Titans QB Marcus Mariota shares what he admires about Tom Brady and gives some insight into what his offense needs to do to beat the Patriots. (0:47)

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The New England Patriots are heavy favorites against the Tennessee Titans in Saturday's divisional-round playoff game, and understandably so, but they've also shown this season that they can lose to anyone if they don't bring their top level of performance.

A loss to the Titans would fall into a similar category as what unfolded in the divisional round of the playoffs after the 2010 regular season, when the Patriots lost to the New York Jets, 28-21. The Patriots enter Saturday's game as a 13.5-point favorite, while against the Jets -- who they had beaten 45-3 just six weeks earlier -- they were 9.5-point favorites.

Tom Brady and the Patriots open their playoffs against the Titans on Saturday. Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Perhaps with a game like that in mind, quarterback Tom Brady explained how players are approaching this week.

“I don’t think our team has ever read and believed the hype," Brady said during his weekly appearance on sports radio WEEI's "Kirk and Callahan Show." "We feel like we’ve had to go out and earn it. We’ve tried to do that all year. I think there has been a lot of hype surrounding our team all season. It’s been that way for a long time. I think there is a reality of playing in these games -- you need to go out and you need to earn it."

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The Patriots didn't earn it against the Jets on Jan. 16, 2011, with a costly interception by Brady on a screen pass to BenJarvus Green-Ellis in the second quarter contributing to the shocking result.

Brady and his teammates aren't taking the Titans lightly.

"They haven’t gotten here [by accident]; they’ve certainly earned it and beaten a lot of good teams over the course of the season," he said on WEEI. "Winning in Kansas City, that’s as tough a place to play, as you guys know, that we’ve had. So I think we respect our opponents. We know they are a very dangerous team. We’re going to need to play a great football game to win. And that’s a great challenge for us.

"You play the game because you don’t know what the outcome will be. You don’t take anything for granted. You work as hard as you can over the course of the week to prepare yourself to play, and then you have to go execute and get the job done. No one is going to hand it to us. If we win the game and advance, it will be because we earned it and beat a good team. I’m looking forward to it."