Malcolm Butler

I was happy with Butlers performance...but Bradley Fletcher needs to go! This guy can't cover worth anything!

He certainly got abused by Brown but I wasn't shocked by it. Brown is a stud and a hell of a difficult player to cover.

However he still fought hard and I thought there were plays where he was competitive and was actually in decent position. Not one of my main concerns coming out of tonight.

Deus Irae said:

Butler got his ass handed to him. He remained competitive throughout, though, and that's a good sign.

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Hahaha

Ben had all day to throw and Brown managed 133yds 1td. His td came under 1min left in the game and had another circus catch both these plays Butler had perfect coverage. You take those 2 catches away and Brown has 7catches for under 100yds. Brown had to other big plays 1 he flat beat Butler the other was on a double move with all day to pass.
Brown vs Haden last year
5-116-1
7-118-0

Thank god we don't have that scrub Haden dudes gets his ass waxed every time.

One thing I took out this game is Butler won't be a problem vs #1 WR

Can't wait for his matchups with Dez, ODB, and DT.

carmelo15 said:

Hahaha

Ben had all day to throw and Brown managed 133yds 1td. His td came under 1min left in the game and had another circus catch both these plays Butler had perfect coverage. You take those 2 catches away and Brown has 7catches for under 100yds. Brown had to other big plays 1 he flat beat Butler the other was on a double move with all day to pass.
Brown vs Haden last year
5-116-1
7-118-0

Thank god we don't have that scrub Haden dudes gets his ass waxed every time.

One thing I took out this game is Butler won't be a problem vs #1 WR

Can't wait for his matchups with Dez, ODB, and DT.

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Why are you talking about Haden from last year? He has nothing to do with how Butler played tonight. Butler got smoked.

It was his second start in the NFL, so it's not as if him getting smoked by a top 5 QB throwing to a top 5 WR should come as any surprise. It's more important that he kept fighting, and now we hope he'll learn from his night.

Antonio Brown is virtually uncoverable in man-coverage. Anyone going into this game thinking that Butler would shutdown one of the best, and most explosive tacticians there is in the game, I have a bridge to sell you.

Butler competed as best he could against a lethal combination. I think they are some positives from that, but the biggest thing I take from this is that he is competitive in coverage against the apex of this style of receiver. The sudden type that uses footwork, head fakes, stutter steps and crisp cuts to torch people rather than just straight physicality, a la Dez Bryant.

That's a baptist by fire for a player looking to make a name for himself beyond just one play. How this game will expedite his development is anybody's guess. But, one can only assume that if he's this competitive against Brown imagine how he'll fare against lesser receivers.

Deus Irae said:

Why are you talking about Haden from last year? He has nothing to do with how Butler played tonight. Butler got smoked.

It was his second start in the NFL, so it's not as if him getting smoked by a top 5 QB throwing to a top 5 WR should come as any surprise. It's more important that he kept fighting, and now we hope he'll learn from his night.

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He didn't get toasted 8 catches for 110yds is getting toasted.

Haden is brought up cause he's an elite CB who got beat both times last year vs Butler making his 1st start. It's like some of you expected Brown to be under 50yds.

He was put on an island with arguably the best wideout in the league. Shows the confidence that the coaching staff has with him. They didn't play much zone tonight until around the 4th quarter.

VectorPrime said:

Well he can only go up from here

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Only up from here, huh??

I don't think Butler played a perfect game by any means, however, for an unheralded and brand new starter he played alright. A few things point to some promise. He may and hopefully will improve from here (especially against a QB who knows how to operate a passing game). But i can assure you that his performance can also go down from here and significantly so (hopefully not).

Seriously, a post of "only go up from here" just plain sucks regarding a virtual nobody that rocketed to a brand new #1 CB when few would argue his first start wasn't at least so-so.

BradyFTW! said:

I wouldn't say he played well, but he played passably. I agree that the stat line was worse than the actual performance. A few of those catches by Brown were just unbelievable plays on his part despite Butler being in the right position.

The pass rush no-show vs. an iffy Pittsburgh line is more of a concern, although I'm not ready to freak out over either. It's week one. The only thing that would truly bum me out from this game is if Easley's injury turns out to be serious.

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I cant agree more with ur post, Butler is no Revis, but we ll see how many completions will Revis have against Brown. This Brown guy is very very good. Luckily they didnt have Bell and Martavis Bryant.
I am worried about Easley. I want him in Colts game.

Deus Irae said:

Butler got his ass handed to him. He remained competitive throughout, though, and that's a good sign.

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The guy was frequently one on one against a WR who has historically repeatedly produced noted amounts of receptions, from one of the top passing QBs in the league who had I think 40 attempts, who frequently had much too much time to pick and choose his throws, along with a rushing game balance that was certainly doing its part, from a team was playing from behind most of the game (emphasizing always keeping it in front of him for a noted section of the game)

Butler has some work to do no doubt but "Smoked" is either an overreaction or just plain exaggeration.

thecore762 said:

I was happy with Butlers performance...but Bradley Fletcher needs to go! This guy can't cover worth anything!

