Brady dissects Jaguars

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Tom Brady set another record and thinks he deserves one more award.

The dimple-chinned quarterback with the winning smile took the snap – after faking as if the ball had gone directly to running back Kevin Faulk – and threw the go-ahead touchdown pass in the New England Patriots’ 31-20 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday night.

It was just one of his 26 completions in 28 attempts, an NFL record 92.9 percent for regular-season and playoff games.

“I’m looking for my Academy Award on that play,” said Brady, already named the MVP and offensive player of the year. “They bit on the run pretty good.”

Brady caught the snap, jumped with his empty right hand raised high, then shifted the ball from his left hand and threw a 6-yard scoring pass to Wes Welker that gave the Patriots a 21-14 lead 6 minutes into the third quarter.

By the time it was over, they had advanced to the AFC championship game for the second straight year and remained perfect at 17-0, matching the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the only team to go unbeaten from the first game of the season through the Super Bowl.

The old NFL accuracy record was 91.3 percent (21 of 23) set by Vinny Testaverde with Cleveland in 1993. The old playoff record was 88 percent set by Phil Simms in the Super Bowl after the 1986 season. Simms watched Brady best his mark from the broadcast booth.

Add that to Brady’s record of 50 touchdown passes, one more than Peyton Manning threw in 2004, and it’s been a spectacular season for the two-time Super Bowl MVP.

Then, forget about it.

“The thing about it now is that none of it matters.” Brady said. “For 17 games, it all comes down to this and we were here last year. I hope we perform better.”

Last season, the Patriots lost to Indianapolis in the AFC title game, 38-34, after squandering an 18-point lead. They could meet again; New England will be host Sunday at Gillette Stadium to the winner of today’s game between San Diego and Indianapolis.

The Patriots beat both this season and coach Bill Belichick said he has no preference.

“We don’t have any control over it,” he said.

It seemed the Jaguars (12-6) had that same problem when it came to stopping Brady, who had just two completions longer than 14 yards.

“It was a dump-down game,” Jaguars rookie safety Reggie Nelson sniffed. “Anybody can go 26 of 28 in a dump-down game.”

Nobody has, and Brady did it mostly without Randy Moss, who had only one catch against double- and triple-coverage.

“They went back to the old way of covering me,” Moss said. “We win as a team. I’ve never been a greedy guy. I’m not going to start now.”

Brady hit all the other receivers – throwing for three touchdowns and 262 yards.

“When they’re open like that, it’s my job to hit them,” he said. “They were open every time, so it’s easy to play quarterback.”

He was sacked just once, on the Patriots’ first offensive play.

“You can’t have a guy like Brady sitting back with time – 5, 6 seconds – to find a receiver because, believe me, he’s going to find a receiver,” Jaguars defensive end Paul Spicer said.

While Jacksonville’s defense struggled to stop Brady and crew, New England’s defense had no such problems against the Jaguars’ 1-2 rushing punch of Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew. The league’s second-most productive duo during the regular season combined for just 66 yards.

It was the Patriots who dominated on the ground as Laurence Maroney rushed for 122 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown.

Jacksonville became just another team that couldn’t stop the Patriots, and they’re not done yet.

“Brady’s been great all year,” Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio said. “He’s as good as they come.”

Brady completed his first 16 passes before the next one went off the hands of Benjamin Watson, who caught two others for touchdowns.

“You always think you should catch anything,” Watson said. “Hey, my bad.”

The next nine passes found their targets before one went right through Welker’s hands with 6:46 left in the game.

Jacksonville’s David Garrard, in just his second playoff game, completed 22 of 33 passes for 278 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.