BOWL PACKED WITH MYSTERY
Belichick sheds no light on Super strange benching of Butler
Bill Belichick has put opposing coaches in a trance for the better part of four decades, paralyzing them with his genius, but the Dark Lord of football’s Evil Empire finally met a formidable foil that cost him the biggest prize of them all: Bill Belichick. Belichick out-smarted himself with his unorthodox decision to bench cornerback Malcolm Butler that cost the Patriots a sixth Super Bowl title. The Hoodie typically outwits, out-coaches and outlasts opponents with frightening precision, but his curious choice to sit the guy who had played more defensive snaps than anyone on his roster this season (97.8%, in case you were wondering) loomed large in New England’s 41-33 loss to the Eagles Sunday night.
It seemingly made absolutely no sense, fueling speculation about the real reason for Butler’s benching. Belichick maintained that the nobody-turned-Super Bowl hero three years ago was not marginalized for disciplinary reasons.
“I respect Malcolm’s competitiveness and I am sure that he felt like he could have helped,” Belichick said Monday after Philly carved up the Patriots for 373 passing yards and four touchdowns. “I am sure other players felt the same way, but in the end, we have to make the decisions that we feel are best for the football team and that is what we did… that is what I did. That’s really all I can say about it.”
Something smells rotten in Denmark … or at least in Foxborough. Belichick, frankly, is too smart to make such an incredibly stupid decision. The 11th-hour decision — Butler was in tears during the national anthem upon finding out just before kickoff that he would only be playing special teams — had a ripple effect. Patriots defenders had to adjust (physically and mentally) to playing without a reliable and consistent presence in the secondary without much notice.
If Belichick actually believed that sitting Butler for Eric Rowe, Johnson Bademosi and Jordan Richards would enhance