Bill Belichick and Malcolm Butler: coach declines to explain his mistake

I just read an article by Pete Steele that contends benching Butler on Sunday was the worst coaching decision in the history of the Super Bowl. The second worst was Pete Carroll's decision to have Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson flip the football to Butler at the goal line three years ago. I have to agree. Here is Steele, comparing the two blunders:

"As it turned out, it didn't take another lifetime to see another coaching decision more boneheaded, more overthinking and outsmarting of one's self. Until further notice, or until a concrete, logical reason surfaces, Belichick topped Carroll and everybody else who has ever coached in this game in sabotaging his team — in a game which could have been won or lost on twists far smaller than this one."

You do not need to claim that the Patriots would have won the game with Butler on the field. It's a team sport, and too many imponderables go into deciding the victor. This much is not imponderable: more than six hundred yards offense, more than five hundred yards passing from Brady's squad was not enough to win the game. Whenever Eagles quarterback Nick Foles needed a first down, the defense handed it to him. You expected the defense to shape up after the first quarter, but it did not. And still Butler sat on the bench, the whole game, except for an occasional appearance on special teams.

The Patriots defense practically did not show up for the contest. They reverted to the quality of play they showed all of us during the first four games of the season. Midseason everyone praised defensive coordinator Matt Patricia for his skill, as he somehow worked his magic to turn the defense around and make the team championship contenders. Did you see the expressions that played across Patricia's face last night, as the camera came in for its close-ups? The look in his eyes alternated between, "I can't believe how bad these guys are," and "Don't look at me."

To get an idea of how bad the defense played, remember the number of open field tackles the defensive backs missed, especially during the first half. It was excruciating and embarrassing. Foles passes, his receiver hauls in the football, then he turns to run downfield while first the linebackers and then the safeties bounce off of him! Finally, after another gain of oh, shall we say, twenty or thirty yards, a couple of Patriots manage to bring him down. Their go-to technique was to force the runner to the sideline, where they could push him out. They lost their confidence in their ability to tackle a strong runner with momentum.

Still Butler sat on the bench, missed tackle after missed tackle. Butler is not a particularly large cornerback. He's fast, though. He knows how to read the field. He is competent in his job. I have never seen him miss a tackle the way his teammates missed them last night.

Belichick's mantra, "Do your job," has become a popular saying here in Boston. The coach's job is to win games. Belichick did not do his job last night. He did not field his best team. His defensive squad played like they knew it. Butler is so active, both in the backfield and at the line of scrimmage, that he sparks everyone else. Butler doesn't have seniority to lead the defense, but teammates can sense when someone plays with energy, skill, and determination. They do not want to be outshone. They try to play as well as the best person out there.

Last night, you could not identify even one defender, outside of James Harrison, who played particularly well. Too many defenders seemed listless, even fragile, and it was not a matter of poor conditioning or fatigue. They just did not play the way champions play. They could not pressure Foles. They could not stop the Eagles' competent running backs. Nor could they disrupt the Eagles' game through the air. They didn't draw flags, perhaps because of good discipline, but discipline began to look like passivity. They were not trying hard - Dick Butkus hard.

Did Belichick consider the impact his decision would have on the morale of everyone else out there, as the Eagles scored touchdown after touchdown, field goal after field goal? Did he figure, after a truly mediocre first quarter, that he had made a mistake about Butler, a mistake that he could still correct? Obviously not. For all his skill, for the mystique and the adjustments, he did not do well by his players in the big game. He expects his players to do well by him, but he could not recognize when the moment came to do well by them.
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Related article

Patriots benching Malcolm Butler among worst coaching mistakes in Super Bowl history

http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/news/patriots-malcolm-butler-benched-super-bowl-bill-belichick/r7lwi42z8rqu14t9k6516rt9w

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