The second-biggest surprise of Super Bowl LII, after Eagles' quarterback Nick Foles' lights-out performance, was Patriots coach Bill Belichick's decision to bench cornerback Malcolm Butler for the entire game. Foles threw for 373 yards and 3 touchdowns in part because New England's secondary was incapable of stopping him.

And even as Butler's replacement, Eric Rowe, was beaten repeatedly, Belichick stubbornly stuck with his decision. The results, you could argue, cost the Patriots their sixth Lombardi Trophy this century. But New England owner Robert Kraft isn't second-guessing Belichick because, well, he's the man responsible for those five titles.

"Here's the deal, we in New England are privileged, I believe, to have the greatest coach in the history of coaching," Kraft said from the NFL owners meeting in Orlando, via the Providence Journal's Mark Daniels. "You know, we're involved in a number of businesses in our family. We're in 95 countries in the world and we try to encourage to have good managers. We want them to be bold. We want them to take risks. Sometimes they work out, sometimes they don't. I have faith in Bill as a coach. I don't think there's anyone who has the football knowledge and expertise combined with understanding personnel. No one can merge those two worlds. He's done pretty well for us over the last 18 years."

Specifically, Belichick is 214-74 in the regular season and 27-10 in the postseason. Pittsburgh is the only other team to eclipse 200 wins in that time (203 -- regular season and postseason), followed by Indianapolis (192), Green Bay (190) and Philadelphia (185).

Kraft continued:

"As a fan, I can question some of the moves," he said. "As someone who's privileged to be the owner of this team, I encourage him to keep going with his instincts and doing what he thinks what is right. There's no doubt in my mind, even if he made an error, and this is true with any of our managers, that if they're doing it for the right reason then I support it 100 percent. I have never had one instance in the 18 years where Bill hasn't done what he believes in the best interest of our team and help us to win games."

For an idea of just how hands-off Kraft has been, he reiterated Monday what he said last year -- that he wanted Butler to finish his career in New England. That obviously didn't happen and now Butler is a member of the Titans.

"When it comes to Malcolm, I have a unique spot for him," Kraft explained. "I had hoped he'd be a Patriot for all of his days. I think that play at the end of the Seattle Super Bowl is iconic. I think he'll be in the memory bank of our fans for the next 50 years and what he did. He's such a humble nice young man. ... He's a great guy. I'm just sorry it didn't work out for him with us, but I'm happy he got the contract he got."

Interestingly, Belichick, who had little to say about Butler's benching in the immediate aftermath of the Super Bowl loss, spoke glowingly of the cornerback in recent days.

"I have a lot of respect for Malcolm," the coach said, via the Journal. "From the day he got here in rookie minicamp four years ago, he's always competed as hard as he could. He always has been a great competitor on the field, and I totally respect that. I'm not going to get into last year. I'm not going to get into next year or some other year. I talked to Malcolm. I wished him well in Tennessee. Obviously, [Titans coach] Mike [Vrabel] and [Titans G.M.] Jon [Robinson] are great people that I have a lot of respect for in that organization and I have a lot of respect for Malcolm. We wish him well."