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ESPN NFL analyst Ron Jaworski broke down the film of the New England Patriots' loss to the New York Jets and discussed his observations on Boston sports radio station WEEI on Tuesday afternoon.

Probably the most significant of his findings was that there were opportunities in the passing game that Tom Brady just missed.

"I’m going to be honest with you guys,” Jaworski said. “I went through the tape and there were some plays on the field that Tom Brady did not see. I think Tom began to play a little bit fast, and the term I use, he began to see ghosts. There were some opportunities, particularly early in the game, a key third-and-3, he had Danny Woodhead out of the backfield in the flat and he doesn’t throw the football. It’s a play that Tom has probably seen 50 times this year and completed 50 times. For some reason, he didn’t throw the football. I don’t know if he got spooked by the [first-quarter] interception or what, but he did leave some plays on the field.”

The Jets didn’t blitz Sunday nearly as much as they have in the past, choosing instead to focus more on bumping receivers off the line of scrimmage and blanketing them in coverage. The strategy worked, with Brady getting sacked five times and rushing other throws even when defenders weren’t close to sacking him. According to Jaworski, he seemed to be reacting to the “perception of pressure” even when it wasn’t there.

"I think he had a poor game,” Jaworski said. “I’ve always said that Tom is one of the most mobile quarterbacks in the game. I’m not talking about run-around quarterbacks, I’m talking about how I believe you have to play the position. He’s always been really good at that moving in the pocket, those subtle little moves to the left or right or up in the pocket that compress and allow some time for receivers to uncover.

“I just felt that at times he had those opportunities and he kind of flinched. There was a perception of pressure, and at times it wasn’t there. It was awkward to me to see Tom reacting that way. When bodies weren’t around him, he was perceiving pressure."

Among some other observations by Jaworski:

* He saw some similarities in the Jets’ strategy to the famous defensive game plan Bill Belichick devised to stop the “Greatest Show On Turf” St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI.

“Belichick did an outstanding job of jamming, rerouting, being physical with Marshall Faulk and the wide receivers of the Rams,” Jaworski said. “To a certain degree, Rex Ryan stole a little bit of that game plan. They really took the timing and rhythm away from Brady and those receivers.

“Not only were they holding up [Rob] Gronkowski, they were bumping the wide receivers, bumping the backs out of the backfield. ... The game plan to be physical and chip the wide receivers, chip the backs coming out really played well for the Jets.”

* In reaction to the Patriots evolving over the course of the season into an inside passing team, the Jets’ defense funneled everything back to the middle of the field on defense.

“You’re trying to move people to the inside, congest the areas,” Jaworski explained. “And as I like to say it, make it muddy for the quarterback, dirty it up a little bit inside. And you do that by being physical at the line of scrimmage, rerouting inside, where your help is.”

* If Pat Chung had cleanly handled the snap on the Patriots’ fake punt attempt, Jaworski thinks the play would have succeeded and resulted in a first down. "The play was there," Jaworski said.

* He was surprised that the Patriots did not try to take advantage of tight end Aaron Hernandez in the passing game. Hernandez was targeted just once by Brady.

“If you get explosive plays out of [Hernandez] that kind of softens up the defense,” Jaworski said. “We all know [Alge] Crumpler is more of a possession receiver. I was surprised we really didn’t see Hernandez until very late in that game as part of the two tight end system. I thought he would be an explosive guy that you can create some matchups with.”

* Jaworski observed that Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis “had a tremendous game.”

* He was surprised that the Patriots did not seem to display a sense of urgency during their long fourth-quarter drive when trailing by 10 points.

"There just didn’t seem to be a sense of urgency," Jaworski said. "It was a great drive if it was in the first quarter. ... I was very surprised by the lack of urgency to get the plays running.”

* On defense, Jaworski was surprised to see the Patriots playing zone on defense against Mark Sanchez. In his opinion, the Patriots should have pressed the young quarterback more.

Listen to the full interview HERE.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Patrick Chung didn’t blame anyone but himself for the botched fake-punt play that wound up costing the New England Patriots dearly Sunday in their 28-21 loss to the New York Jets in the divisional round of the playoffs.

“I take full responsibility,” said Chung more than once when surrounded by the media Monday in the Patriots’ locker room as the players threw their stuff in garbage bags and left Gillette Stadium, stunningly headed into the offseason after a 14-2 regular season record that earned New England the top AFC seed in the postseason.

Chung was the personal protector for punter Zoltan Mesko with the Pats trailing by 7-3 and on their own 38-yard line with 1:14 remaining in the first half. Chung noticed New England had the numbers in their favor, so he called for long snapper Matt Katula to snap him the ball instead of Mesko.

