Dear Bill - Thanks for Giving Away the Super Bowl.

[mosslost]

And benched Welker for a series in a playoff game for a couple of foot jokes. And benched Seymour for a quarter for coming back late from a relative's funeral. And banished Butler for a big chunk of OTAs for missing something or being late (I can't remember exactly what it was).

At least in NE, BB has always been an extreme and consistent hardass about this stuff. If it is true that Butler had an altercation with a coach Saturday night, the SB benching doesn't surprise me at all and I don't blame BB for doing it, given his disciplinary approach.

Belichick has lost his ****

 

[Kdo5]

Bird won a title after switching coaches., maybe time for Brady to get a new regime for his GOATness.

The winning culture Belichick has helped build here has been very important to our success. So we have the by far the best chance with Belichick coaching.

A decision like this though...has to put a dent in his players trust which is a real shame.

 

[Tuck]

Very reasonable scenario.

I have no idea what Malcolm did/did not do to warrant such a drastic decision by BB. Lost of rumors are flying around.

All I know is at no point in the game BB felt Malcolm could help the team at a level needed to win the game.

Butlers struggles in practice may not have even been that bad. I could see Bill making the move if he just felt like he couldn't trust Butler in a critical point in the game for whatever reason.

I think they value consistency over anything so a bad week in practice seems like a reasonable explanation. to me.

 

[ForThoseAboutToRock]

No one is defending him.
Some of us just are choosing not to cry and accept that there are reasons for what happened.

Assuming the truth of some rumors (and possibly not others) - Belichick deserves criticism for how he chose to make this decision - not giving adequate reasoning given the controversial nature of the plan, leaving players in the dark, causing division and blame in the locker room, etc.

But otherwise, you're completely right. We know there were reasons for what happened, and we know the outcome, and we (meaning Patsfans generally) are just filling in the gaps with guesses based on old or meaningless information.

 

[RobertWeathers]

nothing to do with caving and everything to do with not properly understanding your alternatives....he simply didn't have anyone else who could cover a WR

'principle' beat out logic

BB believed Rowe could do the job. He believed Bademosi could do the job. The argument is between you and BB on those topics.

Personally I think Rowe is a decent CB3. Bademosi...meh.

For all we know BB might have been thinking he was screwed with all CBs aside from Gilmore.

 

[Ivan]

Butler f.cks up

It’s Belichick fault

 

[IllegalContact]

I suspect the decision was made after the week of practice when it was determined Malcolm was not going to be helpful. That would have given the defensive coaching staff time to plug n play Rowe, Bademosi, Chung, etc into the appropriate packages and overall defensive game plan.

zero snaps.........I don't think that was the big picture at all......not after getting 100% through the playoffs.......if that is true, it would be the worst logic in a very long time

 

[TB_Helmet]

I did not answer your bad question yes. Ask a better question and it will get a better answer.

Great, good discussion.

 

[Ring 6]

Assuming the truth of some rumors (and possibly not others) - Belichick deserves criticism for how he chose to make this decision - not giving adequate reasoning given the controversial nature of the plan, leaving players in the dark, causing division and blame in the locker room, etc.

But otherwise, you're completely right. We know there were reasons for what happened, and we know the outcome, and we (meaning Patsfans generally) are just filling in the gaps with guesses based on old or meaningless information.

You are assuming things that probably aren’t true. You understand that, others don’t.

 

[mosslost]

The winning culture Belichick has helped build here has been very important to our success. So we have the by far the best chance with Belichick coaching.

A decision like this though...has to put a dent in his players trust which is a real shame.

Anyone can lose their luster. Brady is the “reason for the season”. I have seen the light on this now. Brady made Belichick into the Hoodie.

 

[PittPatriot]

BB made the decision Malcolm's preparation would not put him a position to be successful in the game and thus hurt the team.

You can dislike that all you want.

What is clear is how BB runs the organization is suddenly inconvenient for you

RW - with all due respect - I don't think it has to be an all or nothing situation. We can appreciate BB for what he does, but that does not make him immune to our critical review of what he does.

I am with @PatsDeb on this.

Another point:
1. watching at home, we knew early first quarter that Butler was not playing despite being active. I can't imagine being AT the game and not knowing that and seething while you watch the opposition move the ball against our lame duck defense.
2. While this loss really hurts...I am glad I didn't from $15,000 to go to the Super Bowl and come home heartbroken. You are a stronger person and I, Deb.

 

[XLIX]

I think you hold BB to a higher moral standard than I do.

BB played Chandler Jones when he was high on synthetic weed and staggering around 1/2 naked throughout Foxboro.

There is a story Lawrence Taylor was in jail overnight on drunk driving and BB had a Giants lawyer bail him out. Parcells approved it.

The common thread was both players - in BBs estimation, practiced well, knew the gameplan and he trusted them to do their job on Sunday.

I see people bringing up Lawrence Taylor quite a bit, but Belichick was never head coach of Lawrence Taylor so the decision to play him or bench him was not Belichick's to make.

 

[PatriotsNumero1Fan]

Butlers struggles in practice may not have even been that bad. I could see Bill making the move if he just felt like he couldn't trust Butler in a critical point in the game for whatever reason. I think they value consistency over anything so a bad week in practice seems like a reasonable explanation. to me.

That's horsesh*t! That wasn't it and even if it was you still put him in the game. Nothing was working. Your defense kept giving up big 3rd downs.

 

[IllegalContact]

BB believed Rowe could do the job. He believed Bademosi could do the job. The argument is between you and BB on those topics.

Personally I think Rowe is a decent CB3. Bademosi...meh.

For all we know BB might have been thinking he was screwed with all CBs aside from Gilmore.

again, zero snaps and watching all that was going on......the option was there to give him a chance.....and the situation was begging for it........it made sense to give him a chance because the result could not have been any worse

 

[Ivan]

Just another defensive collapse by the "genius", Belidick.

Troll

 

[VOODOOZF]

Every single bit of this is on Butler. He was an immature jerk. He played below his potential all season because he was pissed he didn't get traded or get a huge contract. Then when it came to the biggest game of the season he decided he was more important then the team. He put the coaching staff in a no win position. There are team rules, there are consequences if you break them. He broke them, he was punished, end of story.

Go cry somewhere else about BB following rules and benching a player that didn't care, until he got on camera and could cry for national tv. Hopefully he will grow up, probably he won't.

Yeah, did he follow the rules when Chandler Jones showed up naked at a police station after smoking synthetic weed? If I recall he played the next game...I’m sure Lawrence Taylor never had an infraction with team rules while in rehab for drugs, “smoking crack three times a week” falling asleep at the wheel of a car etc..

Bill Belichick cost the Patriots a Super Bowl

 

[PatriotsNumero1Fan]

Butler f.cks up

It’s Belichick fault

We don't know what happened and even if he did it's the damn super bowl! He's out of your life after the season! Bill didn't swallow his pride and they lost the super bowl.

 

[mosslost]

If I was Gronk I would “Pearl Harbor” Belichick

 

[ashley]

Belichick has lost his ****

If there's another coach in the league that you'd rather have than Belichick, please let us know.

 

[Bella*chick]

It’s ok to say BB made a bad decision. IMO, the benching isn’t as big of an issue as the not trying something different after halftime. To me, that was the mistake. Benching for a half of a Super Bowl is plenty if it’s disciplinary. If it’s not and it really is a football decision, well, make a different one when you can clearly see the first one wasn’t working.

Would we have won the game? I don’t know. But now we’ll never know and it sucks for the other players (not to mention the fans).