Super hero Butler gets zero snaps
until his second step and therefore had gotten only one foot in bounds before touching the white line.
This was based on the NFL’s overturning of several similar calls this season based on a backwards catch rule that commissioner Roger Goodell is making a priority to correct with the competition committee this offseason.
But al Riveron, the NFL’s head of officiating who was in Minneapolis to review all replays as he had all season from the league headquarters in New York, upheld the call of touchdown on the field by Gene Steratore’s crew.
Many fans and folks watching the game threw up their hands, as did Michaels and collinsworth. But Blandino defended Riveron’s decision.
“Issue is control,” Blandino tweeted. “Looks like he has it initially and gets both feet down in bounds. There is some movement of the ball, but don’t think enough to say loss of control. call should stand.” MaLcOLM Butler saved the Patriots in one Super Bowl, but he was never given a chance to play the hero again this time.
The Patriots corner, who had the game-winning interception in Super Bowl XLIX three years ago against the Seahawks, did not play any defensive snaps in New England’s 41-33 loss to the Eagles in Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Sunday.
Butler, who was sick all week but did not think that would affect his status, tried to stay silent after the game, telling an NFL.com reporter “I ain’t got nothing to say,” but ultimately could not keep his true feelings to himself much longer.
“They gave up on me,” he told ESPN’s Mike Reiss. “F--k. It is what it is.
“I don’t know what it was,” added Butler — who played 97.8 percent of defensive snaps this season, according to Reiss. “I guess I wasn’t playing good or they didn’t feel comfortable. I don’t know. But I could have changed that game.”
Bill Belichick denied the benching was for disciplinary reasons and reiterated what he told NBc’s Michelle Tafoya at halftime, that he “made decisions that give us the best chance to win.”
The Patriots did not win, though, and the defense played a large role in why Belichick was denied his sixth Lombardi Trophy as a head coach.
The Patriots defense allowed 538 total yards — the most ever by a Belichick-coached team — and allowed the Eagles to convert on 10 of 16 third downs and two fourth downs, including a fourthand-1 at the goal line that resulted in a touchdown for Philadelphia before the half.
The 33 points the Patriots scored on offense were also the most points scored by a losing team in Super Bowl history.
Butler was replaced by Eric Rowe, who did not know he was playing until right before the game, according to NBc Sports Boston.
While Butler struggled at times this season, Rowe did not appear to be much of an improvement, getting beaten by alshon Jeffery on a 34-yard touchdown in the first quarter.
Butler, 27, signed a one-year deal with the Patriots prior to the season and is an unrestricted free agent this offseason, but it is hard to imagine him back in New England next season.