Bills’ team store puts inflating pumps ‘front and center’ before Patriots game
There’s been plenty of noise out of Buffalo in anticipation of Sunday’s game against New England. With Rex Ryan at the helm for the Bills, they’re doing their best to supplant the New York Jets as the Patriots’ biggest AFC East rival. Now, the Bills’ team store is making a silent contribution to the hullaballoo.
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According to WIVB-TV newswoman Lauren Hall, the store placed inflating pumps “front and center” for this weekend’s game, an obvious ode to the deflate-gate saga that’s plagued the Patriots this offseason.
This is merely the latest in a week’s worth of shade cast at New England from Buffalo. On Tuesday, Bills defensive tackle Marcell Dareus told The Buffalo News, “Don’t nobody like the Patriots. Let’s just be honest about it now. Put it out there.” For some reason, I can’t imagine the double negative was intended.
Added Buffalo safety Aaron Williams: “I don’t like New England so, yeah, it’s definitely personal for me. Me saying that may run a lot of stories. But that’s just the way I feel.” Correct, sir. It ran a lot of stories.
For good measure, here’s one more from the lengthy list of Bills who went on record with their dislike of the Patriots. Linebacker Nigel Bradham told the paper, “We’re going to put it on tape, man. It’s goign to be on tape. One thing I will say is that it’s going to be on tape. People will know, people will know.”
Things should only get louder in Buffalo as the week wears on, since fans raised $9,000 to bring a Guinness World Records rep to Ralph Wilson Stadium on Sunday in an attempt to break a standard for crowd noise that was set by Kansas City Chiefs fans — against the Patriots in September 2014.
You know the chatter is unusually high when Ryan is the one toning down the rhetoric, calling Bill Belichick “the best coach in the game” and conceding he’d need King Kong to cover Rob Gronkowski.
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As for the Patriots, Belichick had a message for Ryan & Co., telling the New England media, “Well I think our record against him has been OK. I’ll take it.” Indeed, the Patriots finished 9-4 against Ryan’s Jets.
Likewise, Tom Brady plans to tune out the noise, but dropped a subtle shot with reporters Wednesday.
“It doesn’t matter to me. The games are won by what you do over the course of the week, how you go about your preparation so you can be prepared for the game,” Brady said. “He’s a great coach. He’s obviously got them confident. They’re ready to go. It sounds like they’re already ready to go. It’s already Wednesday. We still need some time to prepare for them. There’s a lot to prepare for. It’s a good scheme. We’ve got to put everything into it.”
For the record, Brady owns a 23-3 record against the Bills in his career, his highest winning percentage against any team he’s faced more than four times. (In limited meetings, the Falcons, Bears, Cowboys, Jaguars, Vikings and Eagles are a combined 0-22 against the four-time Super Bowl champion).
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Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
