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New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, right, reacts with wide receiver Wes Welker, second from left, and tight end Rob Gronkowski (87), left, after Welker’s touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011, in Philadelphia. / AP Photo / Michael Perez

Written by

ROB MAADDI, AP Pro Football Writer

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MIAMI — Tom Brady sat on the bench, his sweat-soaked hair hanging in his face as he fumed about his first interception in nearly 11 months.

A little later he was back in the same seat wearing a wide grin as teammates congratulated him on a record-setting performance.

Brady shook off a rare turnover to throw for a team-record 517 yards and four touchdowns, including a 99-yarder to Wes Welker, and the New England Patriots started with a victory for the eighth consecutive season Monday night by beating the Miami Dolphins 38-24.

Defensive end Jared Odrick picked off a deflected pass to set up a Miami touchdown and end Brady’s NFL-record streak of 358 passes without an interception.

Otherwise Brady and the reigning AFC East champions picked up where they left off last season, when he threw for 36 TDs and his team led the league in scoring.

New England totaled 622 yards, the most in franchise history and the most allowed by Miami. Brady’s performance overshadowed Miami’s Chad Henne, who threw for a career-high 416 yards.

The 906 net yards passing by both teams was an NFL record.

“They made some plays on us,” Brady said. “We made a few more than them.”

Brady, who went 32 for 48, became the 11th quarterback to throw for at least 500 yards. Norm Van Brocklin set the record of 554 yards in 1951.

“We’re pleased to have him on our side,” teammate Danny Woodhead said with a smile.

“Embarrassing,” Miami safety Yeremiah Bell said. “That can’t happen.”

The capper came with 5:44 left and the Patriots leading 31-17. After they stopped Miami on downs at the 1-foot line, Brady lined up in the shotgun on first down and threw from his end zone to Welker, who had slipped behind Benny Sapp near the 30-yard line.

“When I saw the coverage as we lined up, I knew there was a strong possibility I could be getting the ball,” Welker said. “I just wanted to make the most of the opportunity.”

He did, catching the pass in stride and sprinting untouched for the score to complete the longest play in Patriots history.

“I only threw it 25 yards. Wes did all the work,” Brady said. “When I saw him break away, that was awesome. Coach never lets us run that route in practice.”

Brady also threw touchdown passes on consecutive plays. He hit Aaron Hernandez for a 31-yard score, and when a replay review determined the receiver was down at the 1, Brady threw to him again for a TD on the next play.

His other scoring passes covered 10 yards to Rob Gronkowski and 2 yards to Welker.

“Some of their scores ended up looking like it was kind of easy,” Miami coach Tony Sparano said.

Said Brady: “I wouldn’t say it was easy at all.”

He was sacked only once, and good protection gave his receivers plenty of time to work their way open.

Newcomer Chad Ochocino had only one catch for 14 yards. But Welker made eight receptions for 160 yards against his former team, and tight ends Hernandez and Gronkowski combined for 189 yards on 13 catches.

“It wasn’t a one-man band out there,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “We had a lot of contributions.”

The Dolphins’ defense returned virtually intact from last season and was expected to be the team’s strength, but Brady riddled them from the start.

He completed his first eight passes for 127 yards on the Patriots’ first two possessions, and both ended with TDs.

Brady’s first interception since Oct. 17 came early in the third quarter, when he tried to hit Julian Edelman in the flat. Sapp deflected the ball to the 304-pound Odrick, who rumbled 40 yards to the 9. Two plays later, Henne hit Brian Hartline with a 10-yard touchdown pass to make the score 14-all.

Brady was so rattled it took him 10 plays to put the Pats ahead to stay. They drove 73 yards and scored on his 2-yard pass to Welker.

Miami’s problems with Brady were nothing new. He and the Pats beat the Dolphins twice last year while outscoring them 79-21. Losing at home was nothing different for the Dolphins, either, who have dropped 10 of their past 11 home games.

“This is the first game, man,” linebacker Karlos Dansby said. “We’ve got 15 more. Know what I’m saying? We’ve just got to play well from here on out.”

There was one change for the Dolphins. They promised a more aggressive, exciting offense under new offensive coordinator Brian Daboll and showed it from the start, scoring on a season-opening drive for the first time since 2000.

They lined up 355-pound nose tackle Paul Soliai in their goal-line offense, did damage with quarterback keepers by Henne and gave newcomer Reggie Bush 20 touches. Brandon Marshall gained 139 yards on seven catches.

But Miami couldn’t keep up with Brady.

“Not the defensive performance we were hoping for,” Sparano said. “That’s an understatement.”

