Belichick calls loss to Jets “disappointing”

“Certainly a lot of good things happened for us this season, but unfortunately it gets overshadowed by the final result.”

So are the words from New England Patriots Head coach Bill Belichick, as he addressed the media Monday, after the New York Jets defeated the Patriots.

“You always think your season is going to continue,” he said. “We had a lot of confidence going into the game [but] it didn’t work out.”

Belichick wouldn’t go into details on the fake punt, which Zoltan Mesko said after the game was called on the field by Patrick Chung. “We could go through 1,000 hypotheticals. What happens, happens,” Belichick said.

As for the catch and run by Jerricho Cotchery, Belichick called it “a very poor job” by his defense, turning a 4-yard pass into a 58-yarder that moved the Jets down the field after the Patriots put the game in reach at 14-11. Three plays later, the Jets scored a 7-yard touchdown, with quarterback Mark Sanchez connecting on a beautiful pass and catch with Santonio Holmes.

“That was an excellent pass and a great catch,” Belichick said.

Finally, as for the Patriots fourth-quarter strategy, which appeared to show the team in no sort of hurry-up, Belichick defended the team’s decision-making, saying he wouldn’t have chosen a hurry-up attack if he could do it again. The team trailed 21-11 and ate up more than seven minutes while running down the field, settling for a field goal when the drive stalled.

“If we score on that drive, it’s a one-score game with five minutes to go,” he explained. “It’s not the position you want to be in, but it’s not a bad position to be in.”

So the season ends for the 14-2 Patriots.

“[14-2] was good, but it’s not the final measuring stick,” he said. “We’ve all got a lot of disappointment today in the final results.”