FOXBOROUGH — Devin McCourty feels sympathy for his fellow defensive backs across the NFL.

McCourty knows it’s not very fun to look across the line of scrimmage and see 6-foot-6-inch, 265-pound Rob Gronkowski and 6-6, 275-pound Martellus Bennett.

“The same issues they cause in games, they cause us in practice,’’ McCourty said. “They make tough catches and make plays in practice against us, too.’’

The Patriots’ offense has only been whole for one week, but the results were frightening for the 31 other NFL teams. Not only did the Patriots put up a season-high 33 points and 501 yards in Tom Brady’s return, but they showed just how tough it will be for opponents to slow them down.

An offense that already was pretty good last year now has two elite tight ends in Gronkowski and Bennett, in addition to an elite slot receiver in Julian Edelman and excellent complementary pieces in Chris Hogan, Danny Amendola, and James White.

Ex-quarterback and current radio analyst Scott Zolak said last week that it’s the best receiving corps Brady has had in his 16 years as the starter.

“The Black Unicorn’’ and “The Gronkinator,’’ as Bennett refers to themselves, were the stars of the show last week against the Browns. Bennett scored three touchdowns, while Gronkowski had his first 100-yard game of the season.

“It’s hard to imagine the offense being better, but with Gronk and Martellus, it’s going to be fun to watch,’’ said Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts, who is calling Sunday’s Patriots-Bengals game for CBS. “I’m really anxious to see how Josh McDaniels spreads things around. I’m sure that Cincinnati is wondering the same.’’

The Patriots know a thing or two about tight end tandems. In 2011, Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez formed the most productive duo in NFL history, combining for 169 catches, 2,237 yards, and 24 touchdowns. Only one other team in NFL history has had more than 150 catches by its tight ends in a season — the 1984 Chargers (quarterbacked by Fouts), who had three tight ends with 40-plus catches but no 1,000-yard receiver.

Bennett and Gronkowski may not match the Patriots’ 2011 duo in raw statistics, because of Gronkowski essentially sitting out the first four games (he played the final two, but didn’t do much in the passing game).

But Gronkowski-Bennett can match and possibly surpass Gronkowski-Hernandez in terms of impact on the game.

Gronkowski proved last week with his five-catch, 109-yard performance that he’s still the top tight end in the league, if not one of the top two or three overall receivers. Bennett has 314 yards and four touchdowns through five games, on pace to shatter his career highs in yards (916) and touchdowns (six).

Both can line up on the line of scrimmage, in the slot or out wide. Both can run block, pass block or rumble 50 yards with the ball in their hands.

“It’s hard to get one of them,’’ Bill Belichick said in his weekly film breakdown. “Really hard to get both of them.’’

Who should get more defensive attention — Gronkowski or Bennett? Either way, it’s probably not going to end well.

“It’s great because like on the touchdown to Martellus, one of them, they focused all their coverage on Gronk, and then Martellus gets the one-on-one and he gets the ball,’’ Brady said. “Again, that’s what makes a good offense. If they’re going to double cover someone, it means other guys have single coverage. If you’re playing with a guy like Gronk, it’s great for you because you’re not the one getting double covered, so you’ll have opportunities.’’

What sets Gronkowski-Bennett apart from Gronkowski-Hernandez and other tight end tandems is their similar build and skill set. Hernandez was a smaller, quicker H-back who lined up at wide receiver twice as often as he did as a traditional tight end, and was rarely asked to block.

The run-blocking skills of Gronkowski and Bennett present so many extra options for the Patriots’ offense, particularly in the play-action passing game. Bennett faked a run block last week, the Browns ignored him, and Bennett found himself wide open for a touchdown.

And the Patriots like to align Gronkowski and Bennett next to each other on the line of scrimmage, hiding their intentions and presenting multiple options for Brady.

“What that does is it gives you the look of power for the running game,’’ Fouts said. “But they’ve got the speed right off of play action to get right down the field, as they both did for huge gains. This pair may be unmatchable, if that’s a word. The size, the speed, the blocking ability, it’s all there.’’

As McCourty explained, Gronkowski and Bennett are matchup nightmares for defenses — bigger than safeties and faster than linebackers. But so are most tight ends. It’s their athleticism and precise route-running that set Gronkowski and Bennett apart from their peers.

“You look at Marty and Gronk, they go out wide and they run really good routes,’’ McCourty said. “Usually a safety, your advantage going against a tight end is your quickness, and they won’t run as good of routes as a receiver. But when they understand how to run routes at their size, it’s very tough.’’

McDaniels said that with Gronkowski and Bennett, “defenses have to make decisions about how they want to defend them.’’ Whichever one is single covered will probably get the football. If defenses counter with more defensive backs, the Patriots can maul them with the power running game.

And if the defense sells out to stop both Gronkowski and Bennett, well, good luck also covering Edelman, Hogan, and White.

“If you try to look too much into matching up against us it’s hard, because we do so much of a guy that’s over here on one play, and over here on another play. It’s just tough to stay on top of it,’’ McCourty said. “And then Josh does a great job of just finding the mismatches. You’ve got so many quick guys that are so great in space, but then you’ve got two big guys that are catching the ball all over the field, too. So it’s just a lot of weapons that make it tough.’’

While Bennett is on pace for a career year, Gronkowski’s stats might take a dip. The star tight end doesn’t seem to mind.

“That’s what’s so great about working with all the guys here, we’re not really worried about that,’’ Gronkowski said. “Martellus has three touchdowns, it can go any other way any other game. The only thing we’re all worried about as a team is getting that W.’’

Ben Volin can be reached at ben.volin@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @BenVolin.