Actually, it only took them about a half.
Tom Brady threw for three first-half touchdowns and New England clinched its ninth straight first-round bye in the playoffs on Sunday with a 38-3 victory over the New York Jets. The Patriots (11-5) finished the season undefeated at home, where they'll have at least one playoff game.
''Essentially, we won next week because we won today,'' coach Bill Belichick said. ''We'll see who our next opponent is, but we know they'll be good or they wouldn't be playing this time of the year.''
After back-to-back December losses left the Patriots with a losing record on the road, they finished with two straight wins in New England to finish with the NFL's only perfect home record and avoid playing in the wild-card round for the first time since 2009.