Bills head coach Rex Ryanhas had a rivalry with the Patriotsdating back to his days with the Jets, and as he's trying to establish a winning culture in Buffalo, he's proceeding with a similar sense of bravado.
Judging by the way the franchise rearranged some items in the stadium store in advance of Sunday's matchup, it appears to be following his lead.
This, of course, is a reference to the whole Deflategate saga that dominated the NFL news cycle for the entire offseason, and nearly caused Tom Brady to be suspended for the first four games of the season. And it was just part of the theatrics surrounding this Week 2 matchup.
Ryan said earlier this week that he didn't fear the Patriots, and added that he was so unconcerned with their running back that he didn't even know his name. The normally unflappable Bill Belichick even took a shot at Ryan in response, saying that his team's overall record against Ryan (9-4) was "pretty good," which is about the most trash talk you'll ever hear from New England's head coach.
Buffalo's team Twitter account got involved, too, commenting on a remark Belichick made about the level of crowd noise in the stadium.
Given the Patriots' sustained level of success, the trash talk has been predictably one-sided. But give the Bills credit for doing their part to make things as entertaining as possible.
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[via B/R]
