Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker set a franchise record for receptions this season.

The Providence Journal / Gretchen Ertl

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — He takes plays off.

That was just one of the many raps on Randy Moss before he came to the Patriots.

You can tell when he’s not the primary receiver, people said. He doesn’t come off the line hard. He loafs through his route. His attention wanders, and so you don’t really have to pay attention to him. He takes it easy sometimes, and so can you if you’re the defensive back assigned to cover him. If the ball’s not supposed to come to him, his eyes glaze over, and so you can take your eyes off him.

Not any more. That was then. This is now. That was in Oakland. Now that he’s in New England, you can never take your eyes off Moss. Not for a play. Not for a minute. Not for a second. Not for even a split-second. Not when Tom Brady has the ball in his hand.

Brady always keeps an eye out for Moss. And why wouldn’t he? The guy always seems to be open. He catches anything thrown near him. He is tall (6-foot-4), big enough (at 215 pounds) to be physical with smaller cornerbacks, and, even at the age of 30, still fast enough to blow past a defender. He’s also tough enough to go over the middle and make a catch when he knows he’s going to get hit. He has long arms that remind you of a raptor’s wings and enable him to reach up with those huge hands of his and pluck balls out of the air that would go sailing past most any other receiver in the game.

All of which is why opposing defensive backs are wide-eyed when they play against Moss, their pupils looking like saucers, grown large with fear.

Fans are wide-eyed, too — in amazement and awe. They never take their eyes off Moss, either, because they know he may do something spectacular on any given play.

Especially now that he never takes a play off.

There was no better example of that than Saturday night at the Meadowlands against the Giants.

The Patriots’ perfect season, their historic, undefeated record, was in jeopardy early in the fourth quarter. Trailing, 28-23, the Pats were facing a second-and-10 situation at their own 35-yard line. Brady tried to go deep to Moss, streaking down the right side. But, with a rusher in Brady’s face, the ball was underthrown. Moss tried to come back to catch it and managed to get his hands on it, about a foot above the turf. Surprisingly, disappointingly, he wasn’t able to hang on to it.

“The ball was underthrown a little bit,” Moss said, “and I tried my best to come back and get it because I saw — I don’t know if it was the cornerback or the safety — but I saw one guy fall, so I knew it was my chance to try to get that catch and move the offense a little closer to the end zone. But I missed the ball and jogged back to the huddle. The very next play, they called a play that was really designed for Wes Welker to go out and get the first down.”

The Patriots needed a first down, and who better to move the chains than Welker, he of the franchise-record 112 receptions?

In the old days, Moss might have taken that next play off. After all, he’d just run more than 50 yards downfield, and Welker has an uncanny knack for finding holes in opposing defenses.

Except this time, two New York defenders went after Welker.

“The corner and the safety trapped Wes,” Moss said. “They tried to trap Tommy into throwing the ball there, and getting it picked off. But Tommy made a good read.”

Brady, seeing Welker double-covered, knew in an instant that Moss must be one-on-one, running the same route — a “9” route, the Patriots call it — again down the right sidelines.

Moss blew past strong safety James Butler and Brady threw a long, tight spiral. Moss caught it in stride and cruised 65 yards to the end zone for what was not only the go-ahead touchdown, but also a record-setting touchdown. It was Moss’ 23rd of the season, breaking Jerry Rice’s record, and Brady’s 50th, breaking Peyton Manning’s mark.

Brady and Moss. Love and marriage. Brady and Moss. Horse and carriage. Brady and Moss. Hot dog and mustard. Brady and Moss. Pizza and beer.

Some things just seem to go together. They’re made for each other. A perfect match.

Martin and Lewis. Brady and Moss. Fred and Ginger. Brady and Moss. Sonny and Cher. Brady and Moss.

Ruth and Gehrig. Brady and Moss. Cousy and Russell. Brady and Moss. Manny and Big Papi. Brady and Moss. Orr and Espo. Brady and Moss.

They are legends. They are magic. They are special.

“I don’t really think that me breaking Jerry Rice’s record was special,” Moss said Saturday night. “I think shutting you guys (the media) up was really what made it special. All the negativity and all my critics.

“I think this really is a good feeling, to be able to come in and have a good season like this — to have confidence in myself that I can still get it done.

“My mindset was to come out here and have a hell of a season. Now, what the numbers were, I really didn’t know. I just wanted to come here and play some good football, knowing that it was my 10th year in the league. You see what happened.”

Montana and Rice. Unitas and Berry. Starr and Dowler. Marino and Duper — and Clayton, too. Manning and Harrison. Aikman and Irvin. Bradshaw and Swann.

Now there’s Brady and Moss, who never takes a play off.

Brady and Moss — a joy to watch. You can’t take your eyes off them.

jdonalds@projo.com