The good news for the Patriots? No one has recently accused them of cheating. The better news for the Patriots? They are now residing firmly in the head of Bills coach Rex Ryan.
A full ten days after the Patriots beat the Bills in Buffalo to cap an Ohio St./Michigan vibe that Ryan cultivated, Ryan has complained about the Patriots’ effort against the Bills in a 40-32 win.
“[W]hat I love was how we battled back,” Ryan said Wednesday, via Mike Rodak of ESPN.com. “And when a team was clearly trying to embarrass us, we stood up to them and said, ‘All right, here we are, we’re gonna give you our best shot, regardless of what the scoreboard is.’ And we scored three touchdowns to their three points.”
If it’s true that the Patriots were trying to embarrass the Bills, the broader truth is that the Patriots try to embarrass everyone. The more accurate truth could be that New England’s attitude is this: “If you don’t like how many points we’re scoring, stop us.”
Inexplicably, Ryan can’t stop thinking about the Patriots, even when the two teams don’t get together again until Week 11. More immediately, the Bills host the Giants. And Ryan was still able to find a Patriots angle when talking about Giants quarterback Eli Manning.
“Well I like the fact that he beat [Tom] Brady twice [in the Super Bowl],” Ryan said. “So I like that. . . . I’m not all the way over the Brady butt-kicking he did against us.”
Maybe Ryan will get over it just in time for the next one. Because another one is inevitable if Ryan and the Bills are going to be so obsessed with the Patriots that they forget to take care of their own business.