NEW YORK -- Spygate be damned! Bill Belichick of the unbeaten New England Patriots is The Associated Press 2007 NFL Coach of the Year.

With the Patriots motivated by a spying scandal - and owning the deepest talent base in football - Belichick guided his team to the first 16-0 regular season in league history.

Jeff Lewis / Sharp Shot

Bill Belichick won his second AP Coach of the Year award.

That was enough to offset the major blemish on Belichick's resume: a $500,000 personal fine, $250,000 fine for the team and the loss of a first-round pick in the upcoming draft after the Patriots were caught videotaping New York Jets coaches during the season opener.

Spygate didn't stop 29 of the 50 voters on a nationwide panel of media members who cover the NFL from voting for Belichick on Thursday. In a season highlighted by many strong coaching performances, Belichick beat out Green Bay's Mike McCarthy, who received 15 votes for leading the Packers to a 13-3 record and the NFC North title.

"This is definitely a team recognition, but one that I appreciate very much on a personal level," Belichick said in a statement issued by the club.

He also won the award in 2003.

"If anyone is deserving of such an award it really is Bill," Patriots owner Robert Kraft said. "I know the energy and effort and planning and time (he puts in). He's had his foot on the pedal all year, just working so hard and always doing everything he can to put the team in a position to win first."

Does Kraft believe this award will silence the critics?

"What I've tried to say is the only way that'll go away is if we just keep on winning, and winning convincingly, and I think he did it," Kraft said. "He did it and I think the fact that he got this award speaks to that."

The first coach since Don Shula in 1972 to lead his team through a spotless regular season, Belichick won the award for the second time in four years. In 2003, the Patriots went 14-2 and won their final 12 games. This time, Belichick's team rampaged through the first part of the schedule, then won a handful of close games on the way to 16-0.

"You know, I think back to sitting in the stands," Kraft said of his days as a fan before he owned the team, "when we went 1-15 and 2-14. And, you know, I saw the '72 Dolphins, and to see this team perform the way it did this year, and in the end, he is the conductor. And he's got some great players, but he's the conductor and I just think the job he did was superb."

While the perfect journey this season seemed somewhat joyless as the Patriots followed the lead of their detached coach, there was no denying Belichick's ability to motivate. His players used Spygate as a rallying point, cultivating an us-against-them mentality that clearly worked.

Belichick is involved in all personnel decisions, meaning the additions of Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Donte' Stallworth to the receiving corps had his touch.

Plus, Belichick is a master at game-planning. Add that skill to the deepest offense in the league (a record 589 points, including an NFL mark of 75 TDs) and a stingy defense that yielded 274 points, fifth in the league, and there's, well, perfection.

"There are three things that get better with age: good cigars, red wine and to me it looks like coaches who have the ability," Kraft said. "He's really hit his sweet spot and I'm really happy for him personally."

Also getting votes were Dallas coach Wade Phillips and Jacksonville's Jack Del Rio (two each), and Indianapolis' Tony Dungy and Tampa Bay's Jon Gruden (one each).

The only other Patriots coach to win the award was Belichick's mentor, Bill Parcells, in 1994.

Since joining the Patriots in 2000 after an unsuccessful head coaching stint in Cleveland (36-44), Belichick has turned New England into the center of the NFL universe. The Patriots have won three Super Bowls this decade - no other team has more than one - and are 91-37 in the regular season under Belichick. They have won the AFC East five straight years, with no fewer than 10 victories in any of those seasons.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

NEW YORK -- Just like all those wins, the NFL awards keep rolling in for Tom Brady.

The league's Most Valuable Player added The Associated Press 2007 Offensive Player of the Year honors to his collection Tuesday, easily outdistancing his main weapon on the unbeaten New England Patriots, Randy Moss.

Al Bello / Getty Images

Tom Brady threw an NFL record 50 touchdown passes.

Indeed, of the four players who received votes from a nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the NFL, three were Patriots. Brady, of course, led the way, just as he did through the first 16-0 regular season in league history.

"We set out a bunch of goals early in the season," Brady said, "and I think I said the best part about playing quarterback here is I just have to do my job, show up every day and work hard just like everybody else. I think my job description is just a bit different than everybody else's, but there's a lot of satisfaction knowing that I can just come out there and worry about myself and expect that everybody else is going to do their job.

"It's been a fun season. There's no doubt about it."

And it's been a rewarding season for Brady, the first New England player to be chosen MVP and now the first Patriot to win Offensive Player of the Year. He collected 35 and a half votes to 12 and a half for Moss. Wes Welker, the Patriots' other starting receiver, got one, as did Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre.

Brady, an eight-year veteran who's already a winner of three Super Bowls, threw for 50 touchdowns, beating Peyton Manning's league mark by one. He also threw 23 of those TD passes to Moss, lifting the receiver past Jerry Rice's record of 22.

New England scored 589 points and 75 TDs, both records. Brady's precision -- a 68.9 completion percentage, 117.2 passer rating and just eight interceptions -- and yards passing (4,806, 383 more than runner-up Drew Brees of New Orleans) made him a natural choice for his second award in less than a week.

"Individual awards haven't been as important to me as the team goals, and I've said that for a long time," Brady said. "While I'm very flattered to be honored in that way, I understand that my greatest satisfaction comes from winning games and being the leader of this football team. I take that job very seriously and I hope that translates into a win this week."

That would be Saturday night against Jacksonville in the second round of the playoffs. The Patriots are seeking the second perfect season in league history; only Miami -- 17-0 in 1972 -- has gone through the regular schedule and the postseason unbeaten.

Since Favre won Offensive Player in 1995, only two quarterbacks have taken the award: Manning with his record-setting 2004 season, and now Brady in surpassing Manning's achievement.

Last year's winner was running back LaDainian Tomlinson of San Diego.

Brady is the fourth straight double winner, joining Manning, running back Shaun Alexander of Seattle, and Tomlinson.

"If you go ask him he'd probably say the same thing: all the individual awards don't matter," Patriots running back Kevin Faulk said. "It's the team awards that matter, and with the team awards you get all the individual accolades."

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press.