The much-maligned underdog New England Patriots played nearly 60 minutes of football and defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 16-10 at Paycor Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

It was the debut of 38-year-old head coach Jerod Mayo — the first Patriots game not coached by Bill Belichick since Jan. 2, 2000 — and Mayo’s players reminisced about the good old days for the entire four quarters.

“We’re going to enjoy it,” said Mayo, who was presented with a game ball by owner Bob Kraft. “I’m very proud of my players. . . . When you walk down the field, you get in that winning formation. . . . and I’m going to enjoy it. We’re still not where we want to be, but we’re headed in the right direction.”

Bob and Jonathan Kraft deserve a victory lap. They’re coming off the worst season in their 30-year reign, but right now everything is perfect. So far, they’ve hired the right coach, hired the right offensive coordinator (Alex Van Pelt), and signed the right veteran quarterback (Jacoby Brissett) to take their team into the Drake Maye era.

Now that they have one game under their belt and 16 to go, maybe they’ll produce an 11th installment of “The Dynasty” and call it “Who Needs Belichick?”

Who needs Drake Maye anyway? Who needs Matthew Judon? Who needs Dante Scarnecchia? And who said anything about tanking or earning the NFL’s No. 1 draft pick in 2025?

New England’s stunning Week 1 win was a leather helmet, throwback affair. The Patriots ran for 170 yards, forced two fumbles, held the ball for 34 minutes, 3 seconds, and didn’t give it up. Journeyman Brissett (15 of 24 passing, 121 yards, no picks) orchestrated everything beautifully, took care of the ball, surgically bled the clock, and got big first downs on short passes whenever it mattered.

Oh, and the offensive line? A group despised as if they were in charge of the MBTA? They held Brissett up, played with skill and precision that would make Godfather Dante laugh.

“We in this room know how confident we are in this group,” Brissett said. “I’m super proud of these guys. We got to a point in the game where we said, ‘We’re just going to overpower them.’ We were going downhill.'”

“Guys are excited, guys are happy,” veteran center David Andrews said. “They’ve put a lot of work into it.”

Cincinnati coaches, players and fans were stunned. The Bengals are two years removed from a Super Bowl appearance and have one of the game’s best young quarterbacks in Joe Burrow. He missed the final two months of the 2023 season with a wrist injury but should resume his greatness in the 2024 season opener.

No. For most of the game, New England’s defense kept Cincinnati Joe off the field and the scoreboard. Burrow’s only highlight in Week 1 was the bleached blond locks on his head.

New England’s defense did not allow a first down in the first quarter. In the first half, the Patriots held the Bengals to 61 yards and four first downs.

Toward the end of the first quarter, Brissett led a time-consuming 80-yard drive and New England took a 7-0 lead on the first play of the second period when Rhamondre Stevenson (25 carries, 120 yards) ran the ball in from the 3-yard line.

The Bengals didn’t manage to get a first down until the fifth minute of the second quarter. They appeared to tie the game at 7-7 on a catch by old friend Mike Gesicki, but Kyle Dugger didn’t give up the play and the football came out of Gesicki’s hands and fell to the ground as he and Dugger rolled into the end zone. The review rightly took the points off the board.

It looked like the Bengals would score again on the next play when Burrow connected on a pass to tight end Tanner Hudson a few yards from the goal line.

But Dugger struck again. The pride of Lenoir-Rhyne knocked the ball out of Hudson’s hands and it was picked up by an alert Marcus Jones, who ran it out of harm’s way. From there, Brissett orchestrated a field goal drive that gave the Pats a 10-0 lead at halftime.

Brissett and Stephenson played keepaway the rest of the day and the Bengals never had a chance. Cornerback Jonathan Jones’ huge tackle on a crucial fourth-and-2 ended a Bengals fourth-quarter drive and effectively sealed the victory.

In addition to the match ball, Mayo also received its first Gatorade shower.

“I understand situational football,” Mayo said. “Our staff understands situational football.”

No one loves situational football more than the man who used to coach the Patriots.

And on day 1, the new boss coached in much the same way as the old boss.

Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @dan_shaughnessy.