New England Patriots Thump Cincinnati Bengals: Pats Shouldn't Waste Good Start

It had been almost two years since this team had been on the field together at full strength.

Yes, Tom Brady directed the offense last year after having his knee shredded on opening day in 2008, but he wasn’t the Tom Brady that built the New England Patriots into a dynasty only a few years ago.

Brady had Randy Moss and Wes Welker to throw to last year, but then Welker went down with his own knee injury. The Pats just couldn’t get their core group of guys playing their best ball all together at once.

And then Sunday came.

Brady led New England to a 38-24 waxing of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Welker worked hard in the offseason to get ahead of his rehab schedule and was able to catch eight passes for 64 yards and two touchdowns.

With the Bengals featuring a healthy Carson Palmer at quarterback and the Chad Ochocinco-Terrell Owens duo at wide receiver, many thought this game would be a shoot out, a classic.

And then we all remembered what the 2007 Patriots looked like, an offensive juggernaut cutting and carving through defenses at will.

The Bengals were never really in the ballgame.

New England led by 10 points after the first quarter and 21 at halftime.

Amazingly, Cincinnati had 18 more plays and 52 more yards than the Patriots, but the Bengals could never put it together long enough on both sides of the ball to make up any ground.

By the time the clocked ticked to zero, New England hadn’t only won—it had made a statement. With a fully healthy lineup, the Patriots are the team to beat in the AFC East and possibly in the entire conference.

Unfortunately, it took one Randy Moss press conference after the win to remind everybody of the challenges that New England faces.

Moss took his postgame presser as an opportunity to talk about his contract.

The wide receiver wants a new deal and doesn’t want it to drag on into the later portion of the season. And if it doesn’t get done before the season is over, he probably won’t be back. 

“I don’t want to take away from the win,” Moss said. “But I don’t want to be Week 10, Week 11, Week 12, and we’re still sitting here talking about a contract. I’m not here to start any trouble.

“I’m here to play my last year out on my contract.”

Moss said that he was “hurt” because there hasn’t been any sort of discussion with the New England front office.

Waiting until the end of the season would be a “smack in my face,” Moss said.

Contract disputes have become a theme in New England.

The team didn’t come to an agreement with Brady until last week, when they handed him a new four-year deal that made him the highest-paid player in the league.

Before Brady, New England had to deal with the realization that Pro Bowl guard Logan Mankins wanted a new deal and would sit out until he got one.

ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter reported that the club almost had a new deal agreed to with Mankins but then it fell apart over apologies.

Mankins had criticized the club and the Pats wanted the lineman to apologize to owner Robert Kraft.

According to Schefter’s story, Mankins did that but then soured when the team also asked him to make a public apology.

Mankins’ holdout lives on, and the Patriots opened the season up without him.

Mankins and Moss are not in the same boat, but distractions are distractions.

Moss vowed that he would show up and play hard each week regardless of whether he worked out a new deal or not.

Mankins has whispered that he would like to play elsewhere, although the Patriots will continue to work to get him back on the field.

If you watched the Patriots Sunday, these issues wouldn’t have stuck out. New England looked explosive and confident.

They looked poised for a great season, if healthy, and then another Super Bowl run.

That playoff run will only be derailed by off-the-field issues like the ones that are now surrounding Mankins and, to a lesser extent, Moss.

With a good thing going in New England, Kraft needs to realize that he can set up his team to compete not only this year, but for a handful of years to come.

Brady has brought Kraft three championships and there’s no reason to think that he couldn’t add a couple more with the proper talent around him. 

Ownership needs to sit down with Moss, let him know how much they appreciate his effort, and work out a deal to keep him happy and in New England.

Moss isn’t trying to be a home wrecker, he’s just trying to do what everyone else is with a potential lockout coming: get paid.

Mankins may be displeased with how New England has treated him, and he may feel that one apology is more than enough.

But that situation is salvageable, as long as the club realizes business is business and does what’s best for the team.

Sure, regardless of what happens with Mankins and Moss, we will probably see many more performances from the Patriots like we saw on Sunday.

But players like Tom Brady and Randy Moss don’t come along every couple years in the draft.

When you have them healthy and have them producing, you have to take advantage.

Follow Teddy Mitrosilis on Twitter. You can reach him at [e-mail].