Here's a Brady Bunch for NFL fans: Tom Brady got all 50 votes for MVP.

The New England Patriots quarterback on Sunday became the first unanimous choice for The Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player Award since the AP began using a nationwide panel of media members who cover the league.

He surpassed himself, too: In 2007, when Brady won his first MVP, he got 49 votes; one voter went for Brett Favre.

"It is always flattering to be chosen for such a prestigious award," Brady said. "But I also look at it as a team award, as nothing in football gets accomplished without the mental toughness and determination of every player and coach associated with that team.

"I am very humbled to be a part of an organization where winning comes first, and our goals are based around the success of the team."

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Bill Belichick is closing in on Don Shula.

The New England Patriots coach won The Associated Press 2010 NFL Coach of the Year award on Wednesday, the third time Belichick has earned the honor. Belichick, who also won in 2003 and 2007, now trails only Don Shula, a four-time winner of the award.

"I accept the award on behalf of the entire organization -- ownership, our assistant coaches and certainly the players -- they're the ones that stepped up and made the plays this year," Belichick said in an NFL Network phone interview. "We had a lot of new people on the team, young players that contributed. It's certainly an honor to receive this award on behalf of our performance in the regular season. Unfortunately, we weren't able to carry that over into the playoffs."

For leading the Patriots to a 14-2 record, the best in the league, Belichick received 30 votes from a nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the NFL. That easily beat Raheem Morris, who led a turnaround in Tampa Bay and got 11½ votes.

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It's unanimous. And Tom Brady has outdone even himself.

The record-setting Patriots quarterback is the leading vote-getter for The Associated Press 2010 NFL All-Pro Team, the seventh straight year at least one player has gotten every vote. Three years ago, when Brady set the league record for touchdown passes, he missed by a half-vote of being unanimous, sharing a ballot with Brett Favre.

As usual, Brady prefers to deflect praise to the rest of the Patriots, who went 14-2 this season before losing in the playoffs to the Jets.

"I've been here for a while, so I've seen our offense evolve," Brady said. "We do some different things now than we've done in the past. Ultimately we're still trying to do the same thing, which is be productive and win games."

Brady won those 14 games as the league's leading passer, and he went a record 335 attempts without an interception. Overall, he threw for 36 touchdowns and had just four picks.

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New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will undergo surgery on his foot, a source who's close to Brady and familiar with his plans confirmed to ESPNBoston.com.

News of Brady's impending surgery was first reported by The Boston Globe on Wednesday night.

According to The Globe, the surgery on Brady's right foot will address a lingering issue and will be performed at Massachusetts General Hospital by team physician George Theodore. The report says that Brady may have a screw inserted. If all goes well, he "should be ready for training camp," The Globe says.

Brady played much of this season with a stress fracture in his foot, but it did not affect his performance in the Patriots' loss to the New York Jets on Sunday, according to multiple media reports.

Brady was a full participant in three practices leading up to the Jets game.

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Shonn Greene placed the ball on the ground and used it as a pillow, resting his head on it after scoring the Jets' final touchdown of a stunning upset.

A quiet climax to a very loud week of non-stop jabbering, poking, berating, and then some, mostly by the New Yorkers.

On Sunday, they proved that they weren't all talk -- trash talk -- after all.

Now Rex Ryan's rowdy bunch is headed to its second straight AFC championship game after New York backed up its coach's boasts with a 28-21 win Sunday over the New England Patriots -- the team with the best record in the NFL.

Mark Sanchez threw three touchdown passes and the Jets sacked Tom Brady five times in the most-hyped of the weekend's four postseason games following a week of verbal potshots from both teams.

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New England Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo said Friday that he has been $10,000 for a second-quarter hit in Sunday's game against the Buffalo Bills.

Mayo was not told which second-quarter hit drew the fine. It could have been his fourth-and-12 hit on Bills receiver Steve Johnson, which broke up a would-be first down, or possibly a second-and-8 hit on Bills receiver David Nelson in which Nelson remained down after the hit.

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The New England Patriots have been nearly unbeatable since Tom Brady stopped throwing interceptions more than two months ago.

Now they'll probably be even tougher to stop when the playoffs begin after securing the AFC's top seed -- and home-field advantage through the first three rounds -- with a 34-3 win Sunday over a familiar pushover, the Buffalo Bills.

Brady threw three touchdown passes, including two to tight end Rob Gronkowski, and extended his streak of attempts without an interception to 319. That topped the NFL mark of 308 set by Bernie Kosar with Cleveland in the 1990-91 seasons.

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"Tom Brady and the Patriots' offense looked way too comfortable in blizzard conditions against the Bears' third-ranked defense Sunday.

''We've been pretty good in the snow over the years. I think because we practice in it quite a bit,'' Brady said after the Patriots gained 475 yards in a 36-7 victory over the Bears at Soldier Field.