The Patriots had eight men on the line to the Jets’ six, which Chung saw as an opportunity to fake the punt and run for the first down.

Katula’s snap to Chung was good, but Chung began running before he caught the ball and dropped it. Chung picked it up, but by then, the Jets were all over him, tackling him behind the line of scrimmage and resulting in a turnover on downs.

A few plays later New York quarterback Mark Sanchez hit Braylon Edwards with a touchdown pass just before the end of the half, giving the Jets a 14-3 lead, and the Patriots weren’t able to overcome that deficit.

“It’s part of the game,” Chung said Monday after he had declined to speak to the media after Sunday’s loss.

“Of course there are regrets. It’s not [head coach] Bill [Belichick] or [special teams coach] Scott O’Brien,” said Chung. “None of them. I take full responsibility. I saw the look we had. I made the call. It didn’t work out for us.”

Chung was asked if he thought he would have made the first down had he caught the ball cleanly.

“No ‘ifs.’ I didn’t catch it. It’s part of the game. Things happen. You have to bounce back. It’s my responsibility. Leave Bill alone. Leave Scotty alone. That’s my call, man. My mistake,” said Chung.

He was asked if he thought it was a good time of the game to even have made that call.

“I take full responsibility,” repeated Chung.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Just how to the Jets go from giving up 45 points to the Patriots on Dec. 6 to surrendering half of that total (21) just over a month later?

The Jets laid most of the credit to a vastly improved game plan, which included confusing Tom Brady before the snap, pressure at the line of scrimmage and zone coverage in the secondary. Below is a sampling of the comments from the Jets on their game plan:

* Defensive lineman Trevor Pryce, who called the game plan “unbelievable”: “I thought [the game plan] was going to work, but I didn’t know it was going to work that well. At the end of the day, receivers run routes, DBs hustle. It’s supposed to be simple. But they found a way to make it as complicated as possible and Tom Brady literally had no answer.”

What was the key?

“I think a lot of the pressure. Shaun Ellis was really getting to him and [Jason Taylor] was getting to him. A football play only takes so many seconds. After your first read isn’t open, now Brady’s shaking his head wondering who’s going to hit him next and he has to dump the ball off. Anytime you can do that to a guy like that you’re going to win.”

* Cornerback Antonio Cromartie: “That was the whole point of this whole entire week that we wanted to practice was to make sure that we got our hands on them [and were] physical with the guys, and just playing our game. When we play our game on the outsides, it makes things very difficult for the quarterback with the timing routes and the things that he does.”

* Defensive lineman Shaun Ellis: “[Brady] just couldn’t get a beat on us. It was one of those things where he was expecting one thing and we showed him another thing and, like I said, our defense did a great job. Our defensive backs did a great job of showing him one look and moving to another look, and getting hands on receivers. One thing that hurt us the last time was when they were empty -- they completed some passes on us. He made some throws but it really didn’t hurt us. We regrouped and came back and played well.”

* Coach Rex Ryan: “You know, this isn’t the first time we’ve played good defense. We know a little bit about playing defense and clearly you got to mix it up on it. You can’t just give them one thing all the time. Mix your coverages, mix your blitzes, mix your pressures, all that kind of stuff. Against these great quarterbacks, that’s what you have to do. And that’s back-to-back weeks. You know, against Peyton Manning at Indy and now, Tom Brady at New England.”

* Linebacker David Harris: “I think our D-line takes credit for [Brady being off his game]. They were after him every play. [Five] sacks? That’s unheard of from the Patriots considering how good their offensive line is and how good Brady is in getting the ball out of his hands.”

* Linebacker Bart Scott: “I think that had something to do with us, Brady not looking like Brady. We’ll keep those secrets to ourselves. I think we’ll be seeing these guys for a long time to come, I’m sure they’ll be [angry] the next time they see us.”

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- As New York’s Shonn Greene zipped around the right end and headed toward the end zone for a game-deciding 16-yard touchdown run with 1:41 left in the divisional playoff game against the Patriots on Sunday, the Jets’ beefy head coach Rex Ryan was jubilantly racing down along the sideline, showing some unexpected speed in almost catching up with his running back.

That Ryan didn’t pull a hamstring on his celebratory mad dash was one of the night’s major surprises in New York’s 28-21 triumph.

The fact that Ryan’s team will not run from anyone, not even the top-seeded Patriots, who had crushed New York, 45-3, roughly six weeks earlier in a Monday night showdown for first place in the AFC East, was not a shock to anyone who would listen, and the loquacious Jets made sure everyone in the football world heard their boasts during the past week.

