Steelers Defensive Coordinator: Patriots Offense Isn't 'Doing Anything Special'
By Matt Dolloff, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler wasn't necessarily saying anything untrue when he made some inflammatory comments about the Patriots this week. But he probably could have made better word choices, because now his remarks are being plastered everywhere. He definitely could have had a better attitude.
Instead, the defeatist-sounding Butler boldly stepped forward and insinuated that the Patriots are cheaters, becoming the latest in a long line of players and coaches who could just be setting themselves for embarrassment. He wasn't even talking about the silly stuff like headsets or warm Gatorade, either. He hearkened back to the Patriots' use of unconventional offensive formations in the 2014 AFC Divisional Playoff against the Ravens.
Butler made his weekly appearance on the Steelers.com "Coordinator's Corner" to talk about the challenges in front of him with Tom Brady and the Patriots offense. He went with some very unfortunate turns of phrase when asked about facing the Patriots offense.
"I don't think they're doing anything special," said Butler, according to CSNNE's Phil Perry. "I think sometimes they do things outside the box sometimes, you know, that might be on the edge of being legal or not legal.
"They've done a couple of things in the past ... putting an offensive tackle out as ineligible but he's not really. And so sometimes the emphasis by the NFL in terms of what they call and what they don't call, they use that a little bit. And they've been accused of doing a lot of things. But the thing we've got to do is ignore that and play, and hopefully, we can give them something they haven't seen from us."
Hat tip to CSNNE for picking up those quotes, because the video is now curiously unavailable ...
Look, it's clear that the Patriots have done things that are on the borderline of breaking the rules and they've been punished for rule violations in the past (some cases have had more hard evidence than others, but I'm not going there today). Bill Belichick is a no-stone-unturned kind of coach and certainly thinks way outside-the-box. It's just a terrible look for any coach on the Steelers defense to say something like the Patriots don't do "anything special."
The Patriots are 6-2 with Brady under center against the Steelers and Brady has thrown 22 touchdowns to just three interceptions with a 113.1 passer rating in those games. Brady has a 135.5 passer rating with six touchdowns through just two games in 2016. To say that they're "not doing anything special," especially if he meant against the Steelers, just makes him sound like the sourest of sour grapes.
Granted, both of Brady's losses to the Steelers have come at Heinz Field, in 2004 and 2011. There's a chance that the Steelers defense can give him some new looks and get a boost from their hostile home crowd. The game could be closer than the Pats' 7.5-point spread would suggest.
But there's no doubt that Butler did himself no favors with these comments. The last thing you want to do to Brady is piss him off. Butler's defense hasn't covered very well this season and could find themselves in some tough matchups, so he'd better hope they turn in their best game of the season, or else Brady is going to shred them, yet again.
Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Have a news tip or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.
