Patriots upbeat after embarrassing Jets

Deion Branch faced the crowd as he stood in the end zone, waving his arms up and down like a concert conductor.

The Patriots wide receiver insisted his imitation of "Fireman Ed" -- performed after he scooted past a slipping Kyle Wilson on his way to his fourth-quarter touchdown against the Jets -- was done strictly in fun.

"I just saw a lot of weird looks at me," Branch said with a smile as he stood in the Patriots' locker room after their 37-16 pasting of the Jets Sunday night. "This is all fun. I truly enjoy playing here. I love it. I love the way those guys support their players. That's always a great thing and I think us, as visitors, get up for games like this."

Branch's comical (depending on whom you ask) rendition of the Jets' most noted stadium supporter was the closest the Patriots came to trash-talk. Their locker room was noticeably devoid of bravado or bombastic remarks.

Instead, there simply was relief.

After two straight losses, the AFC East showdown at MetLife Stadium was a chance for the Patriots to temper the mounting criticisms and reclaim their top spot in the division.

And that's just what they did.

"It was huge," tight end Rob Gronkowski, who torched the Jets' secondary for 113 yards and two touchdowns on eight catches, said of the win. "It was for first place in the division right now, but we got many more games . . . We're not even looking at that. We've got to take one game at a time. There's seven games left in the regular season."

Though shaky early, New England quarterback Tom Brady finished 26-for-39 for 329 yards and three touchdowns. That performance was enough to -- at least temporarily -- quiet the questions surrounding his unBrady-like season.

"We had two really tough losses, and then to come here and play a little bit better was great,'' he said. "We have to play better next week. The good teams keep getting better this time of year. That's what we need to do.''

The win also helped to erase doubt about Bill Belichick's reign as the NFL's top head coach.

"He's still the best coach in football, hands down," Branch said of Belichick, who has won 117 games with Brady, surpassing Hall of Famers Dan Marino and Don Shula of Miami for the most wins by a quarterback-head coach duo since 1966. "Because he's a teacher. I played for a couple of coaches that were great coaches as well, but this guy right here is a teacher. He's constantly teaching each and every day the details of football . . . It's more than just X's and O's -- and that's coach Belichick."

The Patriots' offense was aided by the play of their defense, which sacked Mark Sanchez five times for a total loss of 38 yards. The Patriots (6-3) had the worst pass defense in the league entering the game but did an impressive job collapsing the pocket around the Jets' quarterback.

"We're not flashy guys, but we can get the job done," said former Jet Shaun Ellis. "A lot of guys just bought in to the system and didn't get discouraged."

The defensive end, who signed with New England after spending 11 years with the Jets, said it "felt good to be back" in East Rutherford, N.J.

"It was a little weird," said Ellis, the longest-tenured Jet last season. "A lot of fans gave me a lot of praise. There were a couple hecklers out there. But for the most part, a lot of them received me pretty well. They were kind of upset about the situation."

But neither Ellis nor his teammates walked into MetLife Stadium with a chip on their shoulders. For the Patriots, Sunday was about proving something to themselves.

"You all go back and watch those games, you'll see most of those losses came from things we were doing wrong," said Branch, who caught five passes for 58 yards. "And we minimized the mistakes that we're making, killing ourselves . . . I just think we came out and did what the coaches asked of us to do all week.''