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Harmon's INT was in part a result of Fletcher's coverage.

I thought the DBs played well in general. The coverage by the LBs were bad though. Also glad not to see Logan Ryan too much. Butler bit too hard on some plays. But that is just experience.

Butler wasn't as bad as some are saying. Yes he gave up a number of completions, but on at least three of them he had very good coverage. Rothlisberger had a very good game last night and Brown is arguably the best possession receiver in the NFL. Butler won't see that "perfect storm" on too many more occasions this year, at least until the playoffs.

Like others have said, he was in position for most plays. I just hope he doesn't catch Second Years Pats DB Disease of being Almost There on every catch. Would have like to have seen him make a play on at least one of those close balls.

But yeah Brown is the best in the league and there was zero pass rush so all-in-all it was B- effort for me.

manxman2601 said:

Harmon's INT was in part a result of Fletcher's coverage.

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Don't take the imaginary low-hanging fruit away from him !

But on a more serious note, it is amazing how a lot of people here forget every year that the first few games are essentially extended TC for BB & Co. Give the individual parts some time (2-3 games) to gel together and for the coaching staff to get a good grasp on the team. In short, don't overreact to everything (negative + positive). But, yeah, it is the same business every year..

I thought Butler competed hard the entire night against one of the best in the business. Brown definitely won the competition, but Butler earned my respect by not losing his resolve.

I know that sounds lame to some, but honestly, it was incredibly impressive. A lot of people don't understand the mental toughness required to bounce back from bad plays/bad beats and focus on the job at task. Honestly, most people can't do it. One bad moment spirals into a bad series into a bad day.

This kid fought tooth and nail the entire night. Brown made some incredible catches (that one-handed one around Butler's helmet as an example). Brown burned him on that double-move too. But he didn't let it ruin his night. I still don't know how Brown scored that TD on that last drive either.

And I am 100% serious about how impressed I was with Butler despite the struggles. Bill mentioned it in "Do Your Job," talking about Arrington and how he would change if someone caught a few balls on him. It's pretty common for many players. Look at the entire Bills and Jets rosters over the past few years. First sign of toughness, they flail about and lose their minds. Butler stayed composed throughout, didn't let one play ruin the next. It's a huge reason he made that INT in the Super Bowl after he was in coverage on a play he thought would cast him as the goat (not the Greatest Of All Time, but the other kind of goat). He took a second to process it, pushed it out of his mind, then re-focused on the task at hand.

We know he has the physical skills to be successful at this level. But he showed me quite a lot more of mental toughness too, and it was impressive. He's only in his second year, he's going to improve, but he showed tonight that he's not backing down one bit from anyone, no matter what happens.

tombonneau said:

Like others have said, he was in position for most plays. I just hope he doesn't catch Second Years Pats DB Disease of being Almost There on every catch. Would have like to have seen him make a play on at least one of those close balls.

But yeah Brown is the best in the league and there was zero pass rush so all-in-all it was B- effort for me.

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I've learned to never get too worried about the first few games of the season, or the first drive or two of a game. Those will often have you thinking "boy, this team can't stop anything", and then they will adjust and look like they should

MassPats38 said:

As with every season post-2004, you can expect some hard lessons early on. The hope is they pick-up the D and fix the mistakes quickly.

Losing Wilfork on the line will be felt. The rookie replacing him will likely go through the same growing pains that Wilfork suffered.

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They had hard lessons on 2001, 2003 and 2004 early as well.

Malcolm was up and down - which I expected. 2nd career start and playing more than a qtr.

He played man vs one if best WRs in the game and one of the best throwing to him.

Too many free releases and Buzzards Luck on a couple of almost INTs.

I didn't see anything frightening.

Just gotta see how he keeps his confidence and improves.

4plays that i remember and shows how good Brown is
-same play as SB INT, where Brown caught the pass and Butler couldnt tackle him, other dude did eventually
-double move by brown, he cleary smoked him there...great moved by Antonio.
-i think it was in the last drive or one before where Big Ben throws to Brown and he was i think in the middle of two players and he just turned and caught it. Amazing. Butler was real close.
-TD, Butler was inches away from deflecting
I think he is the best route runner in NFL and wonder why he was 6rd pick.

Butler was phenomenal. One year ago he was nobody, just a guy who has a good preseason, hal year ago he becomes world famous guy who has the best SB INT, and now he is becoming really god player. HE has skills and he is MENTAL strong and plays with SWAG. He will be a beast in two years.

1) The vaunted "upgraded" pass rush never got going ....extending routes
2) Brown is the best WR in the NFL...IMO
3) Big Ben threaded some needles
4) DB finger tips were there to tip/deflect/intercept......but even slightly tipped balls ended up in WR hands
5) Butler's straightline speed may be an issue vs the sprinter type WRs
6) Where were the safeties to clamp down on the best WR in the NFL? I will answer my own question......Because Pitt was ramming the ball at will through the defensive sieve, aka D line...NE was forced to think run first which left Butler on the lonely island. Defenses are only as strong as their weakest link....and the D line had issues.
7) Game #1

I love the kids competitiveness and I expect much positive growth