Deeper meaning here?
Moss happy with long TD catch and result of game
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SAN FRANCISCO - Heading into yesterday's game against the 49ers, there were several concerns the Patriots had to address during their two-week sabbatical following the debacle at home against the Miami Dolphins.
But the primary question over the past two weeks for the Patriots, their fans, and the perhaps quietly, Randy Moss, himself, was when will the team go back to the vertical game.
Things didn't look encouraging for all parties after the first two possessions yesterday, which ended in a Matt Cassel interception and a three and out.
Things didn't improve when the 49ers grabbed a 7-0 lead on a J.T. O'Sullivan touchdown pass to Frank Gore.
The start of the ensuing New England possession did not look pretty, either, with a 2-yard pass from Cassel to Kevin Faulk and a fumbled snap by Cassel on the next play.
But in a flash, Moss changed the game.
Cassel dropped back as Moss streaked down the right side of the field between Nate Clements and Walt Harris to haul in a pass by Cassel for a 66-yard touchdown - the team's longest play of the season.
"I think that's just what we've been waiting on," said Moss, who had four catches for 103 yards in the first half. "To really open up the offense a bit more and get the ball downfield to make other plays work. I just think it's a good thing that it happened we connected."
There weren't many connections lately between the quarterback and the 11-year veteran who snared an NFL-record 23 touchdown passes last season.
Moss had only six catches for 47 yards and no touchdowns in the last two games after opening the season with six catches for 116 yards and a score against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Moss, who caught his 126th touchdown pass, said the team was not overly concerned with how it performed two weeks ago against Miami, rather just following the path of coach Bill Belichick's game plan.
"To be honest with you, [there] really wasn't much said between the players and coaches," Moss said. "I think Bill keeps a tight grasp onto us and keeps straight tunnel vision, do not get off track and stay focused and look forward to the team we are playing. We don't live off the past and we don't definitively don't look ahead."
Over the bye week, the Patriots worked on the basics to help a struggling passing game. The team may have been eager to get on the field after seeing the 49ers' defense get shredded last week by the New Orleans Saints.
"We emphasized getting open, beating man coverage . . . Being able to connect on that deep ball, I think it was good from an offensive standpoint because that's something that we've been missing in our repertoire the past couple of weeks. It was a good thing."
Moss's early score opened passing lanes for the patented Wes Welker slip screens. Welker finished with a game-high eight catches for 73 yards.
"I think we played well," Welker said. "We gained some momentum and scored some points early."
But the vertical passing game did not appear much after Moss's touchdown. Moss only had one catch for 8 yards in the second half.
"We still got a lot of things to work on but [it] was a good victory coming out on the West Coast. So it's something we can hang our hat on," Moss said. "Once the season starts and you have an early bye week, our body and mind is used to playing football; it was not like a bye week. It was like we were ready for the bye week to get over [and] let's play some football. I think everybody was eager to play football and it showed."
Gregory Lee Jr. can be reached at glee@globe.com 
