Rex Ryan on Bill Belichick: 'If he slips at all, we're going to beat him.'
BY MANISH MEHTA
Here we go again.
A week after Rex Ryan took on Peyton Manning, the Jets’ brash coach said the divisional playoff showdown with the Patriots on Sunday will be personal against Bill Belichick.
"This week, this is about Bill Belichick vs. Rex Ryan,” Ryan said this morning. “There’s no question. It's personal."
Ryan tried to deflect all the pressure away from his players a month after the Jets’ embarrassing 45-3 primetime loss to their AFC East rivals in Week 13.
“When you look at it, both teams are very even,” Ryan said. “When you look at the players, our teams are solid across the board. When you look at the assistant coaches, we’re on level ground. So this is going to be about me raising my level against Bill Belichick. I recognize he’s the best. But I’m just trying to be the best on Sunday. And I plan on being the best coach on Sunday.”
“He’s going to going to get everything I have on Sunday,” Ryan added. “If he slips at all, we’re going to beat him.”
Ryan’s strategy to put it all on him was entertaining (and predictable).
“I knew I was outcoached in that game,” Ryan said. “I think the pressure should come on me. I’m the guy that said that we’d be in this position again…. I’m the guy that believes we’ll beat them. So it comes down on me. Nobody else.”
“He’ll go down in history as maybe the greatest football coach in the history of this game or close to it," Ryan said. “He was at that level that week. I was not.”
Ryan admitted that his game plan in Week 13 "wasn't realistic" and too complicated. “When we had to make the adjustments, we couldn’t execute them,” Ryan said. “It really came down to coaching more than playing. Belichick was that much better than I was that game.”
"There’s chess matches involved every week,” Ryan added. “It was checkmate. He definitely outcoached me."
To that end, Ryan said he’ll simplify the plan this time. But he promised "a ridiculous amount of preparation on our part" against Patriots this week.
More nuggets from Ryan:
On taking a shot at Brady by saying that Manning studies more: “That wasn’t my intent,” Ryan said. “I recognize the guy’s an amazing quarterback. Everybody knows how he’s studies. But there’s only one Peyton Manning as far as preparation.”
On Brady pointing to Jets sidelines after scores: “He took a shot at me by his antics on the field.... Brady being Brady.”
On being a better coach than Belichick: "I'm not there yet. But I'm going to be Sunday.”
On how often he’ll watches the tape of MNF loss: “Every day.”
On his team’s confidence level: “We just beat Peyton Manning at Indy. This team’s won three road playoff games in two years. Hey, if we win this one, we’ll be right back to where we always are: Same Ol’ Jets, right back in the AFC Championship game.”
On if he thinks the Pats ran up score last time: "Yeah, just like we would do if we’re ever in that situation. We tried to do the same thing. It’s our job to stop them. What are they supposed to do? Just kneel on it when there’s 10 minutes to go in the game?”
On What he said to Belichick after the game: "I also told Belichick after the game, ‘We'll see you in Round 3’.... He looked at me."
On the NY-Boston rivalry: "Let's face it: New York's New York. Everybody wants to beat the best.”
