Malcolm Butler Mega Thread

cmasspatsfan · Feb 5, 2018

obgod3 said:
Something about this smells. No matter what butler did or didn’t do he was on the sideline while the guys playing where getitng torched. Butler would have been a huge upgrade to Rowe, think about that missed tackle on 4th down late in the game, butler gets that tackle.

it was a bad decision on BB’s part and it definitely chips away at my personal thoughts about his greatness. A colossal F-up...

The whole thing, Butler out, Gronk talking about not knowing what he is doing, Brady saying “we will see”, Josh not committing to Indy, and BB making the stupidest call I ever saw....feels like 96 all over again when Parcels didnt fly home with the team. Did BB lose this on purpose......

No, just no

Mr.Bandwagon · Feb 5, 2018

You put a fuc.king safety on a slot!!!!!!!!!!!
How dare you!!!

SVN · Feb 5, 2018

I think the post game by the players says a lot. They put a lot into it and if they felt they were let down by the coaches then its sad. This iskinda like the lawyer milloy 31-0 game. BB nevr addressed it and the pats lost promptly. Except they had some experienced vets and 18 weeks ahead of them.

sb1 · Feb 5, 2018

obgod3 · Feb 5, 2018

I don’t believe Rapoport...sorry it just doesn’t add up....in the 4th quarter and your defense is getting trashed you have to try something else and you have one of the better CB’s in the league on the sideline...just....doesnt....add....up

#deliberate-f-up

skinnydog · Feb 5, 2018

chumpchange said:
I swear, the more I read, the worse it feels. As soon as the Eagles saw Butler was out, they switched their game plan to go after Rowe (as any coach would do). All Bill would have had to do was put Malcolm back in after the half...

"While the choice to bench Butler left Patriots fans scratching their heads, it also had a similar impact on the Eagles’ coaching staff. Butler had been one of New England’s best defensive players over the past three seasons. Philadelphia undoubtedly had game planned around attacking, or staying away from Butler, and one of their assistant coaches admitted they were shocked he wasn’t on the field.

“After the first series or two,” one assistant told TheMMQB about when they realized Butler wasn’t in the game. “‘We were like, ‘This guy’s not in the game! They have 23 (Patrick Chung) in there. That’s crazy!'” With Butler out of the game, Chung found himself with the difficult task of guarding Nelson Agholor in the slot, while Eric Rowe was outmatched on the outside against either Alshon Jeffery or Torrey Smith. “To go after 25 (Rowe),” the assistant said of the Eagles’ game plan with Butler out. “We could get Alshon (Jeffery) out there against him. We had Rowe on our team here in Philly, we knew that was a mismatch.”

Read more at: Eagles Assistant Coach Reacts To Patriots’ ‘Crazy’ Malcolm Butler Benching

So far nothing to justify the game long benching of Butler. Maybe it's out there and will come out, but if so, I think it would already be known. Benching him a series or a quarter punishes Butler, but to do so for the entire game punishes the team.

skinnydog · Feb 5, 2018

obgod3 said:
I don’t believe Rapoport...sorry it just doesn’t add up....in the 4th quarter and your defense is getting trashed you have to try something else and you have one of the better CB’s in the league on the sideline...just....doesnt....add....up

#deliberate-f-up

And if Rapport is correct?

mosi · Feb 5, 2018

chumpchange said:
I swear, the more I read, the worse it feels. As soon as the Eagles saw Butler was out, they switched their game plan to go after Rowe (as any coach would do). All Bill would have had to do was put Malcolm back in after the half...

"While the choice to bench Butler left Patriots fans scratching their heads, it also had a similar impact on the Eagles’ coaching staff. Butler had been one of New England’s best defensive players over the past three seasons. Philadelphia undoubtedly had game planned around attacking, or staying away from Butler, and one of their assistant coaches admitted they were shocked he wasn’t on the field.

“After the first series or two,” one assistant told TheMMQB about when they realized Butler wasn’t in the game. “‘We were like, ‘This guy’s not in the game! They have 23 (Patrick Chung) in there. That’s crazy!'” With Butler out of the game, Chung found himself with the difficult task of guarding Nelson Agholor in the slot, while Eric Rowe was outmatched on the outside against either Alshon Jeffery or Torrey Smith. “To go after 25 (Rowe),” the assistant said of the Eagles’ game plan with Butler out. “We could get Alshon (Jeffery) out there against him. We had Rowe on our team here in Philly, we knew that was a mismatch.”

