Rex Ryan and the Buffalo Bills have been doing a ton of trash talking leading up to their game against the New England Patriots, and they almost got Bill Belichick to take the bait on Wednesday morning.
In a conference call with reporters, Belichick was asked about Tom Brady struggling against some of Ryan’s defenses in the past. He came about as close to stirring the pot as you will ever hear from The Hoodie.
“We’re not too concerned about that,” Belichick said, per Mike Rodak of ESPN.com. “I think our record against (Rex Ryan) has been OK. We’ll take it.”
On the surface, that may sound like nothing. But those who know Belichick know he is a master at killing opponents with kindness — no matter how talented or successful those opponents may be. His comments on Wednesday were a bit out of character.
For what it’s worth, Ryan is 4-9 in his career as a head coach against Belichick and the Patriots. We tend to remember the few times Rex got the best of New England — like the 45-3 playoff rout in 2011 — because we don’t expect it. The same is true of the Bills, who always seem to play the Patriots tough but have beaten Belichick just four times in the past 15 years.
The Bills know the Patriots have more talent than them, which is why they are trying to gain an advantage by making comments like this leading up to Sunday. That has always been Ryan’s style, and he isn’t going to change.