Even after his team got thumped in December, giving each team a home win against the other during the regular season, Ryan gave the Patriots credit for that night’s performance but said he was confident his team would prevail in a third game, in the playoffs, should the teams meet.

They did meet, and Ryan’s Jets emerged victorious, thanks in no small measure to a defensive scheme that seemingly baffled Tom Brady, the NFL’s likely MVP this season, and the Patriots’ heralded coach, Bill Belichick. The Jets trash-talked during the week and backed up the talk on Sunday.

“You know, that’s a great football team we just got through playing. We talked because we believed in ourselves,” said Ryan, whose Jets upset Indianapolis in the first round of the playoffs the previous week on a last-play field goal, earning the trip to Foxborough.

“I think that is where the talk came from. There is a huge amount of respect that our team has for New England . . . They’ve got a great franchise, but you know, we aren’t afraid of anybody. Maybe people take it the wrong way. But we don’t try to bad-mouth an opponent. We respect every opponent. We respect these guys. But we came in here on a mission and we’re trying to win a Super Bowl,” he said.

“We said, you know, maybe everybody else didn’t believe us or whatever, but we believed. We worked too hard to get back here and we came here for a reason. We thought we were the better team. Now, clearly in the Monday night game we weren’t. They were clearly head and shoulders better than we were. But I knew if we applied ourselves and we played the way we were capable of, then we would beat them. And that’s exactly what happened,” he said.

The defensive game plan, in particular, stymied the Patriots.

“We thought we had a good plan, but the plans are useless without great play from your players and our guys bought in and they did a great job,” said Ryan. “It was a total effort there on defense, from pass rush, to the second level and obviously to the deep guys. Just a great effort. We knew we had a good plan. Again, I tip my hat to the players and the assistant coaches.”

But Ryan couldn’t leave the podium without delivering one more zinger to the Pats, notably Brady, echoing a theme he expressed prior to the game against the Colts in a comment that was treated as if he were not showing any respect to the Patriots’ quarterback.

“This team had a zillion points and all that this season -- it’s Tom Brady back there at quarterback,” said Ryan. “He may not study like Peyton Manning but he is pretty good.”

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Jets linebacker Bart Scott has spent a career crunching ball carriers, receivers and quarterbacks with an all-out, aggressive style of play.

So when he speaks, it’s no surprise that Scott doesn’t mince any words.

During the week leading up to Sunday’s divisional playoff game against the Patriots at Gillette Stadium, Scott basically threatened New England receiver with his life if he dared venture across the middle to make a catch.

Not surprisingly, Scott was crowing after the Jets convincingly upset the top-seeded Patriots, 28-21, and advanced to next Sunday’s AFC title game in Pittsburgh.

“If you go down board for board, look at our roster and look at their roster, we have better players across the field,” said Scott.

“You guys talk about how great their defense was playing. Last I checked they were 25th in the league and we were third, and we’re the one that get disrespected for not being able to put pressure on the quarterback, not being able to get off the field. But we were ranked 22 spots ahead of them. . . . I guess the cream rises to the top,” he said.

“We were the experienced group going into it. Last I checked Tedy Bruschi, Rodney Harrison and Richard Seymour, those guys weren’t on that sideline. We don’t fear anybody. We believe we can match up against anybody,” said Scott.

Scott is a staunch supporter of head coach Rex Ryan. Scott played when Ryan was a defensive coordinator in Baltimore.

“I would die for that man [Ryan]. I love than man to death. That’s the reason I left Baltimore [as a free agent] to come here and write my legacy with him,” said Scott.

New England’s Bill Belichick is considered a coaching genius in the NFL. Scott was asked by WEEI if Sunday’s victory meant Ryan was on equal coaching footing with Belichick.

“Why not better?” Scott told WEEI. “Belichick is one Mo Lewis hit from being fired. [Brady] don’t come in we might be talking about him on the unemployment line.”

Scott was referring to a 2001 hit by Lewis that knocked out Drew Bledsoe, forcing the Pats to go with Brady at quarterback.

In the meantime, Scott thinks the Pats and the Jets now have an official rivalry.

“This is how rivalries start,” said Scott. “Rivalries start when both teams take something from the other team. This is probably the first time the Jets have taken something important away from the Patriots. Game on. They can hate us forever because the feeling is mutual.”

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The Patriots tried to digest their season-ending 28-21 playoff loss to the New York Jets Sunday at Gillete Stadium, a stunning conclusion to a year that produced an NFL-best 14-2 regular-season record and a number one seed in the AFC.