Read more at: Eagles Assistant Coach Reacts To Patriots’ ‘Crazy’ Malcolm Butler Benching

Now that is the most damming thing I have read. The Eagles did not think highly of Rowe or Chung and knew how to abuse them. And abuse them they did.

SVN · Feb 5, 2018

skinnydog said:
And if Rapport is correct?

He could be right. But why activate him and make him stand on the sidelines if he wasnt good enough to give you 1 single snap ? Ok he didnt start him. Ok he didnt put him as the 2nd option with bademosi .Ok he didnt put him with richards getting torched . why activate him ? Couldve used branch or gilleslie instead. I dont know why it is wrong to ask this question.

Bella*chick · Feb 5, 2018

Chris Stevenson said:
lol

my deducing and usually being right, is not really “lol” worthy.

the gal above claimed butler was “weak” in practice, where i have yet to see any credence to that at all.

lol

Ian Rapoport reported he had rough practices. Maybe it’s true, maybe it’s not. You don’t know any better than anyone else so stop acting like you do.

obgod3 · Feb 5, 2018

skinnydog said:
And if Rapport is correct?

We probably will never know....until Butler signs with another team and tells folks...it will come out but I think Rapoport is wrong and in the Patriots back pocket on this.

chumpchange · Feb 5, 2018

skinnydog said:
So far nothing to justify the game long benching of Butler. Maybe it's out there and will come out, but if so, I think it would already be known. Benching him a series or a quarter punishes Butler, but to do so for the entire game punishes the team.

That's what bothers me so much. You can accept losing after giving it everything you had or even losing on a flukey play that just didn't go your way. But this was our Head Coach choosing to sabotage us. Bill put his ego before the good of the team. Kraft has already said of the tension lately that egos "need to be checked", and we certainly got an eyeful of it this game.

Bobsyouruncle · Feb 5, 2018

Cutting off your nose to spite your face comes to mind.

I guess BB taught the players a lesson. He would rather lose without him than win with him. Not sure the players agree with that.

Brady6 · Feb 5, 2018

All I know is Aaron Hernandez played in a super bowl after being part of double homicide so whatever Butler did had to have involved at least 3 murders.

ATippett56 · Feb 5, 2018

mosi said:
Now that is the most damming thing I have read. The Eagles did not think highly of Rowe or Chung and knew how to abuse them. And abuse them they did.

Patrick Chung also played for the Eagles (2013).

mosi · Feb 5, 2018

ATippett56 said:
Patrick Chung also played for the Eagles (2013).

Yup, and he stunk it big time there. And they picked on him. The wanted to stay away from Butler and what do the Pats do, bench Butler.

TB12TheGoat · Feb 5, 2018

bill was told to throw the game by the freemasons

bormio · Feb 5, 2018

This is a horrific mess. Players and coaches have busted their tails for a year, and from the reports of anger, feel like their head coach bailed on them at the finish line. He did not just make a mistake, he persisted in an action that hurt the chances of the team in the SB. How do you fix that? How do you get players to buy in again? Kraft needs to handle this - because the trust between the team and coach is shot. Kraft needs to make BB aware that he needs to address this with the team.

SHOWTIME15 · Feb 5, 2018

skinnydog said:
And if Rapport is correct?

Then Bill screwed up big time. Why would you upset the apple cart the day of the game? The pats players were all expecting to see Butler out there and to find out just hours before that he isn't playing just screws up everything. It's Bill putting his rules ahead of the W. I'm sorry but if Butler was not practicing well during the week this should have been resolved a few days before the game, not the day of. If Butler plays poorly in the first quarter then go ahead and bench him.

Nehalem · Feb 5, 2018

AndyJohnson said:
That doesn’t change the fact that the game plan was big nickel and big dime. It’s what we played week 1 against he most similar offense we faced.
Butler being benched meant Rowe played not someone else.

So basically after reviewing the KC game defensive geniuses BB and Matty P decided to go with the same game plan. But sub out Butler for Rowe(whose weaknesses the Eagles were intimately familiar having pawned him off on the Patriots)...

I take back the idea that they borrowed some of Butler's weed. Clearly they spent the last 2 weeks with Chandler Jones' stash. We are lucky BB didn't end up outside Mall of America, naked, singing Purple Rain.

Malcolm Butler Mega Thread

Veteran Starter w/Big Long Term Deal

Practice Squad Player

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In the Starting Line-Up

In the Starting Line-Up

In the Starting Line-Up

Experienced Starter w/First Big Contract

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Addicted to the light

In the Starting Line-Up

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Pro Bowl Player

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Experienced Starter w/First Big Contract

In the Starting Line-Up

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In the Starting Line-Up