Benching Malcolm Butler was another stroke of genius from Bill Belichick ... in theory
It is a pretty interesting theory that smells like it might be going into the right direction. The most important sentence in there is this:
In short the author explains on a schematic level that this was almost the inverse gameplan that BB is famous for with the Giants. He wanted to avoid the Eagles gashing them slowly on the ground, grinding the game out leaving Brady on the sideline.
Go and read it if you have time.. it gives an interesting perspective into what might have been the motivation for this weird gameplan.
I would please ask anyone to stay on topic and dont turn this into another Butler thread. This thread is for the discussion of that potential gameplan and not to whine about BB stealing a title from you.
The other thing that gets pointed out again is that while Rowe said that he didnt know about the Butler benching until before the kickoff we know now not only that the captains knew days ahead that Butlers role got minimized:
And this article points out that Rowe even practiced with the first team defense instead of Butler the entire time:
So can we at least stop propagating this
the team got shocked before kickoff narrative ?