'Perfect storm' kept key Patriots player benched in Super Bowl
The New England Patriots were just flat-out beaten Sunday night by the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII.
Nick Foles tore apart the Patriots’ secondary, throwing for 373 yards and three touchdowns.
New England’s defense — which was ranked 29th on the season, giving up 366 yards per game — made a shocking move for the Super Bowl by benching 2015 Pro Bowler Malcolm Butler.
The move was widely criticized as the Patriots’ already weak defense was stripped of one its best players in Butler, who had played the most snaps of anyone on the team.
Remember when Bill Belichick benched Malcolm Butler for the entire Super Bowl? What the hell was up with that?
— Doug Kyed (@DougKyed) February 5, 2018
Malcolm Butler played the MOST snaps of any #Patriots player ALL year. 97%. Yet, Belichick benched him WHOLE game. No reasons given. That decision likely cost New England big. #SuperBowlLII
— Bob Pompeani (@KDPomp) February 5, 2018
After the game, Butler told reporters he believed the Patriots “gave up on me. F—. It is what it is. I don’t know what it was,” he added. “I guess I wasn’t playing good or they didn’t feel comfortable. I don’t know.
“But I could have changed that game.”
Now Ian Rapoport is bringing out more information, saying Butler’s benching resulted from a “perfect storm of issues.”
“There are several factors that led Malcolm Butler, one of the team’s top defensive players, to not be on the field for the Super Bowl,” Rapoport explained Monday on the NFL Network’s “Total Access.” “Among those: He showed up a day later than teammates because he was sick. Remember he was not at opening night, that was a factor. I’m also told that during practice this week, he really struggled, had a rough week of practice. Perhaps because of illness, but maybe because of other things. That was one thing they had to consider in putting Eric Rowe out there instead of him. I’m also told there were some other issues, disciplinary issues. There was a small or minor violation of team rules that happened earlier in the week. That is one thing. And then there’s some attitudes, frustrations as well.
“All of this combined to put Malcolm Butler not on the field with his teammates to win the Super Bowl but on the sideline watching.”
Belichick’s decision to bench Butler for the big game appeared to bring Butler to tears on the sideline.
We’ve seen Malcolm Butler in tears in Super Bowls twice now pic.twitter.com/sBE9iP97j0
— Jerry Thornton (@jerrythornton1) February 5, 2018
Butler did receive one snap during the game, playing special teams on a punt return in the second quarter.
“We put the best players out there and the gameplan out there because we thought it’d be the best to win,” Belichick told reporters when asked why he would start Eric Rowe over Butler.
There’s no way to know if the Patriots would have won if they had started Butler, but one does have to wonder the impact he could have had on the game.
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