Perhaps the most shocking moment of the first week of the 2024 NFL season was the New England Patriots’ unexpected win over the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium. Most analysts expected the rebuilding team to lose every game in the first month of the season, and that there would be losses in every area against a perennial Super Bowl contender.

While that made the win all the more satisfying for Patriots fans—as it always is when you prove the doubters wrong—other reasons made the victory even more boastful despite the countless criticisms that discounted it.

One of the main reasons to celebrate was that the Patriots finally broke a four-year curse that had become the new normal for a team that traditionally achieved double-digit wins every season during the Bill Belichick and Tom Brady eras.

Their Week 1 win last Sunday was their first 1-0 start to the season since the legendary quarterback left the team in 2020. That might sound silly to be happy about, but considering how poorly the team has performed over the past four years, it’s a small win worth mentioning.

Fortunately, her victory broke even more records.

ESPN’s Mike Reiss shared the good news earlier this week, crediting ESPN Stats Info on Twitter/X. He revealed that the Patriots’ Week 1 win was the biggest upset in the NFL since the 2018 season, when the Bucs entered their matchup against the Saints as 10-point underdogs.

The Patriots were 7.5 points behind at the start of the game, their lead was 8.5 points at the start of the week.

This will likely remain the case for the rest of the season, as the Patriots are not among the favorites to win a single game in their 2024 schedule. That could change if they can rack up more wins, starting with the Seattle Seahawks in Week 2.

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