Why did the Patriots lose?

[ensoul]

BB didnt do this team any favors by benching Butler but this is on the defense. I mean one guy doesn't play and the D ends up being the worst in SB history?

As bad as I have been saying the D has been all this year even I am even shocked at what I saw Sunday. As bad as they looked this year at least they made a play or two or got better as the game went on.

They were awful wire to wire.

 

[ohiopatsfan]

I agree with several of the posters here that a general lack of talent with the defensive front 7 was the major factor in the loss. Go back to the start of the season. We had just lost Chris Long and Jabaal Sheard to free agency, moves that were anticipated. Then Rob Ninkovich retired. After that Kony Ealy proved that he was no longer the player who sacked Peyton Manning 3 times in the SB and he was cut. Then the injuries started. Dontae Hightower, Vince Valentine, Shea McClellin and Derek Rivers all went on season ending IR. During the season, age finally seemed to catch up with Alan Branch and he played his way to the bench. The pasting and patching soon began. Several aging veterans and PS/ST players were signed on to fill holes. The seven defensive front starters for the SB were Trey Flowers, Malcolm Brown, Deatrich Wise, Lawrence Guy, James Harrison, Elandon Roberts and Kyle Van Noy. All good players, but hardly a muderer's row of talent. The wonder isn't that the Eagles scored 41 points, but rather how this team made it as far as they did with this defense (the answer, of course, is TB12 plus weak opponents and effective coaching). Benching Butler only exacerbated what was already a sorry situation. Unless BB adds some talented free agents, all the IRed players return in top form or we strike defensive gold in the 2018 draft, next season may be even tougher than this year was.

 

[pats4life12]

To me, this one was all Belichick he didn't put all his best players on the field and by doing that didn't put his team in the best situation to win. Butler should have been in that game, he would have definitely put you in a better position to make the one stop you needed at the end of the game with a lead. Brady played his best Super Bowl yet and the offensive line protected him the whole game besides the one time they got to him and he fumbled.

 

[DaBronxPats14]

Butler decision obviously didn't effect just him but a domino effect with DBs being out of position and doing things they're not used to. Yeah "Do Your Job, Next Man Up" is all good but Being told 10 mins before Biggest game that your out and your starting does wonders for your psyche.

 

[Calhoun44]

They win as a team and lose as a team. Since 2001 I don't remember ever complaining about this team.

 

[Xerostomia]

Missed FG, missed XP, and going for it on 4th down at the 35 when Ghost was hammering 55+ yard FG's in pregame was the real difference. For all the blame BB and the defense is getting, Philly's defense was arguably worse despite having far greater talent.

One could also argue that we 'should' have executed better and scored a TD on the 1st drive instead of a FG. That is 11 points in the 1st half that the offense left on the field that had nothing to do with the defense. Blame the offense and lack of execution of special teams in the 1st half as a potential reason why we lost.

Similarly, of all the times for the RT to miss a beat was at the end of the game when they stripped the ball from Brady. Who knows if Cannon would have made a difference. I guess we will never know.

 

[TheFlyingWedge]

Give the Eagles credit - their offense made some incredible plays and it was enough to win a shootout.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Similarly, of all the times for the RT to miss a beat was at the end of the game when they stripped the ball from Brady. Who knows if Cannon would have made a difference. I guess we will never know.

I totally disagreed with McDaniels' decision not to hand it off on second down, with plenty of time and no need to drop the QB back every time.

When that - what should have been the title-winning drive - began, I said, "Protect the ball." We didn't.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

The other guys scored more points.

 

[IllegalContact]

Cuz I fahted

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Since I am in the "blame" stage of grief, thought I would take a survey of the board:

Well, you've left off the obvious.

When we threw the trick play with Brady as a receiver, the Iggles had that exact same trick play ready and ran it perfectly.

Somebody taped our walk-through.

 

[Jangles]

I keep looking at the poll options and I can't find the defense.

Am I blind, or is the defense as absent from your poll as it was in the super bowl?

 

[ATippett56]

It’s hard to put together a talented defense when you bench one of your top players for mysteriously inexplicable reasons.

Why did the Patriots lose?

Advanced Stats Report: Tom Brady’s mastery marred by defensive implosion

Bademosi, Flowers, Richards, Rowe

Refer to the coverage stats.

Oh yeah, Patrick Chung is not a slot cornerback.

"Without a solid third cornerback option, the Patriots turned to safety Patrick Chung as their nickel corner. Chung played as a slot corner on 36% of his snaps this season, which is the highest of any position he has played. But he mostly covers tight ends not wide receivers and was forced to play a season-high 43 snaps as a slot corner in the Super Bowl."

 

[Simpelton]

Not going to vote because "the Eagles" was not an option.