Notes: Patriots C Dan Koppen rode off in a cart late in the first half with a left leg injury. He was on crutches after the game. … Dolphins DE Tony McDaniel missed most of the second half with a hand injury. … Brady’s previous career high in passing yardage was 410 against Kansas City in 2002. … A statue of founding Dolphins owner Joe Robbie was rededicated before the game. The statue had been in a storage area during stadium renovations. … Celebrities in attendance included Dwyane Wade, Will Smith and Pitbull.

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New England Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker(notes) helped to escalate the greatest week of trash talk ever when he made 11 references to feet in a press conference before the Jets game.

The podiatric digs, of course, were directed at New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan, who had been outed a few weeks prior as the co-star of some Internet foot-fetish videos made with his wife. Earlier in the week, Antonio Cromartie had called Tom Brady a naughty word, and I guess Welker felt like he had to respond.

He now wishes he hadn’t. From Karen Guregian at the Boston Herald:

When asked specifically if he felt any regret for taking on the Jets in that manner, Welker responded: “Yeah, sure I do.”

[...]

“I’m not going to get into any details about it, but I don’t think it’s worth putting coach (Belichick) in that situation,” he said. “So in a sense, I do regret it. … As much as you might want to get enticed into that stuff, at the end of the day, it’s just not worth it.”

[...]

“It’s not always easy to keep a lid on it,’’ Welker continued, “but at the same time, there’s a greater goal, and that’s winning the game and playing good football. That’s what matters. All that other stuff doesn’t matter at the end of the day.”

It’s worth noting that Welker isn’t apologizing to Rex Ryan. He’s not sorry for bringing a man’s personal life into the workplace, for dragging a man’s sexual proclivities back into the spotlight, or embarrassing a man and his wife.

His regrets are for making things harder on his own coach and organization. It doesn’t sound like he’s sorry for what he did, necessarily, as much as he’s sorry that his actions might have somehow hurt his own team.

In other words, I don’t think Welker would have felt much regret had the Patriots won.

Related: Wes Welker, New England Patriots, New York Jets

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Updated Jan 25, 2011 4:22 PM ET

There is one more footnote to add to this season’s Jets-Patriots saga.

New England Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker told the Boston Herald on Monday that he regrets his decision to poke fun at Jets coach Rex Ryan by sprinkling numerous references to feet into his weekly meeting with the local media.

When asked whether he regretted the press conference prank, Welker said, “Yeah, sure I do.”

“I’m not going to get into any details about it, but I don’t think it’s worth putting coach [Belichick] in that situation,” he said. “So in a sense, I do regret it … As much as you might want to get enticed into that stuff, at the end of the day, it’s just not worth it.”

Welker’s comments, which included lines like “putting our best foot forward” and acting like “good little foot soldiers” were out of character for the Patriots, who were advised by coach Bill Belichick to avoid engaging in a trash talk war with the notoriously chatty Jets.

Belichick benched Welker for the Patriots’ first offensive series of last Sunday’s 28-21 AFC Divisional Round loss.

Welker, who is set to play Sunday in the Pro Bowl, told The Herald that in the future he will focus on not getting drawn into the trash talking.

“It’s about the team and going out there and playing good football. And not getting caught up in all the media hype. It’s just not worth it.”

But the 29-year-old admitted, “it’s not always easy to keep a lid on it.”

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BOSTON — New England Patriots defensive lineman Vince Wilfork said he didn’t think the benching of receiver Wes Welker for the first offensive posession of the game had an effect on the team’s playoff loss to the Jets, but made it clear that he didn’t agree with the decision.

“I don’t think it was a big deal, the comments Wes said or the benching. People have opinions and in my opinion, I wouldn’t have done it because of what the game meant,” Wilfork said during his weekly interview on sports radio WEEI on Monday. “To each his own. I’m not questioning the head man’s judgment at all — it’s just my opinion.”

Welker was apparently benched for comments to the press last week in which he subtly poked fun at the foot-fetish flap involving Jets coach Rex Ryan and his wife.

Wilfork added that he didn’t even know Welker had been benched for the first offensive series until after the game.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, in his appearance on WEEI earlier in the day, also said that the benching wasn’t a factor in the Patriots’ loss.

“That has no bearing on the way that we played as a team,” he said. “I think that’s just, I don’t know, I don’t think it had any effect on the game. What has the most effect on the game is the way that we played.”

But Brady acknowledged that Welker’s comments were in line with his teammate’s sense of humor.

“That’s Wes’ personality,” he explained. “Wes is a very fun, positive, energetic person. With all the things that were coming out of New York, I think Wes just thought it would be funny to combat it in his own way.”

“I don’t think that’s any reason why we lost the game,” he said.

