Porting from the Jimmy/Brady thread:
Chad Finn with a typically valuable take
here.
Yeah, overall that's a great article by
@Chad Finn but I have to object to his complaints about Malcolm Butler:
Malcolm Butler: This has been a disappointing season in a couple of respects. The fourth-year cornerback has played well at times, including a crucial tackle late in the victory two weeks ago over the Steelers. And he never backs down from a tough assignment, or much of anything, really.
But he has had some strange moments this year, including Sunday’s overall performance against the Bills, when nondescript Buffalo receiver Deonte Thompson had four catches for 91 yards against the Patriots, including a 46-yarder. Butler appeared to be at fault on a couple of the catches, and it’s easy to speculate that his contract status (he’s a free agent after this season) had led him down the risky path of gambling for interceptions to improve his statistics.
He wouldn’t be the first player to fall into that trap. It’s understandable when millions of dollars are at stake. But the greater disappointment would be if this leads to a contentious parting with the Patriots after the season. Butler’s rise is one of the greatest stories in franchise history, perhaps NFL history.
The Patriots' choice of scheme often puts the hardest jobs on Butler or Gilmore, in favor of putting more safety help underneath, or taking away higher-percentage plays than "jump ball on the sideline". When that happens, he's going to be the one looking bad more often than other players on the defense, but on average and in the long run it helps the team.
Earlier in the season, I saw some games where it seemed Butler wasn't able to keep up with his assignments or was misreading things, or lacked his usual sterling abilities with his hands. But the last ten games or so, he's been back to the play that got him the "Strap" nickname, because I usually see him strapped to his assignment.
In an article where Finn critiques the easy, oft-repeated narrative about Jimmy G, I think it's more than a bit surprising that he buys wholly into the easy, oft-repeated narrative about Malcolm Butler this season, and starts from that vantage point. Unless you know something that you haven't reported, Chad, all we have is rumor and speculation about the RFA contract dispute before he signed his tender. Peter King doesn't have too many well-placed sources in Foxborough - I'd wager you have more than he does. So I don't know why we'd start from the assumption that Butler is anything but the humble hard worker that he's shown himself to be for the last 3.5 years.