Giants Coach Has Perfect Response to Bill Belichick’s Insinuation

New York defensive coordinator Wink Martindale had the perfect response when asked about his blitz-heavy scheme against the Patriots,

After the Giants defeated the Patriots 23–21 in last Thursday’s preseason opener, New England coach Bill Belichick insinuated that he thought New York blitzed too much.

“Well, with what the Giants were doing, there’s a lot of reasons for some of the things that we did to just try to manage the game,” Belichick said.

“So just leave it at that,” he added.

Patriots quarterback Bailey Zappe on 17 of his 33 dropbacks in the contest, and 21 times total in the contest.

When asked about the aggressive defensive scheme in the preseason opener, Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale had the perfect response.

“We’re on to Cincinnati,” he said.

The phrase, “We’re on to Cincinnati,” was of course made famous by Belichick in 2014, following an uninspired 41–14 loss to the Chiefs on Monday Night Football. At the time, the Patriots dropped to 2–2 on the season, and there were questions about Tom Brady’s ability to lead the offense and whether or not it was time to turn the keys over to young backup Jimmy Garoppolo.

The Patriots went on to win the Super Bowl that season with Brady playing quarterback, and Brady has won three more since, including two more with the Patriots in ’17 and ’19, and one with the Bucs in ’20.

Belichick may not have been happy with the Giants defense, but Martindale got the last laugh.