''We don't go out in our bubble very often. If it's windy, we practice out there. If it's snowing, we practice in the snow. If it's raining, we practice in the rain. Some conditions are a big tougher than others.''

In windy, snowy, tough-sledding conditions, Brady operated the Patriots' offense like he was in Miami. Brady was 27-for-40 for 369 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions for a 113.4 passer rating. That's his worst passer rating in five games, but considering the opponent and the conditions, it might have been one of the best of his storied career.

''I have no idea how he does what he does,'' Patriots tackle Matt Light said, ''but the type of routes that they were running and how he was delivering the ball ... and the opportunities we had being able to stay on track — positive yards on first and second down; not having to do a whole lot of third-and-longs helped out a lot.''

That doesn't explain the Patriots' second possession, when Brady converted three consecutive third-and-long plays for a touchdown that gave them a 7-0 lead. He hit Wes Welker for 17 yards on third-and-10, Deion Branch for 16 yards on third-and-12 and tight end Rob Gronkowski for a seven-yard touchdown on third-and-goal.

That sequence said more about the difference between the Bears and the Patriots than the Bears might want to know. One play after Chris Harris had an interception fall off his fingertips in the end zone after Brian Urlacher tipped a Brady pass, Gronkowski ran the simplest of plays to beat Urlacher for a touchdown — running to the goal line in the middle of the field and turning around in front of Urlacher to make the catch. The Patriots beat one of the best linebackers in football and made it look easy. "

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New England Patriots rookie linebacker Brandon Spikes has been suspended for four games for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing drugs, the team announced Friday.

"The substance was a medication that I should have gotten clarification on before taking," Spikes said in a statement. "It was not a performance enhancer or an illegal drug. The integrity of the game is very important to me. I understand the league's ruling and apologize to my teammates, the fans and the Patriots organization for this mistake."

The suspension begins immediately with Spikes eligible to return after the Patriots' final regular-season game Jan. 2.

Spikes does not plan to appeal the suspension. He will serve it immediately to return in time for the playoffs.

The rookie from Florida is a first- and second-down player in the team's 3-4 alignment, a strong downhill player against the run. The second-leading tackler on the team, his presence will be missed against teams that feature a physical running game.

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Tom Brady was perfect on the field and his exit was first-class.

Brady threw a season-high four touchdown passes, all in the second half, and the New England Patriots routed the Detroit Lions 45-24 on Thursday after trailing by 11 late in the second quarter.

"We showed some resiliency, coming out in the second half and playing the way we did when the crowd was into it," Brady said.

Following Brady's brief news conference, the former Michigan star jogged out of Ford Field -- limping slightly up a steep ramp -- hugged Robert Kraft and got into an idling limo with the team owner behind a police escort.

New England (9-2) remained tied with the the AFC East rival New York Jets -- who beat Cincinnati 26-10 on Thursday night -- for the NFL's best record, setting up a showdown at home Dec. 6.

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The NFL's crackdown on illegal hits continued this week with several prominent players receiving fines for hits to the head or neck area of defenseless players.

Two New England Patriots took financial hits for their hits on Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre.

Defensive lineman Myron Pryor has been fined $7,500 for a fourth-quarter hit that opened a cut on Favre's chin.

Pryor was not penalized on the play, which resulted in Favre getting 10 stitches and leaving the game.

Patriots linebacker Gary Guyton was also fined $7,500 for his first-quarter hit on Favre in last Sunday's 28-18 win.

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The New England Patriots will activate guard Logan Mankins on Saturday and waive cornerback Terrence Wheatley to create a roster spot.

The Patriots (6-1) had been given a two-game roster exemption by the NFL, allowing Mankins to practice without counting against the active roster after he reported to the team on Tuesday and signed his restricted free-agent tender.

The Boston Globe first reported the move.

The move means the Patriots have decided to forgo the exemption and activate Mankins in time to likely play and start Sunday's game against the Cleveland Browns (2-5).

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Broken play. Quarterback scrambles away from the rush, spins to elude another defender and chucks it downfield.

Not Brett Favre: Tom Brady.

The Patriots quarterback showed he can sling it like the ol' gunslinger, connecting with Brandon Tate for a 65-yard touchdown on a broken play as New England beat the Minnesota Vikings 28-18 on Sunday and knocked Favre out of the game in the process.

"I really can't complain, although I probably should," said Favre, who left in the fourth quarter with a cut on his chin that he said needed eight stitches. "I have a broken foot. I have eight stitches in my chin. I've had tendinitis in my elbow, but I threw it as well as I have all season."

Backup Tarvaris Jackson threw for a touchdown on his first play and a 2-point conversion on his second, but he didn't get the ball back until the two-minute warning had sounded and the Vikings trailed by 10. Favre was 22 for 32 for 259 yards, throwing an interception on a tipped ball and taking two intentional grounding penalties when he tried to avoid sacks.

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