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Patriots end regular season with win over Titans

Jan 1, 2007 - 1:10 AM NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- Tom Brady tuned up for the postseason. Vince Young will have to wait a while longer for his first postseason appearance.

Brady threw for a touchdown and Corey Dillon rushed for two scores as the New England Patriots closed the regular season with a 40-23 victory over the Tennessee Titans, who were eliminated from playoff contention.

The Patriots (12-4) won six of their final seven games and will host the AFC East rival New York Jets (10-6) next Sunday.

"I think things are going to snowball for us here, and it's obviously good to have momentum going into the playoffs," Patriots defensive lineman Richard Seymour said. "It's the second part of the season. I think this is when the season really starts. It's an important time of year."

A three-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback, Brady completed 15-of-24 passes for 225 yards before being replaced early in the fourth quarter by Matt Cassel.

"We hung in there and fortunately made enough plays to win," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. "There was not a set plan (for Tom Brady's playing time). I told everybody to be ready to go, and that's what they were."

Brady's score was a 62-yard connection to Reche Caldwell with 6:49 left in the third quarter that gave the Patriots a 26-13 lead. Caldwell finished with four catches for 134 yards.

"Twelve wins is a pretty good year," Brady said. "It doesn't mean much going into next week, but 12 wins I'll take it. The team has responded to a lot of adversity so we'll see where we go from here."

Dillon also readied himself for another playoff run with TD runs of 21 and one yard in the first half, which ended with the Patriots holding a 19-10 advantage.

The third overall pick in April's draft, Young nearly led the Titans (8-8) to an improbable playoff berth in his first season. He went 8-5 as the starter after replacing Kerry Collins.

With the Titans having slim playoff hopes entering the day, Young was unable to lead them to a seventh straight win, although he offered up some more highlights.

Young failed to throw for a touchdown but he did score on an electrifying 28-yard run late in the third quarter to pull the Titans within 26-23.

"Overall as a team we fought real hard just to get a taste of the playoffs," Young said. "Whoever thought we would be able to get to this point? As a team we could have given up and as fans they could have given up, but we all believed in each other."

But the Patriots got a one-yard touchdown run from rookie Laurence Maroney with 6:40 remaining in the fourth quarter and a six-yard TD pass from 43-year-old Vinny Testaverde to Troy Brown with 1:45 left.