'Tom Brady Was Only Reason You Won!' Rex Ryan Rips Bill Belichick, New England Patriots
Last week: Warren Sapp. Today: Rex Ryan.
The New England Patriots run through the NFL for much of the 21st century has come at the expense of a lot of people.
One of those was Sapp, the Hall-of-Famer defensive tackle who recently told Bill Belichick to "go to the couch." And another was Rex Ryan, the former New York Jets (2009-2014) and Buffalo Bills (2015-2016) head coach. With the Patriots (2-9) struggles, particularly at quarterback with Mac Jones being benched again and Bailey Zappe not playing much better in a 10-7 loss to the New York Giants (4-8) on Sunday at MetLife Stadium, Ryan went off on Belichick on ESPN's show Get Up.
"Bill Belichick, please stop," Ryan said. "Just name your dang starter. It doesn't matter, they both stink. Just go ahead and save the drama like we care about your team. Your team stinks."
Rex Ryan is the latest to criticize Bill Belichick and his Patriots.
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Jones completed 12 of 21 passes for 89 yards and two interceptions, while Zappe was 9 of 14 for 54 yards with an interception against the Giants.
Ryan then credited Tom Brady for New England's dynasty from 2001-2019, when they won six Super Bowls.
"Tom Brady was the only reason you won anyway," Ryan said. "I'm just telling you the difference. I said from [the] jump they would never win again when that guy trotted down to Tampa. Bill Belichick, [is the] greatest in history. I will never dispute that. I had my ass kicked by him a million times, but if you think for a minute it wasn't about Tom Brady, you're absolutely crazy."
Since Brady left in 2020, the Patriots have gone 27-34 and missed the playoffs in two of those three seasons. In New England's lone playoff appearance, they were thrashed in the first round by the Buffalo Bills 47-17.
In Brady's tenure with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they made the playoffs in each of his three seasons and won the Super Bowl in 2020.
At 2-9, New England is in the midst of its worst season under Belichick and will finish under .500 for the third time in four seasons since Brady left for the Buccaneers. Even if the Patriots' struggles land them a franchise quarterback, it's unlikely they'll be set up for success as the team is presently constructed.
And as the struggles mount, it's fair to wonder if Belichick will even be in New England to right the ship with a new quarterback.