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© Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Wes Welker hopes to put his best foot forward when the New England Patriots kick off their postseason against the New York Jets on Sunday.

That would be opposed to last year at this time when he had one foot elevated.

“It’s definitely a little bit different,” the wide receiver said Thursday, “especially you’ve got your foot up in the air trying to get the swelling to go down and things like that.

“You’re definitely excited about the opportunity to get out there and have some fun and get in a playoff atmosphere.

“This is what it’s all about. This is where you want to get to. Being my seventh year in the league now and understanding what this means and how rare an opportunity it is and make sure we take full advantage of it.”

His left knee blown out in the regular season finale at Houston, Welker’s 2009 season was over before the postseason began last year forcing him to watch the Patriots’ 33-14 loss to the Baltimore Ravens from a luxury box at Gillette Stadium.

“It was tough,” said Welker, whose 123 receptions led the NFL last season. “It was definitely hard to watch, especially the way the game went last year.”

While his production declined by 37 catches this season, Welker’s 86 receptions easily led the Patriots.

In the team’s two games against the Jets this season, Welker hauled in 13 passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns, seven receptions for 80 yards and one TD coming in last month’s 45-3 romp at Gillette, site of this weekend’s AFC divisional game.

Sunday’s game will mark Welker’s first postseason appearance since the Patriots’ 17-14 loss to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII brought the 2007 team’s pursuit of perfection to a bitterly disappointing end.

“I’m definitely excited to be out there,” said Welker. “These are the type of games you play for. This is what you spend all year getting ready for. (You) want to go out there and just put your best foot forward.”

After further review: It was determined that Welker had no less than 11 foot or foot-related references in answering questions during his press conference.

Occurring the month after New York head coach Rex Ryan was involved in a rather bizarre situation involving foot fetish videos of a woman who resembles his wife, it’s just another chapter in the Jets-Patriots rivalry.

Aches and pains: No change in the Patriots’ injury report Thursday.

Defensive lineman Myron Pryor missed his second straight day of practice with his back ailment.

Linebacker Tully Banta-Cain (groin), wide receiver Deion Branch (knee), linebacker Jermaine Cunningham (calf), tight end Aaron Hernandez (hip), defensive lineman Eric Moore (hamstring) and offensive tackle Sebastian Vollmer (shin) were all limited.

Cornerback Kyle Arrington (elbow) and quarterback Tom Brady (right shoulder/foot) participated fully.

Banta-Cain admitted feeling a sense of frustration with the injury, which came in a season in which he saw a 50-percent decline in sacks from a career-high 10 in 2009 to five.

“It’s something you just try to do the best you can and not doing that would aggravate it,” he said. “Really, I’m getting ready to play just like any other game.”

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Tom Brady usually finds his targets. Now he can finally set his sights on playoff success.

The record-shattering star of the New England Patriots extended his streak to 11 games without an interception in the team’s eighth straight win and fourth rout in five games, 38-7 over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.

“Interceptions pretty much ruin my night,” Brady said. “I’m glad tonight’s not ruined.”

He’s ruined plenty of nights for opponents. For coach Tony Sparano and the Dolphins, their season was ruined even before their latest debacle.

Sparano, going into the final year of his contract, is in jeopardy of losing his job after four losses in the last five games. After leading the Dolphins to the AFC East title in 2008, his first season, he coached them to two 7-9 records.

“This is a business,” Miami cornerback Benny Sapp said. “He is such a good coach. You just hate to see it go down like that.”

The game meant nothing in the standings, but Brady played into the third quarter and, most importantly, stayed healthy as the Patriots (14-2) look ahead to the AFC divisional playoffs after a bye week.

“Time to move on now,” said nose tackle Vince Wilfork, who had his first two sacks of the season. “One loss and you’re out. … Any little slip-up (and) the season will be done.”

Brady finished with 36 touchdowns passing and just four interceptions. He extended his NFL records to 335 straight passes without an interception and 28 consecutive regular-season wins as a starter at home.

The Patriots have the NFL’s best record and already had home-field advantage for as long as they remain in the AFC playoffs.

“The greatest advantage we have is we don’t have to play next week and we play at home the following week,” Brady said, “so that’s really what we’ve earned to this point. I don’t think we’ve earned anything more than that.”

The Patriots’ dominance continued Sunday even though their top three receivers —Wes Welker, Deion Branch and Aaron Hernandez — were inactive.

Playing in last season’s finale proved quite costly to Welker and the Patriots — he hurt his left knee early in the game, and New England lost to the Baltimore Ravens 33-14 in the first round without him. No reason was given for Welker’s absence Sunday. Branch has a knee injury and Hernandez has a hip problem.

