Content Post Dear Bill - Thanks for Giving Away the Super Bowl.

[Simpelton]

I suspect we’ll eventually find out at least bits and pieces.

All I know is playing him in the second half could not have resulted in any worse than what we got. That’s for damn sure. It’s not like they could have scored any more. Their plan was clearly to go for it on 4th down as much as humanly possible.

This is at its core an emotional argument. Thing A didn't work. That's what we know. It's not an unreasonable hypothesis that Thing B would have worked better, but since it's untried, the outcome is unproven and unknowable. All we know is that what they tried didn't work.

 

[IllegalContact]

No. It was always Tuna's but the point is BB had zero problem playing BB when he was hungover or carousing the night before. Why? Because he did his job.

parcells would have played butler.....

 

[Tuck]

yes.........what makes things worse, though, is the he legitimately could have made a difference

The important thing in this whole discussion is that Butler was left out of the game plan for a reason. We're just not privy to that reason. The only thing we know first hand is that it was not a discipline issue. And in my opinion, Butler's answer to Reiss at the team bus corroborates that.

 

[Triumph]

Maybe Butler borrowed Belichicks fedora without asking and lost it at the club?

Im going to find out.

 

[IllegalContact]

This is at its core an emotional argument. Thing A didn't work. That's what we know. It's not an unreasonable hypothesis that Thing B would have worked better, but since it's untried, the outcome is unproven and unknowable. All we know is that what they tried didn't work.

but the resource (Butler) lined up with the need (cover a WR) is logical

 

[PatriotsNumero1Fan]

One thing we do -- or should -- know is that whatever happened, Bill Belichick did not do it capriciously, or with no thought taken to the consequences. Whatever his reasons, I'm 100% convinced he only took action against Butler because he thought it was his only remaining course of action.

Anything else will have to wait for more information to become available -- if it ever does. Either way, in a dispute between one of the greatest coaches in football history, and a player who's pissed away chances before due to poor behavior (remember, there was a REASON Butler was a UDFA and working at Popeyes), I give Belichick the benefit of the doubt 25 times out of 10.

If he dressed him then it wasn't as bad.

 

[Simpelton]

Sure. But dont dress him and mke him stand on the sideline. I think you are being unfair to other patriots fans voicing their points by clubbing with what tomlin does. No one is saying BB is acting like tomlin. I just feel whether they decided to play butler or not coudlve been handled better. If they lost faith, dont dress him, send him home, cut him. But they felt they would need him in emergency right ? to dress him ? Emergency apparently was gilmore or someone else suffering an injury not defense unable to stop the eagles. Its important for the pats and BB to hold on to the principals and values which has reaped success. But it can be enforced in better ways which couldve effected the whole team less. At least that is what I am questioning.

I think that until we know what exactly preciptated this, it's impossible to say with any certainyy how much better Belichick could have handled it.

 

[PatriotsNumero1Fan]

If it was so bad why did belichick dress him? Just don't activate him. I am not buying any of this crap that he was a nuisance for weeks.

 

[Simpelton]

If he dressed him then it wasn't as bad.

.. or whatever happened, happened (or the decision of what to do about it happened) at a point where it was too late to make a roster move.

 

[IllegalContact]

That's the thing with this whole argument. We on the outside think its so obvious that it must be true that Butler could have helped them but we know almost nothing about what went into Bill's decision. I'm not saying fans dont have a right to have opinions but I have seen noth

Anything is possible. The important thing is Butler was left out of the game plan for a reason. We're just not privy to that reason. The only thing we know first hand is that it was not a discipline issue. And in my opinion, Butler's answer to Reiss at the team buss corroborates that.

true.......but from what I see, the logical portion was that Butler directly filled a need they had on the field.......to not even give it a chance on a series or a drive says this was something else.......something absolute, and going from one absolute in 2 playoff games to the opposite in the 3rd game goes far beyond scheme

 

[IllegalContact]

.. or whatever happened, happened (or the decision of what to do about it happened) at a point where it was too late to make a roster move.

the inactives are announced that day.......what's more likely is that he didn't want the rest of the defense thinking about it all day

 

[Simpelton]

parcells would have played butler.....

True. but Parcells probably wouldn't have given Brady a chance in the first place.

 

[RobertWeathers]

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........

I agree that BB had the option and the D completely sucked ass.

it made sense to give him a chance because the result could not have been any worse

It only makes sense if he felt Malcolm was ready to do his job and he could be trusted by the coaching staff to carry out his assignment.

I know he played 1000 plays this year and this f-ing sucks but clearly BB lost total and complete confidence in him.

 

[GorBelSer]

I doubt it. I think Butler had to do serious damage to himself with the coaching staff to lose their faith and trust. I think it went on for the entire lead up to the Super Bowl and culminated in them concluding they couldn’t trust him.

Could they trust themselves in the first place? They placed Rowe on Jeffery even though most analysts believed it would be a highly unfavorable matchup for us. They had slot CB in Rowe and opted for Chung to take that spot, instead of Bademosi on Smith and Rowe on Agholor. We all know Bademosi is not the greatest CB out there but at least he played outside while Rowe and Gilmore were gone and Smith was their least dangerous target. SS that was supposed to neutralize TE played against small WR and FS that was supposed to help on taller WRs had to chase TE.

 

[SVN]

I think that until we know what exactly preciptated this, it's impossible to say with any certainyy how much better Belichick could have handled it.

Sure. But he dressed him and made him stand on the sideline. We are saying making him inactive and sending him home wouldve been worse for team morale and players before the SB ? I guess..who knows. Maybe BB sprung this up last min on the other players so they dont have time to react and just play . If they had played well they wouldnt have thought so much but when they couldnt , they wondered why they arent being helped.

 

[Simpelton]

the inactives are announced that day.......what's more likely is that he didn't want the rest of the defense thinking about it all day

That's obviously unknowable. But I think if there was time to make a meaningful roster move they would have made one. Going out one man short defensively is even worse than not using your CB2.

 

[IllegalContact]

The important thing in this whole discussion is that Butler was left out of the game plan for a reason. We're just not privy to that reason. The only thing we know first hand is that it was not a discipline issue. And in my opinion, Butler's answer to Reiss at the team bus corroborates that.

the only thing we know is that someone said it was not discipline.......if it was scheme, then he would have found his way on the field at some point when they realized they had no way to cover Agholor......sounds like an emotional decision to me

 

[PatriotsNumero1Fan]

.. or whatever happened, happened (or the decision of what to do about it happened) at a point where it was too late to make a roster move.

Nonsense. He doesn't have to play him period. The guy was out the door after the season and bill decided to embarrass him on national tv.

 

[IllegalContact]

That's obviously unknowable. But I think if there was time to make a meaningful roster move they would have made one. Going out one man short defensively is even worse than not using your CB2.

could have put branch or harris in there instead

 

[Brady6]

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

Without fans there is no team for Belichick to coach and make millions of dollars. Don’t sit here and talk about what’s convenient like Belichick has done so much for us and it is wrong for us to be upset or question his decisions. Belichick might have done his job well in previous years but he didn’t do it well on Sunday night. If it was my decision I would fire him. He hurt an entire fan base, 62 other players, and a coaching staff all so he could stick it to one 25 year old guy who wanted to play so badly he was in tears before the game. Belichick deserves to be fired and if you feel otherwise you’re a nostalgic sucker.