FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Bill Belichick made it a priority to get his team prepared for frigid weather leading up to the Patriots’ regular-season finale against the New York Jets.

With home-field advantage throughout the playoffs following a 26-6 victory on Sunday, the AFC’s road to the Super Bowl will again run through New England.

Dion Lewis ran for a touchdown and caught a scoring pass, helping the Patriots wrap up the top seed. The Patriots (13-3) finished with at least 13 wins for the seventh time, which is second in NFL history to San Francisco’s nine seasons.

It was also Belichick’s 250th career regular-season win, moving him into a tie with Tom Landry for third among head coaches.

New England has defeated the Jets (5-11) in four straight meetings and hasn’t lost to them at home during the regular season with Tom Brady starting since 2006. Brady’s 13th win this season tied him with Brett Favre for the most by a starting quarterback age 40 or older.

“Our biggest games are ahead of us,” Brady said. “We’re 13-3, that’s the best in the AFC, that’s what we’re playing for, so that’s pretty good.”

Advertisement

Lewis finished with a season-high 26 carries for 93 yards. Brandin Cooks had 11 catches for 79 yards and a touchdown for New England, which will have a first-round bye in the playoffs.

James Harrison, signed by New England last Tuesday after being cut by Pittsburgh, had two sacks – on consecutive plays to end the game – and finished with five tackles and a forced fumble.

“I always wonder why I’m not playing,” Harrison said when asked if this was a statement game for him. “Like they say, it’s never easy and it’s never late. It’s just timing.”

Temperatures dipped into the low teens at kickoff, but it didn’t stop the Patriots from being aggressive at the outset.

They won the coin toss and elected to receive, going away from their typical decision to defer until the second half. Brady and the offense went to work, quickly moving 75 yards in 13 plays to take a 7-0 lead on a 3-yard touchdown run by Lewis. The drive included a fourth-down pass conversion, one of three hookups between Brady and Danny Amendola in the series.

Penalties on the Jets’ defense aided New England’s two scoring drives in the second quarter. Safety Marcus Maye was called for a 39-yard pass interference penalty early in the second quarter that set up a 5-yard touchdown pass from Brady to Cooks that made it 14-3.

Advertisement

Then, just before halftime, cornerback Juston Burris was flagged for defensive holding on a third-down pass. New England got into the end zone three plays later via another 5-yard pass, this time to Lewis.

The Jets’ offense was anemic throughout, with Bryce Petty playing the entire game at quarterback after it appeared Christian Hackenberg might see his first regular-season action at some point in the finale. New York was 0 for 12 on third down and settled for a field goal on its lone trip into the red zone.

“We stuck together,” Jets linebacker David Bass said. “We went through adversity, ups and downs, but more downs than we wanted. We stuck together through it all.”

Patriots safety Devin McCourty said getting the top seed shows the toughness of a team that lost key players such as Julian Edelman and Dont’a Hightower to injury.

“Those things we went through, when you wrap up the 2017 season, molded us, shaped us,” McCourty said. “You look back on all that now, we needed all that.”


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.