“It was good for some of the players who haven’t had as many opportunities in recent games,” said coach Bill Belichick, who became the first coach with four seasons of at least 14 wins. “That’ll serve us well.”

Julian Edelman, returning punts instead of Welker, ran one back 94 yards for a touchdown with 18 seconds left in the first half, and the Patriots led 24-0 at halftime.

After Brady left, Brian Hoyer threw his first NFL touchdown, a 42-yarder to backup Brandon Tate.

“As dominant as they were, we were terrible,” Dolphins linebacker Cameron Wake said.

Here’s how their first-half possessions ended: interception, punt, missed field goal attempt, punt, punt, fumble, punt, end of half.

“I told (players) we never want to be in this position again,” Sparano said. “We shouldn’t forget what just happened to us out there. It’s not a good place to be and we did it to ourselves.”

The second half was more of the same — until they finally scored with 2:11 left in the game on a 21-yard pass from Tyler Thigpen to Davone Bess.

“It was 14-zip for a bit and we lolly-gagged and did not put points on the board,” Bess said.

Brady was sharp from the start and finished with 10 completions in 16 attempts for 199 yards and no interceptions. That made another record of his even tougher to break — nine straight games with at least two touchdown passes and no interceptions.

After rookie Devin McCourty’s seventh interception on the game’s opening possession, Brady connected with Rob Gronkowski for a 13-yard touchdown, his 10th of the season as a receiver, most by a rookie and by a tight end in club history.

 
 

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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (CBS4) — Sunday’s Dolphins loss to the New England Patriots may end in the boot for Dolphin Coach Tony Sparano while Tom Brady and the Patriots are rolling into the playoffs.

Brady threw two touchdown passes to cap a record-setting season and, more importantly, stayed healthy as New England won its eighth straight game, 38-7 over Miami.

The game meant nothing in the standings. Still, Brady played into the third quarter and finished with 36 touchdowns passing and just four interceptions. He extended his NFL records to 335 straight passes without an interception and 28 consecutive regular-season wins as a starter at home.

The Patriots (14-2) already had home field advantage for as long as they remain in the AFC playoffs and have a first-round bye.

The Dolphins (7-9) lost for the fourth time in five games, jeopardizing the job of Sparano, who has one year left on his contract.

But Miami is hardly alone in losing to New England by a lopsided score. In three of their previous four games, the Patriots won 45-3, 36-7 and 34-3.

The Patriots’ dominance continued Sunday even though their top three receivers –Wes Welker, Deion Branch and Aaron Hernandez — were inactive.

Playing in last season’s finale proved quite costly to Welker and the Patriots — he hurt his left knee early in the game, and New England lost to the Baltimore Ravens 33-14 in the first round without him. No reason was given for Welker’s absence Sunday. Branch has a knee injury and Hernandez has a hip problem.

Despite the game’s lack of importance, Gillette Stadium was nearly full on a mild day after many of the snow piles in the area from a major storm a week ago had melted.

The fans watched an impressive display of New England’s depth when three backups made big scoring plays.

Julian Edelman, returning punts instead of Welker, ran one back 94 yards for a touchdown with 18 seconds left in the first half, and the Patriots led 24-0 at halftime.

Then, after Brady left following his 10-yard scoring pass to Alge Crumpler on the first series of the third quarter, Brian Hoyer threw his first NFL touchdown, a 42-yarder to backup Brandon Tate.

The Dolphins ended a disappointing season with a miserable performance.

Here’s how their first-half possessions ended: interception, punt, missed field goal attempt, punt, punt, fumble, punt, end of half.

The second half was more of the same: punt, fourth-down incompletion, punt — until they finally scored with 2:11 left in the game on a 21-yard pass from Tyler Thigpen to Davone Bess.

Brady was sharp from the start and finished with 10 completions in 16 attempts and no interceptions. That made another record of his even tougher to break — nine straight games with at least two touchdown passes and no interceptions.

After rookie Devin McCourty’s seventh interception on the game’s opening possession, Brady connected with Rob Gronkowski for a 13-yard touchdown, the rookie tight end’s ninth of the season.

Danny Woodhead fumbled on the Patriots’ next series, their first turnover in eight games, then left the game for good with a head injury. But the Patriots still set an NFL record with just 10 turnovers in a season.

On their next drive, Brady and Edelman connected on pass plays of 22 and 40 yards, with Edelman gaining most of it after the catch, and BenJarvus Green-Ellis ran for a 1-yard touchdown.

Green-Ellis finished with 80 yards, giving him 1,008 for his first 1,000-yard rushing season. Coach Bill Belichick came out on the field to hug him as he headed toward the bench after his final run, a 10-yarder early in the fourth quarter.

((© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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