Patriots Shred Bengals in Opener

Tom Brady and the Patriots may have only won by two touchdowns in the end today, but this was a game that was never in doubt as New England rolled over Cincinnati 38-24 to improve to 1-0 on the young season.

The Pats stormed out to a quick 24-0 lead in the first half before the Bengals even sniffed the scoreboard. Most of that was due to a strong passing attack that saw Wes Welker grab two touchdowns from Brady, who finished with a passer rating of 120.9. For Welker, it was a big day in his regular season return from his torn ACL -- he hauled in 8 catches for 64 yards and 2 touchdowns. Randy Moss was right behind him in the receiving game, grabbing 5 receptions for 59 yards. Brady hit 7 different receivers en route to a 25-for-35 day, throwing for 258 yards and 3 scores. He didn't throw an interception in the game.

The same cannot be said for Carson Palmer, who tossed an interception to Gary Guyton in the second quarter that the Patriots' linebacker returned 59 yards for the touchdown. While Palmer's final numbers were respectable, his offense was unable to get anything going prior to New England grabbing a 31-3 lead after the very first play of the second half. That play was on the opening kickoff. Brandon Tate took a bouncing kick, threw one juke, and burned his way through the holes for a kick return touchdown to start the third quarter and spot the Patriots a 31-3 lead. Chad Ochocinco had a big second half that rounded off his great statistical day -- 12 grabs for 159 yards and a touchdown -- but it wasn't enough for the Bengals, who fell to 0-1 on the season. Rob Gronkowski added New England's final touchdown in the fourth quarter.

It was a pretty impressive day overall for New England, who will travel to New York to take on the Jets next weekend. Last season's week two trip to the Meadowlands didn't turn out so well. Hopefully things go differently this season.

PS -- If you refer back to my winners predictions from the fantasy outlook, I'm 8-2 right now.