Malcolm Butler Mega Thread

[Satchboogie3]

Agree 100%

Set aside the Malcolm debacle I bet BB would admit to several tactical errors for the SB. Those are also mistakes.

I bet Dion Lewis screwed up too.

So did DA and he had a monster game.

I may be in the minority but the motto, "You live and die as a team" really means something.

A team gains 613 yards, the most ever in a Superbowl, 2nd most ever in the playoffs, 33 points, the most ever by a losing team in the Superbowl. I can't put any blame on the unit. I just can't. You can't expect the offense to literally be perfect. The offense was about as close to perfect as possible against a very good defensive line. Don't be stupid trying to nit pick. They gave up 41 and couldn't stop them once in the 2nd half. That's 99.99% of the reason they lost.

 

[Arialgg]

Quick question.. does anyone know, (or have a good link to a site that does) Butler's stats for this year, as in TD's allowed, pass breakups, etc?? I'm doing all sorts of searches & can't find this info- maybe I don't know where to look...

 

[supafly]

The offense and Philly's running game was limiting their possessions, not the defense. You don't think Philly WANTED to go on long, clock killing drives all 2nd half? Limiting possessions means j*ck **** if you can't get off the field. Limiting possessions only matters when you have the lead... you know, because if Philly only gets 4 possessions in the half, that also means the Patriots only get 6 at most, and of course the 6th was just a Hail Mary attempt, not time for a real drive... You DON'T want to limit possessions when you are trailing, you want to make stops.

The defense literally did NOTHING in the 2nd half. Nothing. With the half time deficit they HAD to get at least one stop. At least hold them to FGs. They couldn't. There were no 'adjustments that worked'. They scored more points per drive (4.75) then the first half (3.67), more yards per drive (53.75, but really 70.3 if you cut out the last drive after the turnover where they were happy just running the clock and kicking a FG) then the first half (52.2), and worst of all, got absolutely dominated by the running game.

So no, the defense didn't do a damned thing in the 2nd half. Not a damned f*cking thing.

I was actually referring to our offensive success as helping to limit the Philly possessions, but when you give up 22 (should’ve been 24) in the first half, make some coverage adjustments, and then hold them to 10 points throughout 5/6 of the second half, it should be seen as something of an improvement—even if the bar was set very low in the first half.

The question posed was whether or not they made any halftime adjustments that worked. I believe that they did, but I can also understand why you’d think otherwise due to the 10 late game points, part of which came from the strip sack.

Again, if they stop them on the late game back breaking drive, they hold them to 10 second half points. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case and it cost them the game.

 

[Satchboogie3]

I was actually referring to our offensive success as helping to limit the Philly possessions, but when you give up 22 (should’ve been 24) in the first half, make some coverage adjustments, and then hold them to 10 points throughout 5/6 of the second half, it should be seen as something of an improvement—even if the bar was set very low in the first half.

The question posed was whether or not they made any halftime adjustments that worked. I believe that they did, but I can also understand why you’d think otherwise due to the 10 late game points, part of which came from the strip sack.

Again, if they stop them on the late game back breaking drive, they hold them to 10 second half points. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case and it cost them the game.

Did you not actually read my post? Limiting Philly's possessions doesn't matter if they keep matching your scoring. NE got the ball to start the half and scored a TD, making it 22-19. Then what did the defense do? 85 yards, TD to go ahead 29-19. NE cuts the lead again to 29-26. So this defense made a stop here, right? Nope, 51 yards, FG to push the lead to 32-26. NE TD and they finally have a 33-32 lead. So NOW the defense finally makes the adjustment and play, right? No. 75 yards and TD to pull back up 38-33.

So... how is that better than the 1st half?

What you are failing grasp is that limiting Philly's possessions also means limiting the Patriots possessions. That is the OPPOSITE of what is needed when trailing by multiple scores. You want to maximize possessions, which also means increasing Philly's possessions. The fact that Philly had essential 3 possessions the entire 2nd half doesn't bode well for the defense, because it means Philly went on long, clock killing drives. It's literally opposite of how your thinking. More possessions by virtue means you are making spots. Fewer possessions mean you aren't...

Those 3 drives took a combined 16 minutes. That's out of 28 minutes (before Pats possession that ended in the fumble). Philly not only basically matched the Pats scoring, but also possessed the ball 16 minutes to 12 minutes for the Pats... Again, how is anything other than the worst possible outcome defensively?

