Patriots HC Bill Belichick responds to former rival's criticism

"I'm not really sure what he's talking about," Belichick said when asked about Ryan's comments. "Rex has never been with the Patriots, I'm not really sure what that means either."

Belichick is in the midst of the most difficult season of his career, as New England lost its fifth in a row on Sunday to drop to an AFC-worst 2-10. The three-time AP Coach of the Year's two worst seasons as a head coach came during his last year with the Cleveland Browns in 1995 and his first campaign with the Patriots in 2000, two seasons where he finished 5-11.

Once Tom Brady took over as New England's franchise quarterback early in the 2001 season, he and Belichick combined to form one of, if not the best, coach-quarterback duo in NFL history. All six of Belichick's Super Bowl titles and all three of his AP Coach of the Year awards came with TB12 as his team's signal-caller.

The 71-year-old has posted a record of 331-175 (second-most wins) over his 29 seasons as a head coach, including a 31-13 mark in 44 playoff games. The difference in wins and losses with and without Brady is drastic, however.

Belichick now has an 82-100 overall record without the three-time MVP and a 27-35 mark since the "GOAT" left following the 2019 season. Belichick went 219-64 in the 20 seasons with Brady as his quarterback.

Not only have the Patriots lost five in a row, but they've been shut out twice this year and are the lowest-scoring team in the league (12.3 points per game).

Ryan was the New York Jets coach for six seasons from 2009-14 and led the team to one of their biggest wins of the 21st century, upsetting Belichick's Patriots in the Divisional Round on the road in January 2011. That was the most recent playoff win (and postseason appearance) for Gang Green.

Ryan has been an ESPN NFL analyst since he was fired as the Buffalo Bills head coach following the 2016 campaign. Between his time with Jets and Bills, Ryan went only 4-12 against the Belichick and the Patriots.