Official Super Bowl LII Game Day Thread

[woodbuck27]

Speaking of the lesser of two evils, who do you start when two outside CBs have shortcomings that the opposition will try to take advantage of?

Doug Farrar says Bill probably did not like either of his choices at CB. Links to a report that Butler had some practice reps taken from him starting with the playoff bye week. Both choices (Butler or Rowe) presented problems on the outside and neither is a true natural fit at slot.

Let this serve also as a reminder why FAs from other teams are often terrible choices; no one knows their shortcomings like their original team. Everyone remembers Larry Brown, right? The headline for this piece oversells the idea that there was a more correct choice. The piece details why Belichick was worried about both.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2...?share=twitter

This was thoroughly discussed yesterday on the NFL Network.

There were several factors that led to Belichick benching Malcolm Butler and the likely deciding factor and what Bill Belichick demands of everyone on his Roster, or to be fully engaged in winning the next game. Malcolm Butler screwed himself and is IMO done as a New England Patriot for at least his immediate future and the NFL.

He needs to prove that he has learned the Bill Belichick way ! He won't prove that now on The New England Patriots.

https://247sports.com/nfl/new-england-patriots/Bolt/Malcolm-Butler-appreciative-of-Patriots-doesnt-address-future-after-Super-Bowl-benching--114671391

[Anti-Polar Bear]

Let this serve also as a reminder why FAs from other teams are often terrible choices; no one knows their shortcomings like their original team. Everyone remembers Larry Brown, right? [/url]

Yes, I'm old enough to remember Brown. Had a couple of gimme picks off "Smokin' Bum" O'Donnell in Super Bowl 30 (unlike Cutler, O'Donnell literally smoked cigarettes - or fags, as the Brits are fond of saying - during games). Signed a lucrative contract with Oakland afterward with Al Davis' blessing

I also remember the Polar Bear signing an aging, washed out, injury-prone free agent corner named Charles Woodson. And the Niners literally purchased their last Super Bowl win, which included the acquisition of a cocky free agent named "Neon" Deion Sanders, among others. And, oh, ever since that midget corner left Green Bay as a free agent and signed with the Bolts, he has been a-pimpin'.

Butler is too slow for my liking, so I ain't arguing for the German Shepherd to sign the Super Bowl hero. All I'm saying is, free agency (and trades) can and does help teams win Super Bowls. Just ask the Balding Eggles.

[Anti-Polar Bear]

This was thoroughly discussed yesterday on the NFL Network.

There were several factors that led to Belichick benching Malcolm Butler and the likely deciding factor and what Bill Belichick demands of everyone on his Roster, or to be fully engaged in winning the next game. Malcolm Butler screwed himself and is IMO done as a New England Patriot for at least his immediate future and the NFL.

He needs to prove that he has learned the Bill Belichick way ! He won't prove that now on The New England Patriots.

https://247sports.com/nfl/new-englan...ing--114671391

Butler's benching is nothing but a conspiracy masterminded by Patricia to get Butler to sign with Detroit at the start of free agency. Had Butler played and picked off Foles in the clutch to seal yet another Super Bowl victory for NE, Ole Bill would have no choice but to franchise the Super Bowl hero.

In all seriousness, I concur with those who believe that Belichick erred in benching Butler. Unless you have a better replacement, and from what I've read, NE didn't, you have to go with the guy with the experience, especially in the NFL's grandest stage. Butler's a Super Bowl hero, for Gaylord Focker's sake! Bench Butler for Rowe? A corner who makes Damarious Randall look like Darrell Green?

[pbmax]

Malcolm Butler was so poorly regarded via the Patriot Way that he started 97.8% of the defensive snaps this year. Definitely sounds like a guy they don't believe in.

[pbmax]

Yes, I'm old enough to remember Brown. Had a couple of gimme picks off "Smokin' Bum" O'Donnell in Super Bowl 30 (unlike Cutler, O'Donnell literally smoked cigarettes - or fags, as the Brits are fond of saying - during games). Signed a lucrative contract with Oakland afterward with Al Davis' blessing

I also remember the Polar Bear signing an aging, washed out, injury-prone free agent corner named Charles Woodson. And the Niners literally purchased their last Super Bowl win, which included the acquisition of a cocky free agent named "Neon" Deion Sanders, among others. And, oh, ever since that midget corner left Green Bay as a free agent and signed with the Bolts, he has been a-pimpin'.

Butler is too slow for my liking, so I ain't arguing for the German Shepherd to sign the Super Bowl hero. All I'm saying is, free agency (and trades) can and does help teams win Super Bowls. Just ask the Balding Eggles.

If you get the right player, any player acquisition helps. Its the hit rate of getting the right player plus the cost that is the problem.

Ted did not abandon FA, he just used it infrequently. He used it when certain (Woodson, Peppers) in dire need (Pickett) or in dire need but suffering from a head cold (couple of safeties, Frank Walker, Brandon Chillar). If the hit rate is the same as drafting (and what I have read said its about 50%) then its vastly more expensive than the draft with no more certainty.

If you have no choice, you are going to get hurt worse than in the draft. Going after role players makes sense since they won't be signing in the dumb money portion. But I would not mind the Packers getting in on more FA tours early in the process just to see what happens (and I think that is what BG was talking about in his press conference). But to make that pay, you have to be certain and hit better than 500.

