Malcolm Butler Mega Thread

[Lee144]

Quick point here being missed. Butler is a pretty solid run stopper as has been Chung. With Butler out and Chung on the slot or TE this hurt the run stop and pass rush. The reason for the latter is the longer the secondary can cover, the better the front 7can hit the QB. Foles played well but we certainly helped him. Defense is a team game and the front 7 need secondary support and vice versa.

 

[Chris Stevenson]

I thought it was par for the course and that we would come out in good shape in the 2nd half when the Pats made some adjustments at half time like they always do. I felt my thinking was right on the money when Brady came out and went right down the field and scored. And then...the defense took the field again...and was the same, or worse than what they had played in the 1st half. I couldn't understand it.

when i saw
a burkhead i got a football boner, and i thoughtt he would be featured the entire second half. i was wrong and i still have no idea what happened, especially with cooks down

mcdaniels is overrated

he is prone to over-
analysis, even more than bb

 

[PatsDeb]

why do we always have to these things go down to the last possession AND the d has to be a hero of brady is the GOAT?

it is an offensive era and whiffing
in the red zone and settling on fgs to the point yet again bb doe not even trust gostkowski, so they botch a 4th and 5 later on, also hurt

i agree the d didn’t do well but the eagles d was just as poor. i am just tired of watching our offense start so slow, while the opponents is attacking and playing like a good offenses do, for 4 qtrs.

it should be easier for offenses, harder for
defenses because of the rules. we also had a td called a td against us that cleary was not a td

33 pts for us in the Super Bowl was a good offensive output. Brady carved them up in the 2nd half and the strip sack should not have been the play that sealed our fate. If the D had played even somewhat decently we would have been running the ball there, not desperately trying to score AGAIN, because we needed to keep up with what our D was giving up. This loss is totally on the D.

 

[bormio]

Most detailed speculation I've seen, although that doesn't mean the writer is closer to the truth than others. Even if this was the game plan, shouldn't it have been scrapped by halftime? Or by the end of the 3rd quarter?

Big difference - Bill’s plan vs Buffalo actually worked - whether Norwood hit the FG or not.

 

[Chris Stevenson]

Quick point here being missed. Butler is a pretty solid run stopper as has been Chung. With Butler out and Chung on the slot or TE this hurt the run stop and pass rush. The reason for the latter is the longer the secondary can cover, the better the front 7can hit the QB. Foles played well but we certainly helped him. Defense is a team game and the front 7 need secondary support and vice versa.

well, bademosi is our best guy statistically as a tackler..it was one reason why i felt he was a good option on torrey smith over butler. butler
had some weak games down the stretch and really much of the year.

i don’t get why bademosi didn’t get a ton more snaps, to be honest. he only had 11
snaps. the jordan richards mystery is the big one. he only can play downhill and is a liability in coverage, obviously. if it was 1955, he would be a great strong safety. lmao

 

[PatsDeb]

when i saw
a burkhead i got a football boner, and i thoughtt he would be featured the entire second half. i was wrong and i still have no idea what happened, especially with cooks down

mcdaniels is overrated

he is prone to over-
analysis, even more than bb

I don't have the same opinion. I thought the O was good in the Super Bowl. They tried a few things that didn't work (damn that pass to Brady would have been sweet), but they found their groove. The D on the other hand tried the same thing over and over with predictable results, with Butler on the bench for cripes sake.

 

[Chris Stevenson]

33 pts for us in the Super Bowl was a good offensive output. Brady carved them up in the 2nd half and the strip sack should not have been the play that sealed our fate. If the D had played even somewhat decently we would have been running the ball there, not desperately trying to score AGAIN, because we needed to keep up with what our D was giving up. This loss is totally on the D.

all true, except stat totals can be misleading. complementary football comes from a well run, balanced offense that scores tds not fgs.

philly scored tds in the first half, and you have to tip your cap on the seed to jeffery with rowe in perfect position and the trick play before halftime.

believe it or not there are other good players
in the nfl, not in patriot uniforms

 

[ivanvamp]

Severely compounded by the galactically stupid idea: hey! Let’s cripple ourselves!!!

Patricia is a very good defensive mind. Belichick is the greatest coach in NFL history. Together they just won 2 of the previous 3 Super Bowls.

Do you think they got stupid overnight? Or do you think they were intentionally "crippling themselves"? If so, why?

 

[Chris Stevenson]

I don't have the same opinion. I thought the O was good in the Super Bowl. They tried a few things that didn't work (damn that pass to Brady would have been sweet), but they found their groove. The D on the other hand tried the same thing over and over with predictable results, with Butler on the bench for cripes sake.

you thinking butler would have made
some magical difference, which is bizarre considering his up and down play all year and his antics leading into the super bowl with the coaches unable to trust him.

i would have preferred seeing bademosi get
more responisibility on smith, and that would have freed up mccourty in run support and maybe even some sneaky blitzes...

when chung got hurt, slide bademosi on ertz
and mccourty back over to torrey smith, who
i am assuming was the guy who removed him from the game.

serious question since i have not rewatched the game and you were there: mccourty was handling torrey smith prior to chung’s conccussion, correct?

jeffery was cooked if bb just told harmon to help rowe over the top and gilmore would have done welll on agoholor

 

[Deus Irae]

I don't have the same opinion. I thought the O was good in the Super Bowl. They tried a few things that didn't work (damn that pass to Brady would have been sweet), but they found their groove. The D on the other hand tried the same thing over and over with predictable results, with Butler on the bench for cripes sake.

