Time to keep cranking these out. If I can go at my current pace, I’ll have the full Top 10 Best New England Patriots Moments of 2024 done before the 4th of July hits.

Which is fitting, because I personally can’t think of a better way to celebrate American Independence than being free from this list.

The list so far:

10. Jerod Mayo out, Mike Vrabel in.
9. Drake Maye hits Austin Hooper for a 38-yard TD on 4th-and-15 against the Miami Dolphins.
8. Joey Slye nails a 63-yard field goal to close out the half against the San Francisco 49ers.
7. A free play gets DeMario Douglas into the end zone vs. the Los Angeles Chargers.
6. A nine-sack day helps list the Patriots over the Chicago Bears.
5. A late 70-yard touchdown drive hands the Jets their fifth consecutive loss, and the Patriots their second win.

Our Number 4 moment should probably be higher, as in retrospect it was the high point of the entire season, but I wanted to save all three of my top spots for the only genuine positive to come out of last year. So here it is in the 4 slot.

4. The Patriots stun the Bengals on opening weekend

2024 was set to be a rebuilding year for the Patriots. Everyone was on the same page there. Rookie QB, rookie head coach, a tough schedule, and one of the best teams in the league in the same division. The primary goal of the 2024 league year was to get young Drake Maye some reps, figure out who was part of the long-term plans, maybe win a few games, and look to 2025 and beyond.

There were a few folks who weren’t happy with Jacoby Brissett getting the start over Maye in Week 1 against the Bengals, particularly since Maye outplayed Brissett in camp, but if nothig else the thought process was clear: give Maye a little more time to adjust to the speed of the game, let him master the playbook, and maybe trot him out in a few weeks for a more winnable game. After all, the Cincinnati Bengals were more than one pundit’s pick to represent the AFC in the 2024 Super Bowl. No need to throw Maye to the wolves just yet.

As it would turn out, though, the wolves all lived in New England on September 8th of last year, because the Patriots would eliminate about half of the world from knockout pools everywhere with a 16-10 victory that saw an efficient passing attack, a punishing ground game, and an opportunistic defense that both forced and capitalized on Bengals mistakes. Brissett went 15 of 24 for 121 yards and no picks, while Rhamondre Stevenson racked up a whopping 120 yards on the ground on 25 carries, good for almost five yards a clip. Joey Slye was perfect on his three field goal attempts, and Kyle dugger forced a goal-line Bengals fumble just before halftime that the Patriots would convert into points, representing a 10-point swing in the game. Other than Jamar Chase, who had a 62-yard day, no Bengals receiver had more than 26 yards through the air, and the entire Cincy team combined for only 70 yards rushing.

This was a Patriots team that ran the ball well, was smart in the passing game, and made the opponent earn every single inch on defense. And as Brissett went into victory formation after New England was able to successfully kill the clock, we all had the same thought:

Maybe the Patriots can actually make some noise this year.

They weren’t going to win the Super Bowl. They weren’t going to make the AFC Championship game. But if they could run the ball like this, stay efficient with the QB play, and stiff teams on defense, there was a shot that the 2024 Patriots could sneak into the playoffs. This rebuild could very well be on the fast track.

Yeah, about that. Exactly none of that happened.

It was all downhill from here. New England would lose its next six straight, looking worse and worse each week, and the season was more or less over by the end of September. From coaching to playing to play-calling to basic fundamentals, the 2024 Patriots fell apart.

But we’ll always have that Week 1 victory against the Bengals. It’s easy to forget now in the wake of all the misery that followed, but the feelings of optimism. excitement, and possibility that came after this win is the exact reason why we all love sports.

It’s pretty wild that this game, all the way back in September, ended up completely changing the landscape of the NFL. The win would end up costing the Patriots the Number One overall pick in the 2025 Draft, and it would end up keeping the Bengals out of the playoffs. Who knows what kind of reality we would be living in today if things had gone the way they were supposed to and Cincy had beat the brakes off the Patriots. Would Maye have started earlier? Would the Bengals have made a deep playoff run? Would New England still have secured the first overall draft pick? We’ll never know, so no point speculating. But this was a rare moment of real, genuine joy in an objectively brutal season, so it’s nice to recap it here at Number 4.

Game highlights here.