Robert Kraft blames Bill Belichick for losing Super Bowl LII for specific reason

There isn't much throughout Bill Belichick's legendary career as the head coach of the New England Patriots for anyone to criticize. I mean, his accomplishments speak for themselves. He's considered the greatest head coach in NFL history by most for a reason.

One decision that the former Patriots head coach is going to have to live with was one to bench Malcolm Butler, a corner who not only was the hero in their Super Bowl win against the Seahawks back in 2014, but one who had played in 98 percent of the defensive snaps in the 2017 season when New England lost the Super Bowl against the Eagles.

Butler was a late benching ahead of Super Bowl LII to the shock of everybody. To this day, we have no idea what actually caused the benching but it's clear that seven years later Patriots owner Robert Kraft still has not gotten over it.

Robert Kraft puts blame on Bill Belichick's shoulders for Patriots losing Super Bowl LII

In the latest episode of The Dynasty: New England Patriots on Apple TV+, Kraft revealed at least part of why one of their starting corners was benched.

“What has been told to me is that there was something personal going on between Bill and Malcolm, that was not football related,” Patriots owner Robert Kraft says. “I always felt that every decision Bill had made had been to put what was in the best interests of the team first, and put emotion aside. But, with Malcolm, he did just the opposite.”

What the personal issue was is unknown, but it's very unlike Belichick, a coach who always put the team first, to bench one of his most valuable players in the Super Bowl. It's clear that Butler's absence impacted the team on the field, as New England lost a shootout to the Eagles 41-33.

Tom Brady put on one of the greatest performances in Super Bowl history, throwing for over 500 yards and putting up 33 points yet their defense just couldn't get a stop. Hindsight is 20/20, but you'd think putting out one of your starting cornerbacks would help at least a little bit.

“People still ask me,” Butler said, “to this day. ‘Why didn’t you play in the Super Bowl?’ ‘I don’t know, man, coach’s decision.’ . . . I really don’t know. I really don’t. Just to like leave me watching my team suffer when I know I could help like. Like, not one rep. Not one rep.”

It really is baffling. There's no way to know what the result would've been had Butler seen the field. It's certainly a great what-if to ponder.