Just a heads up:

You're wasting your time. That one's a troll, nothing more.

 

[mosi]

I’m still trying to wrap my brain around the start of the game

Gilmore on Smith
Rowe on Jefferey
Chung on Agholor

WTF

I know. Torry Smith has been a bust for the most part. Putting Gilmore on him just took Gilmore out of the equation. The Eagles went in wanting to target Rowe and Chung and they had their best receivers lined up against them. What makes this painful is the stupidity of it.

 

[aluminum seats]

You buy a team was so emotionally distraught by one player leaving they lost 31-0? A week later they smashed the Iggles.

It's not like he passed away.

Yes. They were emotionally dead that week. I'm honestly shocked that any long-term fan would not know this.

 

[PatsDeb]

all true, except stat totals can be misleading. complementary football comes from a well run, balanced offense that scores tds not fgs.

philly scored tds in the first half, and you have to tip your cap on the seed to jeffery with rowe in perfect position and the trick play before halftime.

believe it or not there are other good players
in the nfl, not in patriot uniforms

Oh I agree, and if Butler and the rest of our D had played their regular spots and we still gave up 41 points, then I would agree that Philly outplayed us outright. The problem is our usually genius head coach did something (in my opinion) totally stupid and unforgiveable - he messed with a defense that had played well down the stretch by benching the no. 2 corner and moving others around to compensate for it, then when they didn't compensate for it in any way, he stuck with it, Super Bowl win be damned! My way or the highway! Really I have to stop talking about it as I am giving myself high blood pressure.

 

[mosi]

BB trying something unorthodox on D in a key game can almost be expected.

Remember putting Rodney Harrison at cornerback (covering Marvin Harrison), not safety, and playing Ty Law at safety, not corner, vs. the Colts?

The Colts were dumbfounded. Marvin Harrison was blasted over and over and made one catch for 6 yards in the first half and finished with only 3 catches for 19 yards. Law had three interceptions. Rodney Harrison had a game-high 10 tackles, an interception and forced a fumble on Marvin Harrison.

The mystifying thing, of course, is that when your unorthodox strategy in not working, why won't you change it?

I'd guess that we won't know that, ever.

Are you implying that Richards or Chung is equivalent to Rodney Harrison? Do you remember Harrison?

 

[ivanvamp]

all true, except stat totals can be misleading. complementary football comes from a well run, balanced offense that scores tds not fgs.

philly scored tds in the first half, and you have to tip your cap on the seed to jeffery with rowe in perfect position and the trick play before halftime.

believe it or not there are other good players
in the nfl, not in patriot uniforms

Philly's defense allowed 18.4 points a game during the season. They allowed 10 to a good Falcons team and 7 to a good Vikings team.

They allowed 30+ points only twice - once against the Rams, who had one of the best offenses in football, and then in the SB against the Patriots.

The Patriots scored 33 on them. The Pats didn't just score FGs. They scored four touchdowns. This was the most points in regulation the Patriots have ever scored in a Super Bowl.

They should have had four more points minimum (botched FG and PAT). I personally think instead of 3 points early on, they should have had 10 (a FG and a TD). But still. 33 points against that defense is tremendous.

 

[SilverSeven]

believe it or not there are other good players
in the nfl, not in patriot uniforms

Which is why Brady's performance can be appreciated even more. Can't this line of thinking be applied to the slow start on offense? At the end of the day for a good portion of the game Brady carved up a great defense comprised of good players that were obviously not in Patriot uniforms...

 

[PatsDeb]

Patricia is a very good defensive mind. Belichick is the greatest coach in NFL history. Together they just won 2 of the previous 3 Super Bowls.

Do you think they got stupid overnight? Or do you think they were intentionally "crippling themselves"? If so, why?

YES they did get stupid overnight! That's the problem! How could they have done that to their team?! It's maddening!

 

[RobertWeathers]

Yes. They were emotionally dead that week. I'm honestly shocked that any long-term fan would not know this.

I'm well aware of it. I've never bought Lawyers exit was THE reason for a 31-0 loss. A bit of a distraction sure but it was so overblown

 

[patsfan13]

BB trying something unorthodox on D in a key game can almost be expected.

Remember putting Rodney Harrison at cornerback (covering Marvin Harrison), not safety, and playing Ty Law at safety, not corner, vs. the Colts?

The Colts were dumbfounded. Marvin Harrison was blasted over and over and made one catch for 6 yards in the first half and finished with only 3 catches for 19 yards. Law had three interceptions. Rodney Harrison had a game-high 10 tackles, an interception and forced a fumble on Marvin Harrison.

The mystifying thing, of course, is that when your unorthodox strategy in not working, why won't you change it?

I'd guess that we won't know that, ever.

Not sure anyone is gonna confuse Badamosi and Richards with Harrison and Law.

I remember what the BB game plan looked like.

 

[Kdo5]

No, because the team being shocked before the game clearly happened.

Yup. This 100%