Patriots quarterback Tom Brady addresses the media during his postgame press conference on Sunday, January 16, 2011.
Q: Any way to explain this one?
TB: Just a lack of execution. In order to score points, you have to consistently be able to put together plays and we could never really do that or find a rhythm. They made a lot of plays. They didn't make many mistakes. We made too many mistakes. There were too many plays that weren't the way we drew them up.
Q: Did they do a good job of mixing up pressures and coverages?
TB: Yeah, I think they played a lot more coverage today - probably similar to what they did last week. They mixed it up quite a bit. They certainly have a lot of calls. I think it was a good plan by them and you've got to give them a lot of credit
Q: Did the amount of zone that they played surprise you guys?
TB: No, I don't think we were surprised by anything. I thought they could certainly zone us off more. They did. I thought at times we handled it well and at times we didn't. Yeah, they mixed it up. I thought they executed well. [They] didn't really give up any big plays. We just didn't make enough plays.
Q: Were you okay with your clock management in the fourth quarter? You were down 10 and it was a long drive that seemed to take a lot of time. Was there any urgency or were you not worried about how much time that was taking?
TB: Well, we thought if we can get in the end zone it's a three-point game. I think there were probably four minutes left when we ended up kicking that field goal. If we had scored a touchdown with four minutes left [then] we're down three with four minutes left. We thought we had an opportunity there, but ended up kicking a field goal. We didn't really execute the way we needed to [in order] to finish that drive and then we just couldn't get the ball in the end zone when we needed to.
Q: Are you at all in shock that the season is over?
TB: I think you always are. It's like you're on the treadmill running at 10 miles an hour and then someone just hits the stop button. I think we certainly expected to play better today. I think we're a pretty good football team, but not when we play like today. Like I said, a lot of the credit goes to the Jets and the way their players performed. It's disappointing the way we performed. I certainly wish I did a better job.
Q: Coming off of big games like this in the past, what's your process of getting over it and moving on?
TB: I think it's just that. I think you've got to move on. You've got to learn from your mistakes and hopefully move forward with even more determination than before. The team fought hard. I think it's really a great group of guys and I think I really enjoy playing with these guys. I think everyone really is always trying to do the right thing; it's just that today we didn't execute the right way.
Q: I think fans went from hope to expectation at some point this season. Do you feel like the same was true for you guys as the season progressed?
TB: I think our expectations were very high. I think you finish the way we did - we won a bunch in a row against some very good teams and played well... But playoff football comes and really it comes down to who makes the plays and we made too many mistakes. It's totally a new season. There is a sign back there that said 0-0 and that's the truth. Every team really has the same opportunity once you're in the playoffs and we've seen that throughout the playoffs. A lot of teams had great seasons, but there's ultimately only one Super Bowl winner and in order to get to that game and to win it, you've got to play really well in the playoffs. I think that the teams that are still playing have played really well. I think the teams that aren't, certainly haven't played their best games.
Q: What did the Jets do to make you guys feel so uncomfortable all game?
TB: I think they spun the dial pretty well on their pressures and coverages. I think we had some opportunities to make some plays that we really didn't. It just felt like we were fighting hard out there to gain yards. We were trying to stay balanced out there. I think it probably turned into more of a passing game for us as we got behind. We talked all week about fast starts and getting ahead of these guys and playing ahead and we had some opportunities there in the first quarter and really let those slip away. And we made it a dog fight and ultimately couldn't really dig ourselves out of the holes we made.
Q: Can you talk about that early interception and what you saw?
TB: It was a screen play and I was throwing to BenJarvus [Green-Ellis] and Calvin Pace kind of flashed in front of me and I tried to throw it over the top of him and down to Benny and I threw it over both of them. Not probably the safest play in the playbook. That's not really the way you draw them up.
