Boston Area News

FOXBORO (AP) ― The New England Patriots made enough big plays to fill several highlight reels.

They just made sure they weren't holding the camera.

After a week spent focusing on the Chargers while the NFL investigated charges that they cheated in their season opener, the Patriots dominated their second straight opponent by the same 38-14 margin on Sunday night.

"We went through a lot this week but we blocked it out," said linebacker Tedy Bruschi, speaking with the same passion he shows on the field. "This victory was for all the Patriots teams past and present."

New England beat New York a week earlier but was accused by the Jets of using a sideline videocamera to steal their coaches' defensive signals in violation of league rules. Commissioner Roger Goodell punished the Patriots on Thursday.

Players on other teams questioned whether such banned activity helped the Patriots in other games, including some of their three Super Bowl wins. Bruschi said Sunday night's rout was more gratifying than those.

"This is the most satisfying because I've never been in a situation that doubted what we've done with past teams," he said. "I care about what people say about us so this past week was tough."

If the Patriots were distracted, it certainly didn't show.

San Diego gave up three touchdown passes to Tom Brady -- a 7-yarder to Benjamin Watson on the Patriots' first possession, a 23-yarder to Randy Moss on their third and a 24-yarder to Moss on their first series of the second half.

With a 31-7 cushion, the Patriots were just 18 minutes away from improving to 2-0.

"If we were to listen to everything that everybody said and respond, there's just too many battles to fight," Brady said. "There's only one battle that I care about, and that's playing football and performing well."

San Diego (1-1) also gave up Adalius Thomas' 65-yard interception return for a touchdown and a 24-7 lead and lost a fumble on a play that started at the New England 34 with the score 14-0.

"They just jumped on us like a spider monkey," said Lorenzo Neal, whose 1-yard touchdown on a pass from Philip Rivers made it 24-7 on the first series of the third quarter.

The motivation provided by the spying probe fired up the Patriots.

"They wanted to come out and prove that when they win games, it's because they win games, not (because of) film," said Chargers defensive back Quentin Jammer, who was repeatedly beaten by Moss.

The game came three days after the NFL fined Belichick $500,000 and the team another $250,000 for spying on the New York Jets. The Patriots also will forfeit a first-round draft pick next spring if they make the playoffs or a second- and third-rounder if they don't.

Fans cheered loudly for Belichick when he was introduced before the game. The usually dour coach waved back, a rare scene shown on the big scoreboard video screen.

"I want to thank the fans for their support," Belichick said. "I definitely felt that from the time I walked on the field. We've got great fans and we've got a great owner (Robert Kraft). He's been awesome all week in a tough situation."

Said Bruschi: "The affection that they showed out there is the affection that we have for him."

Tom Brady had just six incompletions for the second straight week, going 25-for-31 for 279 yards.

"After everything that went on this week, we wanted to do our best for Belichick," Brady said. "We're all lucky to play for him. He's the best coach probably in the history of the NFL."

Moss, who had nine catches for 183 yards and a touchdown against New York in his Patriots debut, had eight more for 105 yards. Another new wide receiver, Wes Welker, had 8 catches for 91 yards, including a 34-yarder on the first drive of the game that set up Watson's touchdown.

"He's Randy Moss," said Shawne Merriman, one of San Diego's few standouts with two sacks. "He still has the same athleticism he's always had when he came into the league. It makes them very hard to match up with."

For the second time in his past three games, LaDainian Tomlinson had another difficult day against the Patriots.

In last season's playoffs, they beat the Chargers 24-21 and he was held back from moving toward New England cornerback Ellis Hobbs, who was doing an imitation of the dance Merriman does after his sacks.

On Sunday, Tomlinson gained 43 yards on 18 carries after the big early deficit forced the Chargers to pass more. A week earlier, he rushed for just 25 yards in a 14-3 win over Chicago.

"We have to find ourselves," said Tomlinson, last season's MVP after the Chargers had an NFL-best 14-2 record. With the addition of Moss, Thomas, Welker and others, "the Patriots may be better than they ever have been."

They have a coach who has been labeled a "genius," even though the description changed to "cheater" for a few days.

They also had a chip on their shoulder.

"I know we won last week, too, but it really didn't feel like it," Bruschi said. "To come out here and win, it's an exclamation point victory. It's really satisfying."

Notes: The Chargers were held to just 201 yards and are averaging 232 per game. They averaged 345 last season. ... Moss had his 47th 100-yard receiving game in the second game of his 10th season. ... Merriman had two sacks, his eighth multiple-sack game in 24 regular-season NFL games.

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