Krause: Now that’s the way to answer your critics

FOXBOROUGH ? The New England Patriots came out of the chute Sunday and stuffed the ball right down the throats of the previously-unbeaten Cincinnati Bengals to the tune of a 43-17 victory.Where there was uncertainty in the first four weeks of the season, there was none. Where there was confusion on offense and defense in the first month, there was none. The Patriots marched 80 yards downfield on their first possession ? the first time that has happened this season ? and just kept kicking the Bengals up and down the field.Every time Cincinnati caught a glimmer of hope ? such as with an early third-quarter touchdown that cut a 20-3 lead to 20-10 ? the Patriots came right back with touchdowns that seemed to do nothing as much as taunt the Bengals ? as if to say “sorry, guys, but it?s your very bad luck to be playing us the week after we were undressed on national television by the Kansas City Chiefs.”Not that the Patriots would admit to anything like that.Ho hum, said coach Bill Belichick.?It was just the next game (on the schedule),” said the taciturn coach in a barely audible voice, seemingly the only one in the organization who appeared irked about all the grief the team caught in the media after the Kansas City game.In fact, Belichick got into it with one reporter when asked whether the win was satisfying considering all the criticism the team took.?Criticism from who?” he asked, looked right at the reporter.?With all due respect, I mean, really ? look, we had a job to do. We?re focused on doing that job. We?re not going to sit around and listen to what everyone else says. We try to do the best we can.”That may be Belichick?s take. Quarterback Tom Brady?s was a little different.First, he said, it wasn?t as if anyone died last week. It was a game, and even though it was one of the worst in his tenure, “we were still in first place coming into today. So it wasn?t that bad.”Still, “it?s hard to be totally oblivious to what you hear and see,” he said, “Everyone reads newspapers, or listens to the radio, or has the internet.?But we can?t get up on the back-and-forth of “you?re good ? you (bleep) ? you?re good ? (you bleep),” he said. “It?s emotionally exhausting. It?s exhausting when you?re winning.”But rest assured, this is one win the Patriots desperately needed. After last week, the prevailing sentiment was that the wheels were falling off the wagon. Brady took his share of the heat ? some of it coming from this address ? over his sideline deportment and his seeming snub of backup Jimmy Garoppolo after he threw a late-game touchdown pass in that Kansas City game.If the fans were holding it against Brady, you?d never know it. When he came out pinpoint sharp, and led the team downfield, the crowd started chanting his name rhythmically ? something that hasn?t happened very often, if it has happened at all.?Yeah, that was awesome,” said Brady. “I?m a pretty lucky guy to have the support I?ve had around here.”The adulation wasn?t lost on his teammates, and tight end Rob Gronkowski was one of them.?It was awesome seeing that,” he said. “He?s a young buck who has a lot left in the tank. We rallied around him.”?And,” said Brady, “I rallied around him. I love the guy. He?s so mentally tough. To come back from all he?s had to come back from, that shows his toughness.”As happy as the Patriots were with the win, they all pretty much sang the same tune.?It was just the next game on the schedule,” said Gronkowski. “It?s a long season. You want a victory every single week.”?We have to do this next week, go to Buffalo, and play a good football team,” said Brady.So for one week anyway ? and may be more than that ? the Patriots righted the ship. And they may have reminded the National Football League, and all the critics who seemed so happy to be presiding over the end of the Patriots? dynasty “not so fast, fellas. There?s life in us yet.”