» Chad Ochocinco tied his career high with 12 catches. The first time he registered that many in a game was against Tennessee in 2007.
» Mike Nugent tied his career long with a 54-yard field goal. It was the longest Bengals field goal since Neil Rackers also had a 54-yarder in 2002.
» Leon Hall was one of the central figures in last year's disappointing season-opening loss to Denver. "This one feels a little worse if you could really imagine that," Hall said. "At least we played a lot better on defense (last year). We put a lot of expectations on ourselves and we didn't play well. We have to just forget about it over the next couple of days."
» Defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer was clearly upset by a defense that gave up almost as many big plays on Sunday as it did the first half of last season. "I've been saying we haven't been playing good enough," he said. "I'm not shocked, but I never would have guessed this. We had so long to prepare and we put so many things in we kind of forgot about what we do; what we're good at. I was surprised at how tentative we played and how poorly we tackled. We didn't come near the quarterback all day."
» Zimmer said he been trying to mainly pressure Patriots quarterback Tom Brady with a four-man rush but he also said he tried to blitz at times and he pointed to the 45-yard completion to rookie tight end Aaron Hernandez on the first drive. "We were late getting lined up. We were late getting in and out and we let him get free," Zimmer said. "It was a blown coverage."
» Ochocinco and wide receiver Terrell Owens were both in the locker room and not on the field as the Bengals attempted a hail mary pass on the final play of the first half. "Eighty-five went in the get IVs, which is normal for him when the defense is on the field, particularly early in the year," head coach Marvin Lewis said. "The doctors wanted to get him in and out so they could get him ready for the start of the second half. Terrell went in to get worked on and looked at and we had the other guys ready to go."
Lewis would not elaborate on what Owens had to have done to him, and when Owens was asked he said, "Coach said he would address that."
» "Not the start of our season I would like," Lewis said. "I told these guys the same thing if we had been on the other side. Next week becomes the focus. We start to grind and get things fixed."
» The enormity of the loss clearly shook the locker room. Defensive tackle Domata Peko said, "At the end of the first half it was like we were deer in headlights."
» Quarterback Carson Palmer said that as expected Patriots head coach Bill Belichick threw in some wrinkles the Bengals offense hadn't seen from New England in the preseason and last year. Palmer said the Patriots did a good job getting mismatches.
» In holding Cedric Benson to 43 yards on 16 carries it appeared that the Patriots moved their front seven in different spots before the snap in Rex Ryan-like fashion to confuse the blocking schemes.
» Palmer finished 34-of-50 for 345 yards and a rating of 92.5. It marked Palmer's first 300-yard passing day since he threw for 314 yards against San Diego last season on Dec. 20. The 345 yards were Palmer's most since he had 401 yards in Cleveland on Sept. 16, 2007.
» Palmer said it was his mistake on linebacker Gary Guyton's 59-yard interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter that gave New England a 24-0 lead. "Bad decision and my team paid the price," he said.
» The Bengals went no-huddle virtually the entire second half. "What we can take out of this is a blueprint for what works in the offense," Ochocinco said, alluding to the no-huddle.
» Ochocinco's 159 yards receiving represented his first 100-yard receiving game in a season opener. It was also the most he had since recording 209 against Cleveland in 2007.
» Owens caught seven passes for 53 yards in his Bengals debut. "They played some press and we made some miscues," he said. "It wasn't so much what they did but what we didn't do."
» The Bengals' first play from scrimmage was a medium-range pass down the sideline to Owens, which he couldn't quite come up with. "I think I should have that first ball," he said. "I had it, I brought it down and it popped out on his helmet. Those are the plays we need to make. When they were in Cover 3 and man-to-man, we had opportunities. Those are the things we'll get better at and we have to take it for what it's worth."
»Owens on becoming the third man to pass 15,000 career receiving yards:"News to me. Pat myself on the back." And he did.
» For the first time since Bills cornerback Terrence McGee returneda kick and interception for a TD on Christmas Eve, 2005, the Bengals gave up both in the same game.
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