FOXBORO, Mass. — Bill Belichick isn’t going to waste his All Hallows’ Eve glued to The Weather Channel.
The New England Patriots head coach pooh-poohed any concerns about this weekend’s forecast during his news conference Friday. Temperatures are expected to be in the low 40s, with a 50 percent chance of rain and 20-mph winds Sunday, when the Patriots take on the Denver Broncos at 4:25 p.m. — not that Belichick is paying attention.
“When you play in New England, you have to be ready for everything,” Belichick said. “I’d say, based on the forecasts we’ve gotten so far this year, none of them have been very close to what game conditions were. There was 100 percent chance of rain last week, and the only water I saw was on the Gatorade table. It is what it is. You know as well as I do, it can start one way and change during the game.
“We gotta be able to be ready for whatever it is, but my experience of going with the forecast in this area, two days before the game, I mean, I’d bet a lot that they’re wrong — just based on history. They’re almost always wrong. An hour before the game? Maybe. Might have something to work with there. If you start game-planning for what the weather’s going to be, and you game-plan wrong, you’ve wasted a lot of time.”
Belichick, who has a .728 winning percentage as the Patriots’ head coach, blasted meteorologists’ success rate, citing one very specific example.
“When you walk out on the field, that’s really when you know what it is,” Belichick said. “The rest of it really is just a lot of hot air. We played down at Miami two years ago, and it was a zero percent chance of rain. Zero — and it rained. I’m just telling you. If I did my job the way they do theirs, I’d be here about a week.
“Look, I’m not saying I could do it better than them, I’m just saying they’re wrong a lot. They’re wrong a lot. We all make mistakes. I’m not being critical of them. I don’t think you can go based on that.”
