The Patriots are coming into this game off of a 4-13 season last year, but it is a new era in New England with Bill Belichick gone and Jerod Mayo now taking over as the head coach. There have been some big changes to this offense with the weapons, but they still have their reliable running back Rhamondre Stevenson and their tight end Hunter Henry. They drafted Drake Maye in the offseason, but Jacoby Brissett will be the starter for this game and he has plenty of experience as a starter in this league. Jerod Mayo is a defensive minded coach though, just like Belichick was, and they have talent on the defense to utilize so that is going to be something they lean on in this game on the road. They are going up against a Bengals team that is coming off of a 9-8 season and had to deal with injuries to their starting quarterback Joe Burrow. Burrow is healthy to start the season, but now there are some other issues that could slow down this team in week 1. The Bengals are dealing with a contract dispute with their number 1 WR Ja'Marr Chase which could see him sit out this 1st game, and Tee Higgins has also been downgraded to doubtful so Burrow is not going to have many quality options to throw to here. Joe Mixon is also gone from the team and they replaced him with Zack Moss, but that was not the best move for this offense. The Bengals are not going to be able to move the ball as efficiently against this Patriots defense with all the key pieces they are missing, and the Bengals are no stranger to slow starts as they did lose their 1st game of the season last year. The Patriots will cover the spread in this game.