You simply can't make a comeback without making stops. Limiting possessions just doesn't work if they match your scoring... This isn't that difficult of a concept...

 

[zoostation]

You are saying belichick sabotaged his own team?
You are saying he purposely tried to lose?

That's what he's saying. And I know of no medication that can cure stupidity. There are a few with this brilliant theory. It's pure amusement to me.

 

[GorBelSer]

Tom didn't just contribute to a mistake. He made a mistake which directly influenced the outcome of the game.

My point is you are subjective in who you attribute blame for the loss.

Graham bullrushed Mason into Brady. OL cracked at the worst possible moment. Brady hesitated on that throw, he wanted to make big play down the field, did not expect Mason to lose ground. Both are culpable.

Blame for the loss is on Belichick. If they had outplayed us while we were playing our best football on defense, hats off to them, there isn`t much you can do. But the whole defense was thrown off by a sudden change of defensive assignments. Players were out of their usual positions, tasked with covering guys they had no business covering in the first place. We all knew Rowe should not be on Jeffery, he was on Jeffery. McCourty should have been helping Rowe over the top, he had to shadow Ertz. Chung was the best option to neutralize Ertz, he was nowhere near Ertz. Safety was the worst possible choice for slot, safety was always in slot. During the regular season, Bademosi was playing outside and Rowe in slot, on Sunday Rowe was playing outside and Bademosi played in slot for a while and at the end he was actually outsnapped by Richards. 40 year old Harrison played 90% of the snaps, leaving him visibly gassed out in the 4th. Wise played only 6 snaps, Flowers 18, Elandon Roberts like 50. I am not pretending our defense was destined to limit the Eagles to 10 points, but you are supposed to play to your strengths, not the strengths of your opponent. We were making things so easy for them, over and over again. That was either a sabotage or a gross incompetence.

 

[Deus Irae]

They scored 3 points in the 1st quarter because they drove the ball down the field in 5 seconds and then sputtered and were forced to kick a FG. They blew a FG on a bad snap after the offense once again drove down the field in 5 seconds and SPUTTERED ONCE AGAIN and were forced into a FG attempt. You catching on with the Patriots offense all too often 1st half woes yet?? Or is it too painful for you to acknowledge Deuce? They had 300 yards of offense in the 1st half and scored 12 freakin' points. Troll THAT baby!!! Stop being so sensitive. It's embarrassing! You sound like a pinkhat.

The offense didn't blow the field goal. The offense didn't blow the extra point.

You're inability to understand football does not make me a pinkhat. Your inability to understand football just means that you don't understand football.

 

[fxmallon]

Doesn't BB owe the fans and Butler a press conference to say exactly why he did sideline his star cornerback? This would end all the speculation, and clear the air, so we could all get back to the team itself. And then we wd know whether he's a bully, a brilliant coach, or someone in-between.

All this "best for the team" stuff doesn't wash with anyone. It's certainly not the first time this year we've gone up against tall receivers, and each time Butler was out there on every single snap.

 

[zoostation]

Doesn't BB owe the fans and Butler a press conference to say exactly why he did sideline his star cornerback? This would end all the speculation, and clear the air, so we could all get back to the team itself. And then we wd know whether he's a bully, a brilliant coach, or someone in-between.

All this "best for the team" stuff doesn't wash with anyone. It's certainly not the first time this year we've gone up against tall receivers, and each time Butler was out there on every single snap.

Seriously????

 

[Satchboogie3]

BB doesn't owe us anything, but I just want to know why he let the entire thing play out the way he did, from not telling anyone really until right before kickoff, to never going to him while watching the defense get torched at a historic clip. Just an overall, WTF happened. He's supposed to be the greatest coach of all time, a defensive genius, and his team just lost a superbowl 41-33 with the GOAT putting up over 600 yards of offense. It's really just hard to comprehend how this happened.

 

[Ring 6]

Doesn't BB owe the fans and Butler a press conference to say exactly why he did sideline his star cornerback? This would end all the speculation, and clear the air, so we could all get back to the team itself. And then we wd know whether he's a bully, a brilliant coach, or someone in-between.

All this "best for the team" stuff doesn't wash with anyone. It's certainly not the first time this year we've gone up against tall receivers, and each time Butler was out there on every single snap.

