Patriots 43, Bengals 17
Tom Brady threw for 292 yards and a pair of touchdowns as host New England rebounded from an embarrassing defeat by handing Cincinnati its first loss in lopsided fashion.
Stevan Ridley rushed for 113 yards and a touchdown while tight ends Rob Gronkowski (six receptions, 100 yards) and Tim Wright (five catches, 85 yards) each caught a scoring pass for the Patriots (3-2), who won their 11th straight home game as they bounced back from Monday's 41-14 drubbing at Kansas City. Stephen Goskowski kicked five field goals and Shane Vereen added 90 yards rushing as New England rolled up 505 total yards against the league's top scoring defense.
Andy Dalton completed 15-of-24 passes for 204 yards and two TDs for Cincinnati (3-1), which had allowed only 33 points in its first three games and was the league's last unbeaten team. A.J. Green made five catches for 81 yards and a TD while Mohamed Sanu added five receptions for 70 yards and a score,
Trailing 20-3 at halftime, Dalton fired a 37-yard scoring strike to Sanu early in the third, but the Patriots answered with two touchdowns in six seconds as Brady tossed a 16-yard TD pass to Gronkowski before Kyle Arrington recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and returned it 9 yards for a 34-10 cushion with 6:00 left in the third. Dalton came right back with a 17-yard scoring pass to Green, but Gostkowski converted from 23 yards out six seconds into the fourth to make it 37-17.
New England went 80 yards in 10 plays on the game's opening drive that culminated with Ridley bulling in from the 1. Wright caught a 30-yard pass to set up the first TD and capped the second possession by hauling in a 17-yard scoring toss from Brady for a 14-0 lead less than 12 minutes into the contest before Gostkowski tacked on a pair of field goals to send the Patriots to the locker room with a 17-point lead.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Brady became the sixth QB in league history to throw for more than 50,000 yards with his 27-yard completion to Gronkowski late in the opening quarter. ... RB Giovani Bernard rushed for 62 yards on 13 carries for the Bengals, who allowed their most points since giving up 44 to Baltimore in the 2012 season opener. ... Patriots starting S Devin McCourty (ribs) and DT Dominique Easley (shoulder) were knocked out of the game, while Bengals LB Sean Porter (knee) was hurt on the opening kickoff and did not return.