Never has taking a loss in my straight up picks felt so good. I woke up this morning with a spring in my step. The air never smelled so sweet. The New England Patriots fell to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII and all is right with the world.
The shame is this Patriots loss could have been so much better if not for Pete Carroll and Dan Quinn/Kyle Shanahan’s dumbassery. Regardless of what anyone wants to pretend these days, SpyGate was a real thing. How deep did it go? Did New England tape practices as well as steal game signals via video? We’ll never really know the extent of it because Roger Goodell, like a good little puppy, destroyed the evidence and covered it up.
Think about it…Tom Brady should be 3-5 if Atlanta and Seattle didn't walk over to him and hand him those trophies. And the other 3 he won because of Spygate. We really might have to revisit this "greatest ever" talk….🤔
— Harvey Specter™ (@theJay_Show) February 5, 2018
The savior, for Patriots fans, of the SpyGate narrative is how good the team has been since getting busted. They’ve been to five Super Bowls after that. Their greatness as a team and an organization is legitimate, at least now. They’re like mobsters who got out of the racketeering game and retired to run a casino in Vegas. The straight and narrow life paid off more than the criminal life ever could.
Sure. If Seahawks gives the ball to Lynch and Atlanta doesn’t fall apart in the 4th quarter, this chump is 3-5. That’s without talking about Spygate that puts the other 3 wins in question.
— StPatrick33 (@StPatrick33) February 5, 2018
Now, you might want to bring up DeflateGate here and I hear you. While I think Tom Brady was guilty as shit with that, I also know it didn’t help him at all. It was a placebo. While he may have felt he got a better grip on a deflated ball, in fact it took away his deep ball accuracy. Before he got caught, Brady was one of the worst deep passers in the league. Once he was forced to play with a regulation-inflated football, he became one of the best. It’s also no secret that the Pats were 0-2 in deflated ball Super Bowls and 2-0 with properly inflated balls. That is, until Sunday night.
You’re going to read a lot this week about how this loss hits Tom Brady in his legacy. That maybe the GOAT title has reverted back to former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana. As a man filled with unbridled Patriot hate, I’m here to tell you right now that’s just bullshit. Brady is still the best to ever play the game. Take out the SpyGate Super Bowls and he’s still got his team in the AFC Championship nearly every year. He’s taken them to five more Super Bowls and either won or had them in every single one. Last year’s victory over the Atlanta Falcons was the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history and it was all Tom Brady. Make no mistake, he’s still the best.
https://twitter.com/briangaar/status/960349057997778945
But it’s also true, and only an idiot would deny it, that this Patriots team is one stupid offensive playcall from its opponents away from being 0-5 in these post-SpyGate Super Bowls. If Marshawn Lynch runs at the Pats twice instead of a stupid pass from Russell Wilson on second and goal, Seattle wins that one, no question. If Kyle Shanahan doesn’t fall in love with the smell of his own farts and just plays the clock, up 28-10 in the fourth quarter, Atlanta kicks a field goal and that game is over. The Falcons have a ring and nobody gives a shit that Brady doesn’t eat tomatoes.
But those dumb calls did happen and the Patriots, as they always do, capitalized on them. New England always made teams pay for their hubris or cowardice. Sunday night they faced a team that had neither.
Tom Brady is the 1st QB in NFL history to lose a game with at least 500 passing yards, 3 TD and 0 interceptions (regular season or playoffs). pic.twitter.com/fryLNXdBIO
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) February 5, 2018
Instead, it was Bill Belichick, the Super Genius, that let emotion get in the way of game strategy. Four years ago Malcolm Butler saved the day, stepping in front of a Wilson pass to seal the Patriots’ first post-SpyGate Super Bowl victory. Sunday night he was on the bench. Not only did he not start the game, he never put a cleat on the field.
When asked why after the game, Belichick said, “”We put the players and game plan out there that we thought would be the best, like we always do.”
We Need to get to bottom of this Malcolm Butler situation, I’m baffled about this one. We needed that man on the field.
— Ty Law (@OfficialTyLaw) February 5, 2018
That’s simply a lie. Butler was in the doghouse and there is no way in hell dime back Johnson Bademosi was a better option to play than Butler. Bademosi recorded one tackle in the entire game and not a single pass defense.
This what I wrote in my Super Bowl preview last Friday.
The strength of the Patriots coaching philosophy embodied by Bill Belichick in the second half of this dynasty is simple; don’t be stupid. Don’t make dumb mistakes, don’t beat yourself and play the smart odds all the way.
To prove my point, Belichick tossed all that out the window, got pissed at Butler, and let him ride the bench all the way to a Super Bowl loss. Do you think that maybe one of the best, young cornerbacks in the league might have made a difference in the most prolific offensive Super Bowl of all time? Eagles quarterback Nick Foles threw the ball 43 times.
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
Was he a better option than Rowe? The Eagles sure as hell thought so.
“(The plan was) to go after 25 (Rowe),” an Eagles assistant told Sports Illustrated. “We could get Alshon (Jeffery) out there against him. We had Rowe on our team here in Philly, we knew that was a mismatch.”
After the game, Butler didn’t hide his frustration and why should he? He’ll be playing somewhere else next season.
“They gave up on me,” Butler said. “I could have changed that game.”
All it would have taken is one play to go differently. It’s hard to argue with the man.
Belichick, even hearing Butler’s quote spat back at him, made no effort to change his story.
“I respect Malcolm’s competitiveness, and I’m sure that he felt like he could have helped,” Belichick said. “I’m sure other players felt the same way. In the end, we have to make the decisions that we feel are best for the football team, and that’s what we did, that’s what I did.”
The only thing sweeter than a Pats SB Loss is a Pats SB loss because of a Belichick coaching error. No Malcolm Butler in a game that they gave up 40+ 😂😂😂😂
— KFC (@KFCBarstool) February 5, 2018
Now, just like the fans and teams that had seasons and potential empires ruined during the SpyGate era, we’ll never know.
Super Bowl
Straight up: 0-1
Against the spread: 1-0
Playoffs
Straight up: 5-6
Against the spread: 6-5
Season
Straight up: 162-105
Against the spread: 126-135
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