Malcolm Butler Mega Thread

[mosslost]

Partying does not warrant benching for an ENTIRE game, maybe just a quarter. Besides, Bill said it was not disciplinary.

it's a waiting game.. we won't know..

 

[pwes]

Not sure how credible this guy is



Another one

There is absolutely no way in hell if Butler did all this Bill would have allowed him to dress. None of this is credible. I'll wait to hear it from Reiss or Curran.

 

[VectorPrime]

If Bill figured that Rowe deserved to be the number 2 corner, fine. I can understand that. But to say Butler wasn’t good enough to be the 3rd corner or at the very least the 4th or 5th DB you are smoking crack.

 

[Pessimistic Pete]

Maybe Belichick is Bettor X in Vegas?

Or maybe he found out Butler was Bettor X minutes before kickoff!

 

[pwes]

The partying & missing team flight for nefarious reasons doesn't jive with this report



What does jive is exactly what BB said. He didn't think Butler could help the team. He benched Butler vs KC too. Eagles run a very similar system on offense. That truly makes it worse IMO. They learned nothing from that KC game. Butler started 17 of 19 games Guess which 2 he didn't start.

"After he played 98.8 percent of the defensive snaps in 2015, and then 96.7 percent of the defensive snaps in 2016, it was eye-opening to see Butler utilized only in the team’s three-cornerback nickel package. The Patriots opened the game with Stephon Gilmore and Eric Rowe as their top cornerbacks."

Malcolm Butler on reduced role: I haven't been performing; no excuses

And this is the most believable. I buy that this is what happened. What defies logic is after the game starts and you see your defense getting abused and Foles marching down the field drive after drive is not at least throwing Butler in there to see if he can help generate a stop. Not even trying is the stupid part.

 

[TB_Helmet]

Belichick asserts that it did. If you disagree please justify your position including an explanation of why Belichick's reasoning is incorrect.

Sorry, I think the onus is on BB's defenders to justify benching your starting CB2 (one of the best CB2 in the league) who had played 97% of all snaps that year and has come up huge in the postseason in the past, especially when the defense was historically bad in the biggest game of the year. That's pretty self-evident to me.

 

[mosslost]

There is absolutely no way in hell if Butler did all this Bill would have allowed him to dress. None of this is credible. I'll wait to hear it from Reiss or Curran.

well it would certainly explain it though

 

[Patriot Missile]

Sorry, I disagree. By not letting him play, you're not punishing him, as much you're screwing the other players, the organization, and the entire fcking fan base!

Disagree away. All kinds of stories out there, I do agree that Butler gave us the best chance to win and will take it to my grave that he would of made atleast one game changing stop. Don't agree with benching if it was for performance.

The other so called rumors if true I would side with Belichick. Why should BB change what has worked for this team for one player who put his himself above the rules? If he does it sets an example that it is ok for everyone to do it. Yep, it punishes the team and fans but was it BB that did that or the player? Again this is all just based off of rumors at this point. It would actually be a lot easier to except if it was the latter so I wouldnt think BB has lost his mind.

 

[PittPatriot]

If you can't fathom that Rowe could have made erroneous assumptions despite the game plan that is why he was "genuinely surprised", that's on you. And there's nothing I can do to help you. I'm going to take McCourty's word over Rowe since McCourty is a captain as well as a guy who helps make the adjustments in the secondary.

I've already stated that I was disappointed that Butler wasn't out there. I've also stated that I have no idea what would have happened if he'd played. It changes the entirety of the game. No clue what the outcome would have been . None.

McCourty is a company guy. A guy who is good safety but his entire career trajectory resides with all the decisions BB has made (drafting him as high as he did, sticking with him through some TERRIBLE seasons, converting him to a safety, etc.). I have no reason to trust Rowe any less...but I have pretty good reason to peg McCourty as a company guy who knows where his bread gets buttered.

 

[qbno12]

There is absolutely no way in hell if Butler did all this Bill would have allowed him to dress. None of this is credible. I'll wait to hear it from Reiss or Curran.

Like I said, I am not sure how credible the guy who tweeted that is. It's hard to believe Butler did any of it. Even if he did it, I am not surprised he dressed for the game because we need him ready to go if someone else got injured.

Let's wait and see if Reiss or Curran can find something.

 

[JPsPats]

Belichick's philosophy has been what have you done for me lately. Well as a fan I'm the same way and bill you just cost us a ****ing superbowl with your arrogance and ego. The wiffed tackle by Bademosi on smith or agolar (cant remember) on 3rd down butler 100% would of made. Philly went on to score that drive.