Why would he owe anyone (other than his boss) am explanation?
And what are you hoping to accomplish with that? You want him to publicly give a breakdown of the issues with butler that caused him to think he shouldn’t be on the field? Why would a coach call a press conference to trash a player?

 

[zoostation]

Doesn't BB owe the fans and Butler a press conference to say exactly why he did sideline his star cornerback? This would end all the speculation, and clear the air, so we could all get back to the team itself. And then we wd know whether he's a bully, a brilliant coach, or someone in-between.

All this "best for the team" stuff doesn't wash with anyone. It's certainly not the first time this year we've gone up against tall receivers, and each time Butler was out there on every single snap.

Patriots' Super Bowl hero Malcolm Butler benched due to weed and women, former teammate says

The link above is like everything else that is fueling the drama. It's speculation. But let's pretend it has a slight bit of truth. And then lets remember we don't know why the decision was made.

How would that press conference go?

BB: Umm.... snort. Well snort, having a woman in your hotel room is 100% against team policy. We can not bend on this rule and repercussion results in game suspension....snort.
MB: Yeah but coach she was fine! And I'm your start cornerback
BB: Yes, Malcolm she was rather pretty, but rules are rules. So now you all know. OK any questions?
MB: yeah, why you throwing me under the bus Bill? I'll never be able to sign a big contract!
BB: Snort...ummmm. Someone on a message board said it would be a good idea to have a press conference.

 

[Boomer B]

BB doesn't owe us anything, but I just want to know why he let the entire thing play out the way he did, from not telling anyone really until right before kickoff, to never going to him while watching the defense get torched at a historic clip. Just an overall, WTF happened. He's supposed to be the greatest coach of all time, a defensive genius, and his team just lost a superbowl 41-33 with the GOAT putting up over 600 yards of offense. It's really just hard to comprehend how this happened.

Mind boggling actually. It's like God was playing a nasty joke on us, teleporting Rich Kotite's brain into Belichick's for 4 hours last Sunday.

 

[patsfan13]

Its still a mistake.

Yeah a stick of dynamite and a hydrogen bomb are both explosives.

Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[patsfan13]

Why would he owe anyone (other than his boss) am explanation?
And what are you hoping to accomplish with that? You want him to publicly give a breakdown of the issues with butler that caused him to think he shouldn’t be on the field? Why would a coach call a press conference to trash a player?

Well his boss might want him explain to the businesses customer why the product got messed up that day.

Like a restaurant that serves a meal that makes customers sick owe their patrons an explanation for why the chef served rotten food.

 

[Keep Up With The Joneses]

Well his boss might want him explain to the businesses customer why the product got messed up that day.

Like a restaurant that serves a meal that makes customers sick owe their patrons an explanation for why the chef served rotten food.

This analogy only works if the customers are willing to bring their business elsewhere.

 

[Ring 6]

Mind boggling actually. It's like God was playing a nasty joke on us, teleporting Rich Kotite's brain into Belichick's for 4 hours last Sunday.

Or Johnny manziels brain into butler

 

[RobertWeathers]

You don't know what BB is thinking at this point. He himself said after the game that it was "all on him."

Please.

What exactly was "on him"?

Deciphering what he meant by that is subjective based on what you chose to believe.

 

[Ring 6]

Well his boss might want him explain to the businesses customer why the product got messed up that day.

Like a restaurant that serves a meal that makes customers sick owe their patrons an explanation for why the chef served rotten food.

So you think kraft wants belichick to get up and publicly cite the issues with butler that made him completely and entirely lose confidence that he could effectively do his job?
And what are you looking to gain with that because you will lose the trust of every current and potentially future player by betraying a trust that is the first unwritten rule of the NFL.

And no one got sick, belichick led his team to the Sb and cane a possession away from winning it.

 

[fxmallon]

Why would he owe anyone (other than his boss) am explanation?
And what are you hoping to accomplish with that? You want him to publicly give a breakdown of the issues with butler that caused him to think he shouldn’t be on the field? Why would a coach call a press conference to trash a player?

I think it's more likely he fears trashing himself rather than his star cornerback.

Also, I only want him to say more than the usual 7 words of explanation. He knows how to combine speaking honestly and diplomatically at the same time. It's not a question of bashing anyone.