Malcolm Butler sort of talks about his SB benching

[Vindicate]

They put DBs out there that had zero strengths.

Everyone saying he was the best player on D, worst comment I can find is took him a minute to warm up to their scheme

Most other reddit threads of the time show fans thinking Butler was a solid addition. Maybe not worth a massive contract that he got, but nobody was happy to see him go.

Wish I could find more primary sources on scheme stuff, it's just nearly impossible to do searches for stuff beyond 5 years ago. Google is absolute trash now.

 

[Wozzy]

I don't think that is what happened. He was 31 y/o and had a $10m cap hit.

Read the three articles I gave you in my last response. He was bad for them.

 

[The Brandon Five]

Someone point to a time after 2016 when Butler was good?

You can’t, he fell off the cliff after 2016.

Laughable…

Badeomosi never fell of the cliff because he was already at the bottom.

 

[The Brandon Five]

That and no Jonathan Jones, Hightower, and Uncle Phil finally caught up with them. They were killed on the LoS...plus playing old man James Harrison 90% of the snaps also caught up with them.

Yeah the Jones injury might have been the most impactful one since Pollard took out Gronk's legs in the 2011 AFCCG.

 

[Wozzy]

IIRC they ran a scheme that didn't work to any of Butler's strengths.

He was an UDFA who wasn’t very fast or athletic. The Titans mistake was paying him like he was.

Bill knew better. I liked the kid, but you can find CB2’s and CB3’s in the undrafted ranks.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Read the three articles I gave you in my last response. He was bad for them.

I thought they were uneven (helped and hurt your position) and don't agree he sucked/was bad the entire 3 years. He was overpaid as a CB1 but still made plays.

Here is an article that says he was good

Patriots Cornerback Malcolm Butler Was Better Than You Think In 2020

The New England Patriots have reportedly signed cornerback Malcolm Butler to a new contract after a shaky departure years ago.

nesn.com

 

[Wozzy]

Badeomosi never fell of the cliff because he was already at the bottom.

Eric Rowe was decent, went on to have a good career and got another good extension from the Dolphins.

Didn’t matter, a CB wasn’t what was missing from that defense. Their best defender Hightower, 350 pound Alan Branch and finally Chung who would have been covering TE’s is what was missing.

Another bad CB wouldn’t have changed a thing.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Yeah the Jones injury might have been the most impactful one since Pollard took out Gronk's legs in the 2011 AFCCG.

Yep. Aside from Malcolm's situation, the Jones injury really killed their quality depth in the slot and playmaking in the secondary.

 

[sb1]

Eric Rowe was decent,

This Eric Rowe? No he wasn't.

Eagles assistant: 'Crazy' that Patriots benched Malcolm Butler for Eric Rowe

The Eagles knew Rowe was a liability in the 2018 Super Bowl because they had him in Philadelphia

www.cbssports.com

Best team was put on the field that night? Nope. Because of something "personal".

 

[Wozzy]

This Eric Rowe? No he wasn't.

Once the Pats put Gilmore on Alshon Jeffrey the WR’s didn’t do much in the second half of the game. Zach Ertz a TE did most of the receiving damage in the second half and it was because Patrick Chung got injured and never came back into the game after halftime.

The bottom line is Nick Foles wasn’t pressured once, wasn’t sacked once. The Pats were missing their single best defensive front player in Donte Hightower and had a 350 pound hole missing in nose tackle Alan Branch. There was zero pressure, so Foles had all day to throw. Another bad CB wasn’t helping.

Learn the game….

 

[patfanken]

That doesn't explain why Malcolm who again played all his teams snaps on defense that season up to then - was dressed instead of being a gameday inactive if he wasn't ready to play, nor does it explain why he got special teams snaps anyway, nor why the team didn't know why Butler was not on the field nor why Tom was frustrated postgame, Gronk musing about retirement and Amendola spouting off even to this day that he felt cheated out of a ring by Bill keeping Butler on the bench.

If Kraft says it was a non football reason and "something personal" then it wasn't a good enough reason. It's the Super Bowl and you play your best team. That didn't happen that night. He didn't need to be Deion Sanders in his prime he just needed to make one stop on 3rd down which guys like Richards couldn't get.

Not saying I know all the answers here. I'm doing a LOT of inferring just like everyone else, but common sense is common sense. The very fact that NO one has offered a definitive explanation after all this time is telling in and of itself. I for one believe if Bill thought Malcolm was mentally and physically capable of helping that night, he would have been out there

 

[RobertWeathers]

Once the Pats put Gilmore on Alshon Jeffrey the WR’s didn’t do much in the second half of the game. Zach Ertz a TE did most of the receiving damage in the second half and it was because Patrick Chung got injured and never came back into the game after halftime.

