Forget about the Bill Belichick incident. It’s old news.

Sure he was caught cheating earlier in the week, but if it was ever obvious he’s a great coach and the Patriots are a level above just everyone else in the league, it was last night against the Chargers. To make people forget about the spying, the Patriots needed a win on Sunday Night Football, the NFL’s new “biggest stage” since MNF moved to ESPN. And to do so, New England would need to have the right mindset, despite the media circus around them.

What did they do? The won convincingly — very convincingly.

After building a 24-0 lead over one of the NFL’s preseason favorites in the AFC, the Patriots coasted to a 38-14 victory. It’s the second week in a row New England has put up 38 points.

They managed the seemingly impossible: the defense shut down LaDainian Tomlinson, holding him to 43 yards on 18 carries and a mere 15 yards receiving. Apparently there is a way to not only contain, but control the one we refer to as a fantasy god, and Bill Belichick has discovered it.

But defense wasn’t the only highlight of the evening. Tom Brady went 25/31 for 279 yards and 3 touchdowns, spreading the ball to 6 different receivers. For the second week in a row, Randy Moss was his favorite target, on the receiving end of 8 of those 25 completions. And his second 100-yard receiving performance and pair of scores last night rank him as the league’s most prolific receiver through the first two weeks of the season.

Why is he so unstoppable? Because teams can’t focus their attention on him alone. The Patriots spent the offseason making moves to bolster their receiving corps. The result? Three new receivers on the depth chart who started for their respective teams last season — Moss, Wes Welker, and Dante Stallworth — and the deepest lineup in the NFL.

The Patriots have formed a roster that is as close to perfect as you can build: (arguably) the league’s best quarterback, the league’s most talented receiver, a solid defense, and one of the best coaching staffs in the NFL.

No doubt the Patriots the team to beat this season, and it will be harder to do so now than ever in the past.

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