HEX OVER REX
Belichick, Pats still live in Ryan’s head
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — When they last met, back in September, the result was very much the same as it has been for, well, most of the times Rex Ryan has faced Bill Belichick: A Belichick victory.
The Patriots prevailed, 4032, on Sept. 20 in Buffalo after it looked like they might annihilate the Bills in their home opener, leading 3713 at one point.
Afterward, Ryan stood at the postgame interview podium breathless and agitated, and he did what he famously said he’d never do when he was the Jets head coach: He kissed Belichick’s rings.
“It’s on my shoulders,’’ Ryan said. “I have to get better. Belichick outcoached me, no question about it.’’
Raise your hands, Jets fans, if you’ve heard that frustrated refrain before.
This week, in the leadup to the AFC East rematch between the Bills and Patriots on Monday night at Gillette Stadium, the carnival barker formerly known as the Jets head coach from 2009 to 2014 was back at it. “Of course they want to bury me,” Ryan told reporters, referring to the Patriots, who entered the game 90 and having beaten Ryan in eight of the previous nine meetings. “No question, they want to beat me.’’
Ryan went on to say “this is nothing to do with me, it’s something to do with our team.’’
Anyone who believes that believes February is the best beach weather season in Buffalo along the shores of Lake Erie. When it comes to Rex, it always is about Rex.
Then this from Ryan, whose 54 Bills entered Monday night four games behind the Patriots in the AFC East: “Does [a win] give us an opportunity to win the division? No, they’re going to win the division. I don’t see them losing four games in the upcoming things. I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t see it happening.”
Asked if he was conceding the division to the Patriots entering a game in which his Bills could pull to within three games with six to play, Ryan said, “No, I’m just telling you the facts. The only thing I’m focused on is beating them right now, on Monday night. And we ain’t conceding that, I promise you.”
For all of his faults — and there were a fair share while coaching the Jets — Ryan’s candor always has been refreshing … until he starts trying to sell you bad real estate, like then he called Monday night against the Patriots “no different than any other week; that’s the honesttogoodness truth.’’ Bills spit. Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Ryan called Belichick “the greatest coach of all time.”
On Thursday, he told reporters he would no longer grace his nemesis with that title, saying, “I’m tired of [saying], ‘Hey, he’s the best.’ No kidding. And anybody who says he’s not is full of whatever. So with that being said, I’m going to say he’s not very good.”
Through all of the Ryan histrionics with regard to Belichick and the Patriots, it is always highly fascinating and amusing to watch Belichick quietly go about his business, never getting a rise out of Ryan’s colorful banter.
To borrow from Bill Parcells parlance from years past, Belichick learned a long time ago from his Hall of Fame mentor not to “take the cheese.’’ The next time you see Belichick take the bait will be the first time he does so.
That surely has to rattle Ryan’s cage as much as the mounting losses to New England do.
“The reason they say I’m obsessed is I want what they have,’’ Ryan said. “I admire the fact that they’ve been that successful through the years. But that’s what I’m chasing. I want to win, man. They’ve won some rings or whatever. I ain’t kissing them.’’
He just did. Again.