Bill Belichick Rips Meteorologists Prior to Denver Broncos Game

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick blasted meteorologists for their inaccurate weather forecasts prior to the Week 9 game against the Denver Broncos. The Patriots beat the Broncos, 43-21.

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick isn’t exactly amused with inaccurate weather forecasts. 

Belichick gave local meteorologists a piece of his mind prior to the Week 9 game against the visiting Denver Broncos, per Boston.com’s Steve Silva:

“Bill Belichick is not about to get spooked by any inclement Halloween weekend weather forecasts as he’s raining down on meteorologists everywhere today. 

“The Patriots coach — who has a history of being a little fast and loose in his Friday pressers — fired a shot across the bow toward those who predict the weather for a living. 

“Belichick was asked today about making preparations for possible bad weather coming for Sunday’s matchup with the Broncos.

“‘When you play in New England, you’ve got to be ready for everything,’ Belichick said. ‘Based on the forecasts we’ve gotten so far this year, none of them were very close to what the game conditions were. There was a 100 percent chance of rain last week, and the only water I saw was on the Gatorade table. It is what it is. We’ve got to be ready for whatever it is.’

“Prior to playing the Jets in Foxborough on Oct. 16, the forecast called for heavy rain for the Thursday night tilt. But by gametime, it was rather balmy and tropical for a brief shower ended about an hour before kickoff. The Patriots had spent the week preparing for a wet field and in-game precipitation. 

“‘My experience of going with the forecast, in this area, two days before the game, I’d bet a lot they’re wrong, just based on history, because they’re almost always wrong,’ Belichick said. ‘An hour before the game? Maybe, you might have something to work with there. But if you start game planning for what the weather is going to be and you game plan wrong, you’ve wasted a lot of time.’

“A reporter asked Belichick is he checks the forecast before the start of the game and the head coach continued to pour it on.

“‘When you walk out on the field, that’s really when you know what it is. The rest of it is a bunch of hot air,’ Belichick said. ‘We played down in Miami two years ago and there was a zero percent chance of rain — zero — and it rained. If I did my job the way they do theirs, I’d be here about a week.’

“Belichick — when reminded that he’s probably not going to be winning friends in the meteorology community with his salty comments — pumped the brakes a bit. 

“‘Look, I’m not saying I could do better than them,’ Belichick said. ‘I’m just saying they’re wrong a lot. We all make mistakes, I’m not being critical of them, I’m just saying I don’t think you can [game plan] based on [the forecast].'”

Bill Belichick is 30-9 when wearing a grey hoodie with the sleeves cut because SPORTS!
VID: http://t.co/tpbtwwJO1x pic.twitter.com/SiytfsJvhl— 120 Sports (@120Sports) November 4, 2014

The meterologists were not about to take Belichick’s remarks sitting down. They promptly fired back at the Patriots head coach, per a Nov. 3 update from Silva:

“After Sunday’s games wrapped up, The Weather Channel compared weather data from the 11 NFL games played on Sunday with forecasts they made on Friday and found their margin of error with an average of 1.4 degrees.

“TWC meteorologist Mike Bettes broke down the finding Monday morning and gave Belichick some advice. 

“‘I think we as meteorolgists felt a little blindsided by coach Belichick’s assumptions that the forecast is always wrong,’ Bettes told Boston.com. ‘We’re not really looking for an apology though. The odds of him apologizing are probably worse than the odds of him benching Tom Brady.

“‘Predicting the game time conditions at Gillette Stadium is more challenging than most stadiums, especially for snow, but we’ve studied the weather Xs and Os enough that we feel pretty confident in our ability to get it right.’

“Bettes responded to Belichick’s charges with the cameras rolling this morning.

“‘Coach…them’s fightin’ words,’ Bettes joked on Monday morning’s AMHQ show before breaking down the facts of the matter that showed three perfect forecasts and eight forecasts with one degree at kickoff time for 11 NFL games Sunday.

“‘That’s pretty good,’ Bettes said. 

“Belichick has yet to respond.” 

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