Patriots Run Wild in Rout of Bengals

New England Patriots running back Laurence Maroney (39) scores a touchdown past Cincinnati Bengals defender Brian Simmons (56) in the first half of a NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2006, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/David Kohl) (David Kohl - AP)

Dillon finished with 67 yards on 17 carries and, in another throwback moment, declined interviews afterward.

"Ain't nothing changed," he said. "I got things to do."

Brady, Maroney and Dillon weren't the only ones who had a throwback day against the Bengals, who couldn't sustain their momentum from a 28-20 win in Pittsburgh a week earlier. New England's patchwork defense also did a number on Carson Palmer.

Palmer was hit repeatedly, sacked four times and lost a pair of second-half fumbles that set up touchdowns and turned it into a blowout. Palmer was 20-of-35 for 245 yards in his least-productive showing since he returned from a major knee injury.

"It's tough to say after a loss like this, but hopefully well be able to look back in a month or two and say we needed this," Palmer said. "I don't know if we were too cocky or too confident, but I know this is a team that we should've beat. Hopefully, well get another shot at them. I know if we play our best football, we can beat them."

With starting cornerback Ellis Hobbs and safety Eugene Wilson sidelined by injuries, the Patriots had to improvise. Receiver Troy Brown reprised his role as nickel back, lining up on passing downs the way he did each of the last two seasons when New England was beat up.

That knack for improvisation helped the Patriots win three Super Bowls this decade. It worked again on Sunday.

"They knew they couldn't stop us, but you need the team as a whole to succeed," receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh said. "There aren't any (defensive backs) on that team that can cover us. That's why they played the coverages they did. They did a good job of mixing it up."

Notes:@ The Patriots haven't lost consecutive games since December 2002. The 53-game streak matches Denver (1976-79) for second-longest since the NFL and AFL merged in 1970. San Francisco has the longest streak, 60 games from 1995-99. ... New England ran for 236 yards overall. Brady had 22 on a third-quarter scramble, the longest run of his career. ... Maroney is the first Patriots rookie running back to score more than one touchdown in a season since Robert Edwards had nine in 1998. ... Bengals WR Chris Henry was inactive, punishment for his latest off-field incident. Henry, one of six Bengals arrested in the last nine months, was a passenger in a vehicle stopped early Monday morning. Linebacker Odell Thurman, who was behind the wheel, was charged with drunken driving.