Pats rout Jets, close in on top seed for AFC playoffs

New England has ‘the pedal to the metal’ for home field, Brady says.

FOXBOROUGH, MASS. — The Patriots gave away home-field advantage in the playoffs last season with back-to-back losses to the Jets and Dolphins.

This time, New England wants to control its own fate.

Tom Brady passed for 214 yards and three touchdowns and the Patriots moved a step closer to securing home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs with a 41-3 win over the New York Jets on Saturday.

A win by the Patriots over the Dolphins next Sunday would give them the AFC’s top seed.

Brady said the foundation was laid for Saturday’s performance on the plane ride back after last week’s win at Denver.

“We said, ‘Look — we’re finishing strong.’ You know, the pedal to the metal,” Brady said. “Last year, we didn’t finish strong. We didn’t like the way things ended.”

Malcolm Butler added two interceptions and a fumble recovery and LeGarrette Blount had a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs.

New England (13-2) took advantage of New York miscues all day, scoring on three of its first four possessions.

The Jets (4-11), who have lost six of seven, had four turnovers.

It all helped make for a short day of work for Brady, who sat out the entire fourth quarter.

The only really good piece of news for the Jets came before the game, when Todd Bowles rejoined the team and coached from the sideline a day after a medical scare for an undisclosed illness sent him to the hospital.

Bowles did not travel on the team plane Friday, but joined the Jets in New England on Saturday morning. The 53-year-old coach fell ill Friday afternoon and was taken to a hospital in New Jersey with what the team called an “undisclosed illness.”

But injuries for New York continue to pile up.

For the second straight week, Jets quarterback Bryce Petty’s day ended early when he went to the sideline in the first quarter with a left shoulder injury.

He was replaced by backup Ryan Fitzpatrick, but it did little to improve New York’s fortunes on offense.

For the game, the Jets finished with 239 total yards and were 1 for 11 on third down.

Petty was 0 for 3 passing before his injury with an interception. Fitzpatrick finished 8 for 21 for 136 yards and two interceptions.