What's your point? Bill's untouchable in your world? Too bad, get over it, I'm bringing up obviously questionable decisions by Belichick that have significantly impacted the overcome of entire seasons. They're worth discussing. Create an In Bill We Trust thread and see where that takes you.
You need a dictionary bub. It's not conjecture to say Belichick benched Butler for a disciplinary reason. We know Butler was dressed and played one ST snap so we know he was healthy enough to play. We know Butler went from 100% of defensive snaps to 0%. We know Eric Rowe played his highest percentage of snaps for the season by far. We know Rowe played incompetently in the Super Bowl as did Richards and Bademosi. We know the pass defense got shredded and gave up 41 points. We know despite a historic output from the Patriots offense, they lost the game. So it stands to reason that the benching of Butler led to the Patriots losing the Super Bowl.
Whatever the reason was for disciplining Butler, we know it didn't warrant his release from the team or being entirely inactive for the game. We know Belichick had Butler at his disposal to insert him into the game at anytime yet he chose not to despite the disaster unfolding before him. We know Belichick intentionally made a decision (benching Butler), despite having an alternative (playing Butler), and it blew up in his face. For that he deserves to be roundly criticized at least.
I think Brady justifiably got tired of Belichick's nonsense. Brady's also questioned the Butler benching, if somewhat discreetly, but it was clear he didn't agree with it. Belichick also was failing to surround Brady with talent, which happened repeatedly throughout Brady's years in NE. Belichick was ****ing Brady around with the contracts and once Brady asked for the 'no franchise' clause it was apparent he would be leaving the team. Had Belichick not greased the skids for Brady's departure, I think he would have chosen to end his career as a Patriot. He clearly has plenty of football still left in him which Belichick totally miscalculated. For that Belichick deserves to be roundly criticized as well.
It's not nitpicking. These are high profile decisions that cost the team games and rings. It's all fair game. It unfolds before us, we see the consequences of his decisions, and we draw our conclusions. Disagreement is inevitable. I don't get the resistance to an honest debate.