FOXBORO – The New England Patriots’ three Super Bowl wins came by a combined nine points, so if there is one thing they know, it is this: come playoff time, it doesn’t matter how you win.

All that matters is that you do win.

So in the immediate aftermath of New England’s 31-20 AFC Divisional Round playoff game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Gillette Stadium last night, there was some talk about the defense, some talk about how the team’s coverage in the passing game wasn’t up to snuff in the first half, some talk of the Jags’ success in keeping Randy Moss in check.

But bottom line, as they settle into their couches today to watch the Indianapolis Colts host the San Diego Chargers in the other AFC divisional game, the Pats players know they’ll be hosting the AFC Championship Game next weekend.

“Right now, it doesn’t matter. It's about winning football games any way you can,” said Tedy Bruschi.

New England's defense, maligned for its weakness against the run, clamped down on the best one-two running back combination in the league, Jacksonville's Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew, holding the duo to 66 yards on 19 carries.

The Jaguars suspected that the Patriots, led by their defensive front three of Richard Seymour, Ty Warren and Vince Wilfork, as well as top reserve Jarvis Green, would try to take away their strength, like Delilah chopping Samson's hair – and thus his might.

So they came out passing, trying to suck the Pats in with play action.

“I had an inkling they’d try some play action, so it didn’t surprise me,” Rodney Harrison said. “On one play it did, but most of the time it didn’t.”

The play that caught Harrison off-guard was in the first drive of the game. Jacksonville was facing fourth and one at the New England 43-yard line, and rather than have David Garrard – and his thick-as-tree-trunk legs – run a quarterback sneak, Garrard ran that play action and threw a deep pass to tight end Marcedes Lewis for a 34-yard gain.

Three plays later, Jacksonville became the first Pats’ playoff opponent since 1998 to score on its opening drive, with Garrard hooking up with Matt Jones for an eight-yard touchdown.

The Jaguars were that last team in 1998 as well, scoring a 35-yard field goal in the team’s wild card matchup.

But New England answered back, as only New England can, on its first possession. Brady and Co. had a fourth down of their own, but theirs was fourth and 5. And they went for it. And they converted: a 14-yard pass over the middle to Moss.

Amazingly, it was the only reception of the night for Moss, who became the Patriots’ single-season receiving yardage leader this season and caught a league-record 23 touchdowns.

As he noted, however, Jacksonville may have “done a great job controlling me, but they did a bad job controlling the [rest of the] team.”

Wes Welker, Kevin Faulk, Donte' Stallworth, Jabar Gaffney and Laurence Maroney combined for 22 catches and 224 yards, and tight end Benjamin Watson, who has been relatively quiet as he’s struggled to regain form after an ankle injury suffered in Dallas in October, had just two catches for 12 yards, but both were touchdowns.

“It was just my chance to make some plays,” said Watson, who tied Stanley Morgan’s franchise record for touchdown catches in a playoff game. “I’m just glad Tom found me in the end zone. That’s what you work all these weeks for, just the chance to come out here and play.”

The game was tied 14-14 at halftime, but after watching David Garrard’s highly efficient first half, when he was 12-for-14 for 149 yards, New England’s defense adjusted and responded. Garrard was 10 for 19 for 129 yards in the second half.

The play that ended up being the game-winner for the Pats involved a little trickery: on their opening drive of the second half, a big gain by Laurence Maroney helped New England to first and goal from the six. On that play, they ran a variation of the Statue of Liberty play, with it appearing as though the ball was snapped directly to Faulk. But Brady had the ball, and by the time the defense caught on, the league MVP zipped a pass to Welker in the back of the end zone.

“We worked on it the other day for the first time,” Brady said. “I think they bit on the run pretty good, and Wes did a great job. He’s hard to find; he’s 5-foot-7.”

Brady was as coolly efficient as he’s ever been against the Jaguars, setting a record by completing nearly 93 percent of his passes [26 for 28]. When he wasn’t finding receivers, Brady was handing off to Maroney, who continues to blossom in the closing weeks of the season.

The second-year back averaged 122 yards on 22 carries (5.5 yards per), and scored a short first-half touchdown.

Harrison, who had two 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalties in the fourth quarter, found some redemption when he sealed the game by intercepting Garrard with just under four minutes to play in the game.

Harrison said he hadn’t heard much from Belichick – “yet” – on his two penalties, but that it felt pretty good to come down with that pick.

“You’ve got to do whatever you can to win. And have more points than they do at the end of the game and the clock strikes ‘zero,’” Bruschi said. “That’s all this tournament is about.”