The bottom line is Nick Foles wasn’t pressured once, wasn’t sacked once. The Pats were missing their single best defensive front player in Donte Hightower and had a 350 pound hole missing in nose tackle Alan Branch. There was zero pressure, so Foles had all day to throw. Another bad CB wasn’t helping.

Learn the game….

FYI you might be confused w/ the game vs the Rams., Chung left that game but played the whole game vs Philly.

Either way playing Badmosi, Jordan Richards and Chung in the slot is not good

 

[Wozzy]

FYI you might be confused w/ the game vs the Rams., Chung left that game but played the whole game vs Philly.

Either way playing Badmosi, Jordan Richards and Chung in the slot is not good

Chung left the game with minutes left but it was speculated the concussion protocol failed in regards to his injury which happened earlier. Either way, Jon Jones was missing along with Hightower and Alan Branch who both got hurt prior to the game.

The Patriots were losing that game no matter what.

 

[sb1]

Not saying I know all the answers here. I'm doing a LOT of inferring just like everyone else, but common sense is common sense. The very fact that NO one has offered a definitive explanation after all this time is telling in and of itself. I for one believe if Bill thought Malcolm was mentally and physically capable of helping that night, he would have been out there

I feel the same about the way Patriots players reacted to the news and why they were caught off guard by it. Malcolm wasn't some under the radar guy he was the hero of Super Bowl 49 so I'd think they would all know if he was going to play or not.

If he wasn't ready to play why didn't they know that and why make him a gameday active at all? It doesn't add up to me.

 

[signbabybrady]

I feel the same about the way Patriots players reacted to the news and why they were caught off guard by it. Malcolm wasn't some under the radar guy he was the hero of Super Bowl 49 so I'd think they would all know if he was going to play or not.

If he wasn't ready to play why didn't they know that and why make him a gameday active at all? It doesn't add up to me.

Without all the facts it's also speculation but the common answer is that something escalated after the GameDay roster was set. I'm not going to speculate as to what that was but people generally point at how emotional Butler appeared as evidence.

 

[chasa]

I feel the same about the way Patriots players reacted to the news and why they were caught off guard by it. Malcolm wasn't some under the radar guy he was the hero of Super Bowl 49 so I'd think they would all know if he was going to play or not.

If he wasn't ready to play why didn't they know that and why make him a gameday active at all? It doesn't add up to me.

why was he in for one special teams play?

 

[1960Pats]

Brady's TB Super Bowl has an *. Teams were playing week after week without the starters due to Covid quarantines. I think the Broncos had to play a game without an actual QB on the roster. Why people act like Brady's TB Super Bowl was somehow his greatest performance is a mystery to me.

Cam Newton could have won in TB that year... oh wait, he got Covid and had to sit too.

The only team I can think of that deserves an asterisk is the Dolphins* undefeated team in the early 70's. Ironically, I wouldn't have remembered that if Shula* hadn't gone public to demand the Pats get one if they went 19-0 in 2007. Shula* must have forgotten (some of the players reminded him) that the Dolphins* were given the biggest fine in history at the time and lost a 1st round pick for tampering to get Shula as their HC.

I haven't seen fans acting like Brady's TB performance was his greatest but if they do it probably has something to do with how old he was at the time.

Cant Newton was the Lamar Jackson of his time. He was a gifted runner who played QB. It still bugs me that he was allowed to tie Grogan's Pats QB record for running TDs when he was here.

 

[1960Pats]

Give it a post or three and he'll probably get around to telling you your narrative. It'll be great for you, you'll get some clarity on your own thoughts

I can't stop laughing at this. Thanks.

 

[maust]

I can't stop laughing at this. Thanks.

 

[signbabybrady]

The only team I can think of that deserves an asterisk is the Dolphins* undefeated team in the early 70's. Ironically, I wouldn't have remembered that if Shula* hadn't gone public to demand the Pats get one if they went 19-0 in 2007. Shula* must have forgotten (some of the players reminded him) that the Dolphins* were given the biggest fine in history at the time and lost a 1st round pick for tampering to get Shula as their HC.

I haven't seen fans acting like Brady's TB performance was his greatest but if they do it probably has something to do with how old he was at the time.

Cant Newton was the Lamar Jackson of his time. He was a gifted runner who played QB. It still bugs me that he was allowed to tie Grogan's Pats QB record for running TDs when he was here.

I just look at it as a nod to Grogan being tied with Cam in a rushing stat only makes you remember how good Grogan was too. Maybe Maye breaks it someday soon.