Patriots vs. Bills: All Bark and No Results for Rex Ryan and Co.

By Shreyas Laddha | Nov 24, 2015

Rex Ryan always has the Patriots on his mind, but he walked away disappointed again on Monday night, as New England defeated his Bills, 20-13.

Another week passes, and another loss mounts for Rex Ryan against the Patriots. After taking care of business on Monday night, the Patriots defeated the Bills for the second time this season, giving them their fifth loss. Every year it seems Rex Ryan hypes his team’s game against the Patriots, and whether it be with the Buffalo Bills or the New York Jets, he leaves it with a loss.

Ryan’s teams typically put up valiant efforts, as they did on Monday night, but Bill Belichick clearly has his number. Ryan’s all-time record against the Patriots is a less than stellar 4-10. The only important win Rex has ever had against New England came back in 2011, when he led the Jets to a playoff win over the Pats.

As always, going into this game, Rex Ryan wanted nothing more than to beat the Patriots. He had built up to the game in the previous week with his comments. This is what Rex Ryan had to say about the Patriots, via the Boston Herald:

"“You know what? The only reason I talk about them is they’re the No. 1 team in our division,” Ryan told Patriots’ reporters prior to the game. “That’s where we want to be. You guys always say that I’m obsessed with them and all that. You guys are obsessed with them, not me. You’re the ones who talk about them every single day.”"

A little defensive are we?

Simply said, no matter what part of the season we are in, Rex Ryan has the Patriots on his mind. Unfortunately for him, it continued to be for a lost cause on Monday.

At the beginning of the game, the Bills applied pressure often leading to Tom Brady on his backside. Of course, every time the Bills seemed to make a big play, it was offset by a penalty, which seems to be a norm in all Rex Ryan teams. In fact, the Bills are second in the league in penalties, a surprise to exactly no one.

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The half looked to be ending in a 3-3 stalemate until the Bills missed a 48 yard field goal which gave the Patriots the ball back with about a minute left. In true Tom Brady fashion, he excelled in the 2 minute drill, throwing for a late touchdown, and sent off the Patriots with 10-3 lead. Ryan was visibly upset on the sideline.

The 3rd quarter started off with some controversy. The Bills answered back with a touchdown making it 10-10. Then, the Patriots’ James White scored a rushing touchdown as the Patriots quickly moved to the line after a big play. It didn’t matter, but of course the Bills drew a penalty flag for being off sides on the play, and the score was then 17-10.

After that, the Patriots regained possession of the ball on a Bills special team’s fumble which gave them great field position, and led to a Patriots field goal. The Bills scored a field goal making it 13-20, and took back the ball after a quick Patriots three and out.

A clearly thrilled Rex Ryan shakes hands with Bill Belichick following ANOTHER loss to the Patriots. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

The Bills only had one timeout, after wasting their other two due to poor game management earlier in the half. They could not get down the field in time, which led to a Patriots’ win and highlighted Rex Ryan’s inability to manage the clock and control his team properly.

Close, but not close enough. Despite dealing with a ton of major injuries, the Patriots are now 10-0 and in the driver’s seat in the AFC. Ryan’s Bills are 5-5 and will have to make a big late season push to even sniff a Wild Card.

It sure seems like every time the Patriots and Rex Ryan play each other, he talks a big game, and nearly every time he ends up disappointed in the end. Perhaps a change of strategy should be considered? Probably not, he is too obsessed with what the Patriots are doing.

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Here’s what a clearly subdued Rex Ryan had to say after another loss to his hated rivals, according to the Boston Globe:

"“We’ve come up short many times being here when you think you’ve got them by the ropes, but at the end of the day, they find ways to win and that’s what championship teams do, and we’re not at that level right now,” Ryan said. “I can promise you one thing, we’re going to work our tails off to get there.”"

Maybe next time, Rex. But if we are being honest with ourselves, probably not.

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