EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. –- Calvin Pryor's face lit up like a kid opening up his gifts on Christmas morning.

Meanwhile, Brandon Marshall thought there had to be a mistake.

How could the New England Patriots possibly want to kick off after winning the coin toss to start overtime against the New York Jets?

"There was some confusion there," Marshall said. "So when they won it, my first reaction was, 'Stop them.' Then I saw the kicker. Once they said they wanted to kick off, I saw the kicker say, 'No, no. We want to receive.' So I thought there was a big miscommunication there. Then it was our ball and I was like, 'What the hell?'"

Following their 26-20 overtime win, the Jets were still pretty stunned at the Patriots' decision to kick instead of receive. But they were thankful for having received what turned out to be a late Christmas gift from their division rival.

"You really want to kick the ball?" Pryor said, remembering his reaction at midfield during the coin toss. "I don't know but I am glad they chose to kick the ball."

Some of the Jets' veterans said they have learned over the years not to be surprised by anything Bill Belichick does.

"Nothing surprises you about the Patriots and strategy and what they think," quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick said. "We were excited to get the opportunity to get the ball and have a chance to put them away."

Fitzpatrick and the Jets' offense needed only five plays to go 80 yards and score the game-winning touchdown.

The Jets say that no matter what Belichick opted to do, they were confident that they were going to do what needed to be done in overtime.

"You got a Tom Brady. I can see in hindsight, stepping back a little, why he would do that," linebacker Calvin Pace said. "But either way for us, I felt good about if the defense were going out, I felt good we would have stopped them. And the offense did it, they went down and scored a touchdown."

Pace said he was not insulted that Belichick might've thought the Jets would not be able to score a touchdown and then would not have been able to stop Brady from winning the game.

"No, I don't take it as a slap in the face," Pace said. "I just think he looked at it as he's got a guy who has won games, in Tom Brady, over and over, who has led drives like that, so I can see why he did it."

Marshall, though, was still scratching his head after the game trying to figure out the Patriots' strategy.

"After the game, [Patriots offensive coordinator] Josh McDaniels came up to me, my old ball coach in Denver," Marshall said. "I asked, 'What were you guys thinking?'

"He explained to me the situation a little bit," Marshall said with something of a smile. "But I didn't believe him."