Cam Newton has rushed for 513 yards and 12 touchdowns but his option handoffs take too long, there is no option toss plays and the whole option offense is about as fast as a world war two tank. In fact a turtle might be quicker getting down the field.
Pro Football Network ranks Cam Newton as the 30th quarterback going into week 17. NFL.com ranks Newton 28th and so does CBS sports. PFF has the Patriots pass catchers ranked 27th. I do believe that Newton is a worse passer than the group he's been throwing to.
There's a lot of talk that the Patriots pass catchers not getting open has hurt Cam. However, those same pass catchers are also being hurt because they're catching balls put in bad areas, if the ball even gets near them.
We haven't really heard anyone saying those pass catchers need a better quarterback, well that was until week 16, when Newton stepped up in the pocket and threw the ball into the ground near Harry's feet. The Patriots pass-catching unit is better than the Patriots quarterback room and they have been suffering from inaccurate quarterbacks with poor decision making.
Cam Newton spent a hot minute talking to reporters on New Year's Eve. Here's a little of what he said, “For me, I still can be better. I still can be more consistent. Some of the throws that I’ve had, I wish I would have had back. But yet nobody cares about the circumstances, nobody cares about the waves or the tide that’s in the water. They just care about you just reeling that ship on in, and I didn’t do that consistently enough.”
Newton is right, nobody cared about circumstance. See there's a difference between knowing a playbook and knowing how to pass the ball. When there's guys open and he doesn't see them, when he's throwing the ball 5 feet around his target instead if to his target, when he cannot hit timing routes; there's something wrong. I'm sure covid effected him but it's not responsible for his accuracy issues and decision making. That's always been an issue and it's just getting worse as he ages.
If Newton looked good but was struggling with the offense, it be different. We'd understand the limited playbook not growing but he's been struggling to operate the basics that McDaniels is calling.
This season, Newton ran all over Miami, who struggled against option style offenses. Then he threw all over the 32 ranked pass defense of Seattle's. After that he started struggling against the Raiders and it was all down hill from there.
Ryan Hannable was part of that day's interview with coach Belichick. Here's what Hannable tweeted."Bill Belichick asked about Cam Newton saying yesterday he wishes he had more time with system: "I agree with what Cam said, I wish we had more time together."
Wouldn't address second part of question about potentially wanting to work with him next year, focused on this week."
Listening to the two, it doesn't sound like there's much faith in another season. When thinking about McDaniels comments about leaving the quarterback decision up to Belichick for week 16 instead of getting behind Cam, that was a clear message from McDaniels to Bill that Newton cannot run his offense.
Jerry Trotta of Musket Fire said something in a recent article about Belichick and Newton that really puts things into perspective.
"The last time we checked, when the term “regret” is uttered in press conferences, it normally doesn’t set the tone for a happy ending," wrote Trotta.
The Patriots are 6 and 9 heading into their season finally against their division rival, the New York Jets. The Jets are playing better football and a field goal probably won't win the Patriots the game. All the talk about the Patriots being a 7 and 9 team pre Cam Newton and a playoff team once he was signed.
Brian Hoyer and Jarret Stidham kept the Patriots in the game versus the Chiefs with help from the defense but Hoyer's half time debacle and Edelman handing the defense a pick six sealed that game. The defense was the team's identity this season but the offense didn't have a consistent game manager. There's no doubt in my mind after watching this team play in 2020 that the Patriots would have no worse than the same record without Newton ever being signed.
The pass catchers aren't the best, the playcalling wasn't inspiring but at the end of the day, when Cam's arm was needed; he failed to consistently deliver. Bill Belichick is not Al Davis, the Patriots are not gonna build a track meet to suit Newton's throwing style. They adapted the offense with all the option plays and expected Newton to be able to play quarterback in their system. They expected too much. The 2020 experiment is over with week 17 being just as much a formality as lining up on defense against the victory formation. There's a safe bet that Cam Newton's "business trip" has come to an end.
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