Some comments from the locker room:

* Fred Taylor: “Coach [Bill Belichick] laid it out on the line for us. This is a new season and everything we did up until this point is just to put you in position. You still have to go and play, especially in this tournament.

“I won’t say I’m shocked. You look at the parity that’s developed around the league, even in this playoffs. A few home teams lost. You had a 7-9 team [Seattle] that fought. This is football. I think this is why it’s one of the greatest sports. You never know what you’re going to get, really. I don’t know. It’s just [football]. It’s a funny game.”

* Alge Crumpler: “It is tough. Your emotions are going to be at one extreme. You’re either going to be really happy or really sad. And I hate that we all have to feel this way. I don’t care about [the regular-season success]. All I care about is what happened in the last three hours and it wasn’t good. And I’ve got to deal with it.”

* Matt Light: “We didn’t make the plays when we needed to and it’s unfortunate. We have got a great team and great guys. We have had good chemistry throughout the year. Unfortunately in this game it doesn’t mean much at the end of it. It’s not every day you get an opportunity like this and to fall short, it’s a bitter pill to swallow. It’s pretty final. Unfortunately.”

* Wes Welker: “You have such a great regular season to get yourself in good position and we just didn’t really take advantage of it. The Jets were the better team today and we paid the price for it.”

* Danny Woodhead: “Hey, this is the NFL playoffs. You want to go out and do your best in the NFL playoffs and hopefully advance. And we didn’t advance tonight.”

* Jerod Mayo: “You’re always going to be surprised and disappointed when you lose a game, especially the way we’ve been playing. They just came out and played more physical than we did. It’s very disappointing. The regular season means nothing now. We came into the postseason 0-0.”

Following the Patriots’ season-ending loss to the Jets, receiver Wes Welker discussed being benched for the team’s first possession of the game for his subtle dig at Rex Ryan earlier in the week.

“I don’t feel anything [about the benching],” said Welker, who made 11 foot references during a news conference Thursday. “I was just ready for the opportunity to play and help the team win. That’s a coach’s decision, the game plan. You can ask the coach about that stuff. I’m not going to really comment on that stuff.

“We’ve always respected the Jets. They have a good football team.”

When asked about the benching, which was first reported on the CBS game broadcast, coach Bill Belichick had only this to say after the game: “I don’t have any comment on that.”

Jets linebacker Bart Scott, who reacted to Welker's comments late last week by threatening him ("his days in a uniform will be numbered," he told Newsday) didn't have much of a reaction to the benching.

“I know you would like to say that this is like the ‘Young and the Restless’ and I pay attention to what’s going on there, but I could care less," Scott said after the game. "All I do is play whoever comes out there.”

However, he also wasn't backing down from his original comments.

"I stand behind my words and if I get another opportunity for him to come through the middle, I'm going to try and put him through the ground," the linebacker told Boston sports radio station WEEI.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Patriots receiver Deion Branch was asked following the game if he was embarrassed by the loss. His answer: “I’m not embarrassed, I’m just frustrated. The embarrassing part came from a few classless guys [on the Jets] after the game. There were a lot of classless things that went on after the game ended.’’

When asked what he was referring to, Branch answered, “Didn’t you see it? You’ve got to go back and watch it. Pretty classless stuff.’’

Some of New England’s players left the field when time ran out rather than shake hands with the Jets players. When asked if he was one of them Branch said, “I’m a champion. I’m always going to congratulate guys. They beat us today. The ones with class, I shook their hands. And the ones that didn’t, I didn’t (shake their hands). You can tell they’re not used to being in this position.’’

Join ESPNBoston.com's Mike Reiss and Mike Rodak, ESPN.com AFC East blogger Tim Graham and our friends from ESPNNewYork.com for an in-game chat during this afternoon's Patriots-Jets AFC Divisional playoff game. Join us at 4:30.

In the video above, ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown crew debates whether the trash talking that took place this week between the Patriots and Jets will have any impact on today’s game.

“Sometimes it’s better to remain quiet and appear stupid than open your mouth and remove all doubt,” Mike Ditka says. “That’s the truth, gang. Shut up and play football. [Antonio] Cromartie you haven’t covered anybody for three weeks.”

In the video above, ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio and Suzy Kolber check in with field reports from Gillette Stadium on Sunday morning.

In the Field Pass video above, ESPN analysts preview Patriots-Jets in three different areas:

* Difference maker: Mark Sanchez (by Adam Schefter)

“He’s been very good against the Patriots in New York, but subpar in New England, where he’s thrown one touchdown and seven interceptions,” says Adam Schefter. “Sanchez can’t turn the ball over on Sunday. If he doesn’t, he gives the Jets a chance to win that game.”

