Brady, Welker tame Bengals

Associated Press

FOXBOROUGH, Mass.

Tom Brady survived a frightening car crash, signed a rich contract and ended his week with what he wants most: a win.

The quarterback who makes headlines on and off the field threw two of his three touchdown passes to Wes Welker, who returned after a speedy recovery from a serious knee injury, and led the New England Patriots to a 38-24 opening win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.

“I’m glad it’s over,” Brady said, “but it was a good week.”

It was pretty special for Welker, too. He caught eight passes for 64 yards less than nine months after tearing a knee ligament in the final game last season and less than eight months after surgery. Many doubted he’d be back for the opener, but he and Brady were confident.

“I had pretty much instilled it in my mind that I would be back,” Welker said. “I still have a ways to go. ... I have this stupid knee brace I hate. I can’t wait to burn it. We’re getting there, slowly but surely.”

He had the most impact of any receiver, surpassing the Bengals’ new much-hyped tandem of Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens, who combined for 19 receptions for 212 yards and a touchdown.

On Sunday, the Patriots’ dominance was complete as they also scored on defense with Gary Guyton’s 59-yard interception return and on special teams on Brandon Tate’s 97-yard runback of the second-half kickoff.

“Obviously, you allow a kickoff return for a touchdown and an interception return for a touchdown, that’s hard to overcome,” Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis said. “It’s hard to see through the muck, but there were some positives.”

Not many for his defense, though.

“We weren’t ourselves today,” Bengals cornerback Leon Hall said. “Today was really unacceptable.”

Welker led the NFL with 346 receptions the past three years, the last coming on Jan. 3 in the regular-season finale at Houston. He hurt his knee on the play and missed New England’s 33-14 first-round playoff loss to Baltimore.