Brady, Patriots wrap up East title

The New England Patriots left Jacksonville with more championship shirts and hats.

They weren’t the Super Bowl kind, but they’ll gladly wear them -- at least for now.

Tom Brady directed three long touchdown drives, capped one of them with a perfect touch pass to David Thomas, and helped the Patriots clinch their fourth consecutive AFC East title with a 24-21 victory over the Jaguars on a rainy Sunday.

They did it on the same field where they won their last Super Bowl, in January 2005.

“We’ve accomplished something now,” said linebacker Tedy Bruschi. “The first thing you have to do is to win the division and then go from there.”

Brady completed 28 of 39 passes for 249 yards and a touchdown, picking apart the NFL’s No. 2-ranked defense. He also ran 10 times for 31 yards, getting several first downs on sneaks and scrambling for yards to avoid sacks.

Brady and the Patriots (11-4) also hurt Jacksonville’s postseason chances. The Jaguars (8-7), who have lost two in a row, need to win at Kansas City next week and get a lot of help to earn a wild-card spot.

“We had two weeks with the chance to handle it ourselves and we didn’t get it done,” defensive tackle Marcus Stroud said.

Laurence Maroney, who sat out the previous two games because of torn rib cartilage, had a 27-yard touchdown run with 4:36 remaining to put the Patriots ahead, 24-14. But Jacksonville answered when quarterback David Garrard hooked up with Matt Jones on a 33-yard touchdown pass about a minute later.

The defense then forced its first three-and-out, giving the offense the ball near midfield with 1:55 to play. But Garrard scrambled out of the pocket and fumbled after being hit by Jarvis Green. The Patriots’ Rodney Harrison, back after sitting out six weeks because of a broken shoulder blade, recovered the ball to secure the victory.

Maurice Jones-Drew, starting in place of injured Fred Taylor, had a 74-yard touchdown run in the second quarter that put the Jaguars ahead, 7-3. Drew finished with 131 yards rushing and 41 yards receiving.