I definitely think they could do more trades and fill some gaps in depth. I don't want them trading many draft picks though unless they are going to start dumping vets like the Pats do to get the picks back.

[bobblehead]

5 rings. 8 games. Less than 2 decades. Way better than a fluke win via that draft and develop bullshit.

Belichick doesn't have to prove anything to anyone anymore. Ditto, TB12. Both are already GOATs.

613
And couldn't stop a backup QB. Nothing but a crappy team that is helped by the refs and cheating. They aren't even good if they play legal much less great.

CHOKE!!

[bobblehead]

I think you mean 538!

Oh yea. NE got 613. Both teams are frauds.

[bobblehead]

Strictly speaking, helmet to helmet isn't prohibited in the open field, just the crown of the helmet. But they never call it either way. Biggest play of the game was the interception on the bobble by Alshon Jeffrey. It let New England stay in the game for basically the entire rest of the way, when otherwise Philly would have ran away with it. At least a 10 point swing and could have been a 14 pointer.

Was that when they called a defensive holding play on 3rd down to keep NE alive as well right after that?

[woodbuck27]

In place of Malcolm Butler's Pats HC Bill Belichick started CB Eric Rowe

Rowe allowed six catches for 79 yards and a touchdown on a team-high nine targets. REF: Phil Perry and Mike Giardi of NBC Sports Boston.

There was this relatively early in the game. With 2:34 left in the first quarter, Alshon Jeffery beat Rowe on a vertical route and out jumped him for a 34-yard score. Did Belichick look seriously to Malcolm Butler after that TD !?...NO !

Eric Rowe's overall performance left everyone wondering why Butler wasn't added to the field at some point...."

Bill Belichick's decision to bench Malcolm Butler turned the Patriots into a three-safety team in Defensive sub-packages. Patrick Chung and Jordan Richards were vulnerable targets in coverage and Chung was actually absent for a portion of the game after he was taken out for precautionary observation.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2...r-bowl-mistake

Benching Malcolm Butler Was Bill Belichick's Biggest Super Bowl Mistake

BY: DOUG FARRAR .... FEBRUARY 6, 2018

" This domino effect is exactly what one would expect Belichick to anticipate; that he caused it by benching Butler makes this a possible game-losing call. It's the kind of regrettable decision that Belichick's opponents usually make, and Pederson made him pay. "

[pbmax]

Mike Tanier @MikeTanier
Re: Butler, etc.
The same "#Patriots Way" approach/methodology that wins 5 Super Bowls can result in losing a 6th. If you love the approach when it (constantly) works, you must accept it when it (rarely) fails.


FIRE BELICHICK!

[pbmax]

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/14577884/ranking-new-nfl-head-coaching-hires-hue-jackson-cleveland-browns-first

Ranking 2015 New Coaching Hires in 2015

1. Hue Jackson 1-31
2. Chip Kelly 2-14
3. Adam Gase 16-16
4. Drik Koetter 14-18
5. Ben McAdoo 13-15
6. Doug Pederson 20-12


Ian O'Connor nearly reversed reality. He claims (and I cannot dispute it) that Pederson was the third choice after Coughlin said no and McAdoo cancelled the second interview when he got the Giants job.

[Anti-Polar Bear]

If you get the right player, any player acquisition helps. Its the hit rate of getting the right player plus the cost that is the problem.

Ted did not abandon FA, he just used it infrequently. He used it when certain (Woodson, Peppers) in dire need (Pickett) or in dire need but suffering from a head cold (couple of safeties, Frank Walker, Brandon Chillar). If the hit rate is the same as drafting (and what I have read said its about 50%) then its vastly more expensive than the draft with no more certainty.

If you have no choice, you are going to get hurt worse than in the draft. Going after role players makes sense since they won't be signing in the dumb money portion. But I would not mind the Packers getting in on more FA tours early in the process just to see what happens (and I think that is what BG was talking about in his press conference). But to make that pay, you have to be certain and hit better than 500.

I definitely think they could do more trades and fill some gaps in depth. I don't want them trading many draft picks though unless they are going to start dumping vets like the Pats do to get the picks back.

If you have an elite QB, free agency and trades work even better. It's called "Belichickism," in case you didn't know.

The draft is crapshoot. Tony Gonzalez is Tony Gonzalez. That 2nd round pick that Thompson refuses to give up for Gonzalez? That's a mystery. And cost and cap hell aren't that big of a deal in this day and age of soaring revenues and titanic TV contracts.

[woodbuck27]

613
And couldn't stop a backup QB. Nothing but a crappy team that is helped by the refs and cheating. They aren't even good if they play legal much less great.

CHOKE!!

Comment woodbuck27:

I like to try to keep the Politics and the Hate Factor out of any discussion and Sports. Otherwise, I believe that 'the Idiot Watch' Alert Light ON ... applies!

Is this really necessary!?



Trying to serve any discussion on the side of being objective rather than subjective and nonsense. I offer this:

QUESTION:

Are the New England Patriots the greatest franchise in NFL history?

Have a look at this and 'just one man's view' of that question:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/are-the-new-england-patriots-the-greatest-franchise-in-nfl-history-nope-and-it%E2%80%99s-not-even-close/ar-BBItWDp#page=1

Are the New England Patriots the Greatest NFL Franchise in NFL History?

There's a strong argument that says that by far their not !

Touchdown Wire

BY: Chris Chase ....6 days ago