be reached at [email protected].