FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — For three minutes late Sunday afternoon, the old Rex Ryan was back.

A positively ecstatic Ryan began his press conference following the New York Jets’ 20-13 upset of the Pittsburgh Steelers at MetLife Stadium with a three-minute filibuster that was the bizarre world version of general manager John Idzik’s famous opening address at his midseason press conference 13 days earlier.

In other words, it was purely off the cuff, inspired, funny and reasonably short.

“Finally,” Ryan said after exhaling upon reaching the podium a few minutes after the Jets snapped an eight-game losing streak. “I’ll tell you what, that felt great.”

Even if it threatened to turn into a “Same Ol’ Jets” defeat in the final two minutes, when they had to try and convert a 3rd-and-46 following unsportsmanlike penalties on Ryan and quarterback Michael Vick. Two plays later, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger cut the Jets’ lead in half with an 80-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Martavis Bryant.

“Typical way to end the game, I thought,” Ryan said. “Only this year can you feel like you’ve got a win and then give up an 80-yard touchdown pass. Oh my goodness.”

Fortunately for Ryan and the Jets, wide receiver Eric Decker recovered the subsequent onside kick and the Jets had their second win of the season.

“I’m glad we didn’t lose that game,” Ryan said. “Nine in a row would have been tough.”

It would have been the worst single-season losing streak in franchise history, exceeding the eight-game skid endured by the 1996 Jets coached by the overmatched Rich Kotite.

After the Jets ended an 0-8 start with a 31-21 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Oct. 27 — coincidentally, in the final game before their bye week — Kotite told the Jets they were still in the race.

“We fell down laughing,” then-Jets cornerback Ray Mickens told the Bergen Record on Sunday.

Ryan wasn’t declaring the Jets were going to make a playoff run — there are 11 AFC teams with winning records — but he flashed some familiar defiance in taking on those who have already declared the Jets dead.

“For people that count this football team out, you do so at your own risk,” Ryan said. “This team is tough. I’ve said it the whole time. Not that this win will catapult us into the playoffs, but it’s a big win for us because we’ve been working extremely hard.”

And now he has something to show for it — especially on defense, where the Jets forced more turnovers (four) than the previous nine games combined (three).

“The defense played great,” Ryan said. “We were able to get some turnovers. I know we all said the same thing — finally.”

Over and over again.

REPORT CARD VS. STEELERS

PASSING OFFENSE: A-minus — The statistics didn’t come close to telling the whole story for QB Michael Vick, who provided the type of game manager performance the Jets never got out of Geno Smith. Vick was just 10-for-18 for 132 yards and two touchdowns, including 6-for-13 for 42 yards in the final three quarters. But he made the throw of the game in the first quarter — a gorgeous 67-yard touchdown pass off play-action in which he dropped the ball into the hands of covered WR T.J. Graham — and didn’t make any mistakes in the wire-to-wire win. He hasn’t committed a turnover in two starts. Imagine how many more wins the Jets might have if Vick had a chance to do this all season.

WR Eric Decker (three catches for 24 yards) and WR Percy Harvin (three catches for 23 yards) were the Jets’ leading receivers while TE Jace Amaro (two catches for five yards and one touchdown) was the only other player targeted more than once.

RUSHING OFFENSE: A-minus — The Jets nursed their early lead by rushing 36 times for 150 workmanlike yards. Vick (eight carries for 39 yards) had a pair of 18-yard scrambles, each of which led to scores for the Jets, and was the Jets’ leading rusher until RB Chris Ivory (14 carries for 51 yards) surged past him with six carries for 18 yards at 7:17 of the fourth quarter.

The Jets won, so this will sound like nitpicking, but how does Ivory — who had 36 yards on six carries on the Jets’ first drive — only touch the ball twice in the middle two quarters? Harvin (six carries for 33 yards) made a bigger impact out of the backfield than out wide. RB Chris Johnson (seven carries for 21 yards) continued his inconsistent season. Third-string RB Bilal Powell gained four yards on his only touch.

PASS DEFENSE: A-minus — David beat Goliath. A fierce pass rush harried Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger, who threw six touchdowns apiece in his previous two games but had more interceptions (two) than touchdowns (one) on Sunday. The two picks were more than the Jets had in their first nine games combined.

Jaiquawn Jarrett, starting at safety in place of the benched Calvin Pryor, had both interceptions, each of which he corralled in the red zone. On Jarrett’s first pick, he dove for a ball that had been deflected by CB Marcus Williams, who stepped in front of intended receiver Le’Veon Bell at the goal line. The Jets, torched all season by wideouts, rotated coverage on Steelers WR Antonio Brown and somehow limited the NFL’s leading receiver to seven catches for a season-low 74 yards.

In addition, a defense ravaged all season underneath limited TE Heath Miller to three catches for 29 yards and RB Le’Veon Bell to 33 yards on eight catches. Most impressive of all: Five of Roethlisberger’s completions went for no gain or negative yardage. It wasn’t a perfect day — there was a panic-stricken moment in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, when Roethlisberger found a wide-open WR Martavis Bryant for an 80-yard touchdown — but for one afternoon, at least, Ryan could be proud of his secondary.

RUSH DEFENSE: A — It’s starting to appear the back-to-back gashings absorbed against the Chargers and Broncos in October were the aberrations. The Jets allowed just 36 rushing yards Sunday, the second-fewest in a single game in the Ryan era (and the second-fewest this season — the Raiders had 25 rushing yards in the season opener). Bell, who began the day second in the NFL in yards from scrimmage, had all 36 yards on 11 carries. Of the Steelers’ 17 carries overall, four went for no gain or negative yardage, including consecutive fourth quarter carries from the Jets’ one-yard-line by RB LeGarrette Blount in which he was dragged down for no gain and a loss of eight yards, respectively. The Jets are now limiting teams to 3.4 yards a carry, tied for fourth-best in the league.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B — Nick Folk’s surprising miss of a 45-yarder in the final minute of the first half — only his second miss of the season — proved harmless, but at the time it seemed to be the beginning of the end of the upset bid when the Steelers took advantage by driving for a 53-yard field goal as time expired. Folk did boot two field goals and sent four of his five kickoffs into the end zone, though the Steelers averaged more than 25 yards per return.

Punter Ryan Quigley averaged 46.4 yards on five kicks with a long of 69 yards, but his short first punt worked to the Jets’ benefit when Brown muffed it trying to make a running catch. Graham recovered the ball to set up Folk’s miss. Harvin had just one kick return for 19 yards while WR Jeremy Kerley averaged eight yards on two punt returns.

COACHING: A — Ryan still has it. Doing what he did Sunday — getting a team that lost eight straight to believe it could beat one of the hottest teams in the league and devising a defensive game plan that allowed a bunch of castoffs to shut down a record-setting offense — should help Ryan remain unemployed for no more than a few days if the Jets fire him on Black Monday. Turning Jarrett into a one-man wrecking crew may be Ryan’s finest accomplishment with the Jets. Offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg’s early play-action mix kept the ball out of Roethlisberger’s hands — the Jets had the ball for 10:51 in the first quarter — and confused the Steelers’ defense, especially on the long touchdown pass from Vick to Graham.