Patriots coach Bill Belichick wishes the weatherman would get his act together.
Belichick said today that while wind or rain might affect Sunday’s game against the Broncos, he isn’t game planning for any particular weather because he doesn’t think the weather forecasts are particularly accurate.
“Based on the forecasts we’ve gotten so far this year, none of them were very close to what the game conditions were. There was a 100 percent chance of rain last week, and the only water I saw was on the Gatorade table,” Belichick said, via the Boston Globe. “It is what it is. We’ve got to be ready for whatever it is.”
Mark Twain once said that if you don’t like the weather in New England, you just have to wait 15 minutes for it to change. Beichick says there’s no point in even trying to predict the weather 48 hours in advance.
“My experience of going with the forecast, in this area, two days before the game, I’d bet a lot that they’re wrong, just based on history, because they’re almost always wrong,” Belichick said. “An hour before the game? Maybe, you might have something to work with there. But if you start game planning for what the weather is going to be and you game plan wrong, you’ve wasted a lot of time.”
Belichick waits until just before kickoff to give any thought to whether the weather should affect the Patriots’ play calling.
“When you walk out on the field, that’s really when you know what it is. The rest of it is a bunch of hot air,” he said. “We played down in Miami two years ago and there was a zero percent chance of rain – zero – and it rained. If I did my job the way they do theirs, I’d be here about a week.”
It was pointed out to Belichick that some meteorologists might take offense to his criticism.
“Look, I’m not saying I could do it better than them. I’m just saying they’re wrong a lot,” Belichick said. “That’s a fact. They’re wrong a lot.”