There is a reason Bill Belichick's New England Patriots have been in six Super Bowls since 2001.
NFL.com reported that Super Bowl XLIX savior Malcolm Butler, the Patriots nickel back who intercepted Russell Wilson as the goal line with just seconds left in the game to preserve New England's 28-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, wasn't even on the field when the Seahawks huddled for the play from the 1-yard line.
NFL Films captured footage showing the Patriots putting in their goal-line defense that had linebacker Akeem Ayers in the lineup. According to NFL.com, a pair of New England assistant coaches noticed that the Seahawks were in their three-wide-receiver package and sent in Butler for Ayers.
The play was indicative of a Belichick edict that offensive coordinator Josh McDaniel related to Sports Illustrated's TheMMQB.com's Peter King: "It's a 60-minute football game, and whatever issues we have, let's make sure we correct them, coach them, and fix them. That's our job."
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King went on to explain that the Patriots realized in the third quarter that Kyle Arrington was struggling big-time with the Seahawks' big-but-unheralded wide receiver Chris Matthews and decided in the third quarter to insert Butler, the rookie out West Alabama.
King wrote:
"Butler got the nickname 'Scrap' for being a feisty player in minicamp, not backing down. The coaches liked him because when they'd quiz players about assignments, they could tell he'd been studying tape and knew how to anticipate what was coming."
Which enabled him to jump Ricardo Lockette's slant route and make the interception.
"I knew they were going to throw it," said Butler. "From preparation, I remembered the formation they were in and I knew they were doing a pick route."
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said the reason Marshawn Lynch didn't get the ball on that play was that the Patriots inserted their goal-line defense, which was true. But either the Seahawks didn't see the Butler substitution or think it was a factor in the play they eventually called.
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