* Matchup to watch: Jets linebackers vs. Patriots tight ends (by Herm Edwards)

* Prediction: Mark Schlereth thinks the Patriots will win, 20-17

As part of the run-up to Sunday’s AFC Divisional playoff game between the Patriots and Jets, we picked our Top 10 all-time moments for the Patriots in their rivalry against the Jets.

Check out our list here and let us know in the comments section of this blog entry if we missed any that belong in the top 10, or if you would have ordered some of them differently.

And if you’re into this kind of thing, here’s ESPNNewYork.com’s Top 10 moments from a Jets perspective.

A roundup of how ESPN's analysts see Sunday's Patriots-Jets AFC divisional playoff game playing out (Cliffs Notes version: Only Herm Edwards and Michael Wilbon pick the Jets. Wilbon made his pick Friday afternoon on "Pardon the Interruption"):

* ESPNBoston.com’s Mike Reiss: Patriots 24, Jets 17. I think this one will be close throughout, and I believe the Jets' offense will have success moving the ball against the Patriots and that front seven, particularly on the ground. In the end, though, I think the Patriots will be able to move it and score more on a Jets defense that doesn't have great matchups in the middle of the field. The tight ends will be a big part of this attack for the Patriots.

* ESPNBoston.com’s Tedy Bruschi: Patriots 31, Jets 20. As tight-lipped as the Patriots might be this week, I would anticipate an impassioned pregame speech from Coach Belichick, reminding players of doing their talking with their play and enjoying the experience of ending the season of a hated rival. I see the Patriots moving on to the AFC Championship Game.

* Bill Simmons: Patriots 34, Jets 17. I keep thinking of Bill Belichick going into his office last Sunday, popping in that Colts-Jets tape, watching Mark Sanchez's passes sailing away like helium balloons at a 5-year-old's birthday party, then thinking to himself, Should I just start scouting Pittsburgh and Baltimore now?

* ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter: Patriots over Jets. It’s not saying much, but the Jets are going to give them a much better game than they did that Monday night in the 45-3 game. I think they’re coming ready. I think they have to get more pressure on Brady, run the football and keep Mark Sanchez from playing the way Mark Sanchez has in his two visits to Foxborough. If they can do those three things, and you can go case-by-case and argue whether they can, then they’ll have a chance to beat the Patriots. [from a WEEI interview]

* ESPN NFL analyst Mark Schlereth: Patriots over Jets. There’s nobody playing at a higher level than Tom Brady rght now, executing the offense. He’ll find the offense, and once he finds it he’ll execute, he’ll pick you apart on that.

* ESPN NFL analyst Herm Edwards: Jets over Patriots. I think the Jets are going to do a great job of running the ball, controlling the clock, staying on the field on third downs and their defense getting off the field on third downs. I see the Jets upsetting New England.

* ESPN experts: All eight pick the Pats.

* Sunday Countdown: Keyshawn Johnson, Tom Jackson, Mike Ditka and Cris Carter pick the Patriots.

* AccuScore simulations: Patriots 29, Jets 19 (on average). Patriots win 78 percent of more than 10,000 simulations. You can simulate the game yourself here.

* Madden simulation: Patriots 34, Jets 24. If you're going to call Tom Brady anything, call him a winner. The guy is Mr. Clutch, and he proves once again (at least in the "Madden" sim) that it doesn't matter how much junk you talk during the week, it's about what you do on the field that speaks loudest. And if that's truly the case, Brady was shouting against the Jets, throwing a near-perfect game with 22 of 29 passes complete for 304 yards and three touchdowns. In fact, the Patriots never trailed in this one, as Brady threw a touchdown pass to Wes Welker in the opening drive, then never took his foot off the gas en route to the 34-24 win. Watch highlights below:

* Matt Williamson, Scouts Inc. (Insider): Patriots 35, Jets 17

* What's your prediction for Patriots-Jets III? Leave it in the comments section of this blog post.

In the first of three roundtable segments we will be rolling out in advance of Sunday’s game (video above), ESPNBoston.com’s Mike Reiss, ESPNNewYork.com’s Jane McManus and ESPN’s Herm Edwards break down Patriots-Jets by addressing the following three questions:

* What to make of all the trash talk by the Jets this week?

“They heard every word of it and they’re storing it up and they’re ready to bring it on Sunday,” Says Reiss. “Tom Brady in particular, I got a sense from listening to him speak that he feels like you earn the right to speak with victories and I think he feels like he has a point to prove.”

* Who will win this key matchup: Patriots run defense or the Jets’ ground-and-pound attack?

* Should the Jets blitz Brady or should they focus their energy on coverage?