FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Randy Moss stared at the scoreboard after his third touchdown catch and saw a fan wearing a Randy Moss mask on the screen.

The real Randy — the one who played hard yesterday — stood on the sideline with a huge grin as he made his parting-of-the-defense motion, sweeping his arms from his chest to his sides.

"That was very entertaining," Moss said after New England (10-5) clinched the AFC East title with a 35-7 win over Jacksonville (7-8). "I had a lot of my teammates wanting me to mess with the guy. So he put a little humor into it and I enjoyed it."

After his last home game, a 20-10 win over Carolina, several Panthers questioned his effort. So did Patriots fans the following week. But yesterday they chanted his name, "Randy, Randy, Randy."

And Moss, who has sold the mask on his Web site, appreciated it.

"My last performance here wasn't really too hot," he said. "The good thing about (yesterday's game) is everybody had fun."

The Patriots won the AFC East for the seventh time in nine years after missing the playoffs last season.

"Regardless of stats, regardless of everything, getting the (AFC East championship) hat and T-shirt is what we're out here for," running back Sammy Morris said.

Brady threw four touchdown passes and the young New England defense put together its third straight solid game.

"We were in the front seat for the playoffs and we just fell apart," said Jacksonville's Maurice Jones-Drew, who was held to 63 yards rushing. "I don't understand how we as players can do that."

The Patriots have won three in a row by a combined score of 72-27 after losing three of four.

Brady completed 23 of 26 passes for 267 yards, reminiscent of his brilliance the last time the teams met — 26 of 28 for 262 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions in a 31-20 divisional playoff win Jan. 12, 2008.

The Patriots also rushed for a season-high 197 yards.