Any NFL Opening Day runs through on-field adjustments, ranging from 23 years ago at Paycor Stadium when Bill Belichick lost his second Patriots opener to quarterback Jon Kitna's Bengals debut, to Sunday (1 p.m.-Cincinnati's Local 12) at Paycor in New England's first post-Hoodie game.
"That's the week one mystery of the NFL," center Ted Karras said. "It's a game of adjustments and we have to make them on the sideline as we go."
Well, maybe not all that mysterious.
Certainly not for Karras and 10-year vet Trent Brown, making his own Bengals debut at right tackle. They're products of the Belichick program that yielded six Super Bowl titles and go against one of their old assistants in Jerod Mayo's first game as head coach.
"It was probably smart to hire someone like Mayo," Karras said. "So you don't throw away 24 years of culture and strategy. But there'll be some nuances. Some wrinkles. There always are Week 1."
What isn't a mystery is that this is the Bengals' most diverse offense in quarterback Joe Burrow’s five seasons, as well as his best offensive line. There's a crackling optimism fueled by Burrow himself that those two factors produce the best running game in his tenure.
"I would say maybe we're a little bit better balanced with what we're doing overall in our offense, which allows us to exploit other things in the run game that we have not done in the past," said Frank Pollack, the offensive line coach who is also the run game coordinator. "We've got more options. More scheme options and we've got more personnel options.
"I think we're really complementing our offense as a whole with Joe Burrow, but we're also expanding our offense and doing some more things under center as well, which allows us to open up more things in the run game."
If it's vague, it's supposed to be. It's an opener. But Pollack is clear as an opening bell when it comes to Trent Brown, Burrow's fifth Opening Day right tackle, and his offensive line.
He says it's his best group in his five years with the Bengals. Pollack offered re-assurance a month ago, when Brown battled a tight back just as first-rounder Amarius Mims, looking impressive taking all of Brown's first-team snaps, went down with a pectoral injury.
Brown may not be ready in mid-August, Pollack said, but he would be ready for Sept. 8. On Thursday, Brown said he can play a full game as he goes into his 101st in the NFL and his first since 2020 not as a Patriot.
The big man, all 6-8, 380 pounds of him, has a presence about him as soothing as Pollack's prediction. Just ask two guys who played with him in New England.
"In 2108, he was a complete cancellation," Karras said. "You didn't have to worry about anything over the left side during that Super Bowl championship run. He's one of the most dynamic and talented players I ever played with."
Tight end Mike Gesicki, one of those new options Pollack covets, played with Brown last season in Foxborough.
"Trent is exactly as advertised. A massive human being, really athletic, uses size to his advantage. Really smart," Gesicki said. "He's played a lot of football. He knows what's going to happen before it happens."
Brown knows what's going to happen Sunday.
"I'm sure they're not going to change everything they've done for the last 20 years," Brown said. "I feel like you can expect some wrinkles in there, but that's week in and week out in the NFL. They're game-planning for us and they're scouting is based upon last year's film. Just like we try to do on them.
"It doesn't matter who's out there. We just have to rely on our technique that we work on day in and day out, but keep our guys right."
Pollack said Brown and Karras have diligently walked the group through the Patriots structure and scheme they practiced against for so long.
From Norwalk to Natick, some of these defenders are even a mystery to the good folks of New England. Plus, defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington is calling his first NFL game.
The Patriots' best defensive tackle, Christian Barmore, is out. Matt Judon, their best edge rusher, was traded amid the strangest contract negotiation in New England sports since Red Sox GM Lou Gorman went to lunch during a Roger Clemens drama. The Pats' most experienced linebacker, Dont'a Hightower, is coaching the inside backers.
But the three ex-Pats in Cincinnati all have high regard for Mayo.
"Jerod is awesome. He's a great guy, great coach," Gesicki said. "They'll be ready to play for him in this new era. They'll have different things in the game plan, like they're used to doing. Jerod played for Bill, coached under Bill, but he's a smart football guy. He'll put his own twist to it, his own wrinkles. I'm sure there are things he wanted to do that he couldn't do in the past. Now he's able to do it."
This is no revenge game for Brown after playing 53 games as a Patriot and giving Tom Brady's blindside its last Super Bowl ring in New England.
"Just another game. At the end of the day, I still consider those guys family," Brown said. "The head coach, I still want him to succeed. Do well for as long as he wants to."
The Burrow Bengals got the Belichick Patriots the one time they met, but they needed a forced fumble gifted by safety Vonn Bell inside the 5 in the last minute on Christmas Eve of 2022 to secure a 22-18 win. Burrow survived two interceptions, throwing three touchdowns and heating up Foxborough's 21 degrees by completing 77% of his 52 passes.
There are Pats who played that day who return and are steeped in a successful system, such as defensive tackle Davon Godchaux and linebackers Ja'Whaun Bentley and Jahlani Tavai. The secondary, always a Belichick strength as opportunistic and sly, is pretty much intact from that day. Cornerback Marcus Jones, who had a 69-yard pick-six on Burrow, is back. The only addition is a good one, last year's first-round cornerback Christian Gonzalez.
The Bengals figure it's going to be more of the same. Different looks. Cornerbacks suddenly playing safety in mid-snap. Or linebackers playing safety or tackles dropping.
"Hybrids," Karras said.
Burrow knows the interchangeable packages he'll see.
"They make it hard on the quarterback. They disguise," Burrow said. "They do a great job with their safeties of showing rotation one way and maybe bringing it the other, or bringing a pressure from a position where you don't really expect it. Throwing a zero pressure in there out of the blue. So you've got to be ready for anything at any given time and let the game come to you. Don't try to force it."
That's the Opening Day advice vets like Brown, Karras, and Gesicki are doling out with nearly 20 Opening Day starts among them. Pollack is impressed with the time Brown has spent with the kids on the line, just like Karras has mentored rookie backup Matt Lee. Brown agrees with Pollack it's a good group.
"A lot of veteran starters. Everybody has at least six years of experience except for CV (third-year left guard Cordell Volson)," Brown said. "When you get a group together like that, that pretty much fares well for you in a lot of different ways. Being able to recognize things a little quicker. Being able to read and react a little quicker. I'm excited to see where we'll be in four months."
Told this looks like the Bengals' best offensive line since the Andrew Whitworth days of a decade ago, Karras echoed Pollack.
"You can say what you want," Karras said. "But we have to do it."
For openers, that's the line of the day.
