BY JIM DONALDSON
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO - Randy Moss should sleep well Sunday night.

"He ran a lot of routes, so I'm sure he's going to be tired," said quarterback Tom Brady, who combined with Moss for 10 receptions, good for 116 yards, in the Patriots' 26-10 victory over previously undefeated Atlanta.

"He played great," Brady said. "He made some big catches for us. He's a great player, so we've got to get him involved in the game. We made a concerted effort to get him the ball."

Against the Jets last week, Moss caught only four passes, for just 24 yards. Not coincidentally, the Patriots lost.

Sunday, he was one of the key reasons the Patriots won.

"He got a lot of single coverage," coach Bill Belichick said, "and he did a good job. He ran a lot of different routes. We threw deep, we threw inside, we threw outside, we threw some quick passes to him.

"He did a good job attacking the coverage. He's a tough guy to cover. We try to design and create situations where he has an opportunity and a little bit of space to work. He sure made a lot of plays today."

Once again, however, the Patriots didn't have enough scoring plays in the red zone, converting just once in five trips inside Atlanta's 20-yard line.

"We left some points out there in the red area," Belichick said. "We've got to do a better job down there."

The Pats had struggled in the red zone against the Jets, settling for three field goals.

"It's frustrating for any team," Belichick said yesterday, "to be down in the red area and come out without a touchdown. You want to go down there and put the ball in the end zone, and we didn't do it several times.

"None of us are happy about that. The linemen, the receivers, the coaches - nobody's happy. We want to go down there and get seven points.

"We've got to do a better job executing the plays - throwing them, running the routes, designing them. Give Atlanta credit - they're a good red-area defense. But we've got to do a better job."

Count Brady, who was just 3-for-10 passing in the red zone, for 10 yards, among those unhappy with his team's offense in the shadow of the opponent's goal posts.

"It's execution," he said, echoing Belichick. "It's everybody being on the same page and making the reads and throws. It's something we'll evaluate and look at.

"We can't keep kicking field goals, I know that. We've got to be better."