FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Tom Brady usually finds his targets. Now he can finally set his sights on playoff success.
The star quarterback of the New England Patriots extended his streak to 11 games without an interception in the team’s eighth consecutive win and fourth rout in five games, a 38-7 pounding of 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 by Miami 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 important, stayed healthy as the Patriots (14-2) look ahead to the AFC divisional playoffs after a bye week.
“Time to move on now,” said New England 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.”
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.
“It was good for some of the players who haven’t had as many opportunities in recent games,” said New England’s Bill Belichick, who became the first NFL coach with four seasons of at least 14 wins. “That’ll serve us well.”