Bill got in his own way. Every coach has a shelf life. More idiotic decisions like this and he will expire soon.

 

[JackBauer]

Nothing cherry picked. You said the loss is squarely on the coach and I brought you numerous examples of players being in the right position to make a play but fail to execute. None of it has to do with coaching.

Point is this game had at times poor coaching and extremely poor execution by the players.

Sure, but even some of the poor execution was the result of poor coaching since some of the worst execution was from players who should never should have seen the field to begin with.

 

[TB_Helmet]

Not sure how credible this guy is



Another one

I doubt all of that is true. But even if it is, I still put Butler back in in the third quarter in an attempt to save the season. Benching him for the first half in the Super Bowl gets your point across and doesn't make you look soft or willing to bend the rules.

 

[Brewskies]

When the actual truth comes out re: Butler please let me know.

As for losing the game, point after, missed field goal and stupid trick play and defense in general.

 

[Pats1989]

Belichick asserts that it did. If you disagree please justify your position including an explanation of why Belichick's reasoning is incorrect.

Well it's clear Belichick's choose of players didn't help them win last night. He had good intentions. But it was the wrong choice.

Now, if we find out Butler did something outrageously bad....I'll backtrack. But for now, I am going with my gut instinct that he was unimpressed with Butler's play, and thus benched him. The problem I have is not putting him in when it was obvious the guys on the field weren't working.

If Belichick comes back next year and wins a super bowl, there's a high chance we forget all about this. The Broncos recovered to win a SB after that Seattle fiasco. KC Royals won the WS one year after losing game 7 at home. We know about the 2004 Red Sox.

But, as I sit here today, Bill Belichick was outcoached last night. And he made the wrong decision.

 

[TB_Helmet]

The other so called rumors if true I would side with Belichick. Why should BB change what has worked for this team for one player who put his himself above the rules? If he does it sets an example that it is ok for everyone to do it. Yep, it punishes the team and fans but was it BB that did that or the player?BB Again this is all just based off of rumors at this point. It would actually be a lot easier to except if it was the latter so I wouldnt think BB has lost his mind.

It was BB, not the player.

Belichick can bench him for a series or a quarter or a half, and the punishment is there. To bench your starting CB2 in the Super Bowl is extraordinary and gets your point across, and nobody will ever think that they can break the rules and get away with it.

Put Butler back in at some point to save your season and win a title. Not doing so may have been the reason we lost.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Belichick said it was a football decision and was not disciplinary.

I'm starting to wonder if the lines between not playing because of a football decision or a discipline issue are blurred.

 

[fair catch fryar]

Belichick's philosophy has been what have you done for me lately. Well as a fan I'm the same way and bill you just cost us a ****ing superbowl with your arrogance and ego. The wiffed tackle by Bademosi on smith or agolar (cant remember) on 3rd down butler 100% would of made. Philly went on to score that drive.

Bill got in his own way. Every coach has a shelf life. More idiotic decisions like this and he will expire soon.

I understand people's frustration, but we don't know the whole story. Besides, "what have you done for me lately".....REALLY? BB's earned more than a few mulligans in this department.

 

[pwes]

Disagree away. All kinds of stories out there, I do agree that Butler gave us the best chance to win and will take it to my grave that he would of made atleast one game changing stop. Don't agree with benching if it was for performance.

The other so called rumors if true I would side with Belichick. Why should BB change what has worked for this team for one player who put his himself above the rules? If he does it sets an example that it is ok for everyone to do it. Yep, it punishes the team and fans but was it BB that did that or the player? Again this is all just based off of rumors at this point. It would actually be a lot easier to except if it was the latter so I wouldnt think BB has lost his mind.

It was Bill. This is the SB. You don't dress your starter just to not play him because he broke some team rule. Make him inactive if his transgressions are so egregious that he is only useful for 1 snap on special teams. The result is the same. Or are we trying to say it was so bad he couldn't see a down on defense but if a player gotten hurt it wasn't bad enough to play him then? That makes no sense. And I don't buy that Malcolm broke rules to get the bench.

 

[luuked]

Don't these two paragraphs contradict themselves? Having Hightower is also an imaginary situation. I agree with your first paragraph and not your second. We were missing a Hightower, a Nink, and a Butler.

Thats why I separated those two paragraphs. One is a sad look back at what could have been the other deals just with the reality. In the end the plays were still there for us to make.