ARE YOU FANS OF THE PATRIOTS OR FANS OF THEIR HISTORY?

It has been almost three decades since Robert Kraft bought the New England Patriots. The date was January 21st but I am seeing conflicting articles on if it was in 1993 or 1994. Let's look at the first four nineties team's records to see who they were that Robert Kraft, Bill Parcels, and Drew Bledsoe turned in to a superbowl worthy team in 1996.

Over the first four seasons of the nineties, the Patriots only massed a total of fourteen wins over that span, going 1-15, 6-10, 2-14, 5-11. The Patriots were barely a lesser joke than the creamsicles of Tampa. Yet Robert Kraft with help from coaches and players made the team good enough to make an appearance in XXXI. 

Few Years later Robert Kraft would hire Bill Belichick, who would go on to draft Tom Brady. Go back and look at everyone who was part of the Patriots roster in 1996. Then go back and look at how many of those players were part of the Patriots 2001 roster. The number of players still part of the roster, including the Injured reserve for that season gives way to thinking that the team won superbowl XXXVI was partially assembled in 1996.

Flash forward to January 4th, 2020. Robert kraft as owner of the New England Patriots had been to ten superbowls, winning six and losing three with the duo of quarterback Tom Brady and coach Bill Belichick. On that day, Tom Brady would throw his final pass to Logan Ryan for an interception that would turn into a pick six.

I have always felt with the two losses to the Giants, that the Patriots had one dynasty and that my question was did the dynasty start in 2001 or in 1996? I asked an objective Buffalo Bills' fan recently if it was one dynasty or two and he agreed that it was one. There any many that agree. So I'll always have one unanswered question about the Patriots past.

After that playoff game Tom Brady would choose to go to Tampa Bay. It doesn't matter the reason, and he had more than enough time to explain it. At the end of the day, Tom Brady decided that he no longer wanted to be a New England Patriot. He quit on charities that relied on him in the area. He decided he no longer wanted to be a Bostonian and he left for Bruce Arians and warmer weather.

Several books have come out about the Tom Brady and Bill Belichick era. Whether they're true or not who knows. The goal of the books was to make money off of Patriots nation and football fans, otherwise a web page would've been made and the information would've been available for free.

Since Tom Brady has left, he signed with a team loaded in firepower and won a superbowl. The Patriots on the other hand signed Cam Newton who ran for twelve touchdowns and afforded the Patriots a 7-9 season, which led to them drafting Mac Jones as the number 15 pick of the 2021 NFL draft.

On Sunday Mac Jones will face the Buccaneers defense and Tom Brady will face his old coach Bill Belichick and the Patriots defense. The only thing that matters at the moment is the week four matchup. After that, the week five matchup. The era of Tom Brady in New England is over. 

And yet, there are still stories and books coming out about what happened with the Patriots prior to Tom leaving. As a fan for over three quarters of my life, who cares anymore. We're on to 2021, and the only thing that matters from the last twenty years are the six Lombardis.

At this point as fans, do we want to be like Cowboys fans, talking about twenty years ago with a team that hasn't done anything since the nineties because the fans and organization are stuck in the Troy Aikman era or would we rather look forward and be like the Steelers that have won two superbowls and appeared in three since their dynasty days? Living in the past, looking at the what was, is distracting us from the now and the what is. I for one don't want to miss out, my fellow Patriots fans, do you?

Teams Don't Need A Running Quarterback To Be A Dominant Run Heavy Team.

In his Patriots Live Beat Podcast, Evan Lazar talked about what's needed to be a good running team. While what he said helps, with exception to the offensive line, I think he's wrong and I'll explain why. 

Lazar said, "A good running team playing ten out of eleven, you have to be dominant, dominant run blocking like San Francisco was a couple years ago, or what Tennessee has been with Derek Henry, or what Cleveland has been with Nick Chubbs. You have to have a dominant o-line and have a really really good running back. Maybe the Patriots can have that. Maybe they do have that. And on paper it feels like they're going there, at the same time, without that quarterback being a factor in the run game, it's a lot harder to do that. To be able to be a dominant run team like you have to be to play this kind of style of football. If you're gonna play this style of football, then you have to be historically good as a rushing team to win the superbowl like this. It's not twenty years ago where you could be a top five rushing team and just be kinda an average rushing team in the grand scheme of the nfl history books and win like this and win in that kinda style. Nowadays if you're gonna make a superbowl and win a superbowl being a run first, lean on the run team, then you definitely need to be dominant. And in top of it, on top of being dominant, you need a quarterback that can probably run a little bit too. It's really hard to do without a mobile QB."

For starters, even Lazar is right. The offensive line has to be good at the worst. Teams need the line to push the defense back a yard or two while opening a hole. They also gotta give the quarterback time to throw on the play action.

The first area I disagree is, a team doesn't need "good" running backs. They can get it done with backs that are average to above average ball carriers in the ground. Here's how and Patriots fans should agree with me. The Patriots love to hit those short 1-3 yard passes and term them into y.a.c., especially to their backs. In the modern NFL, those short little passes are considered an extension of the running game. The Patriots need backs than can catch and those are seemingly the style of backs they got.

As far as need needing a running quarterback, while helpful, it's just untrue. The Patriots need a quarterback that can execute the play fake well and get through his reads quick with accuracy. Part of that comes with being able to read a defense presnap. And Mac is mobile enough to work the play action.

The two thing that Lazar forgot is that this style football also needs a good defense. They need to get stops and get the ball back to the offense with giving up points. With as many turnovers as they can provide.

The other thing this style offense needs is good special teams. They mainly the legs. They need the punter to pin their opponents deep when they fail to get into scoring range. Then they need a kicker for the occasional stall which happens to the best of them. When they're in scoring range, they cannot leave any points on the field. 

Yes it maybe a little harder but this style offense doesn't have to be elite. They just have to be efficient and that's the biggest difference. They have to convert, and they have to do their job. And the coordinator has to make sure the opponents don't always know what's coming. This style offense is doable but it takes intelligence and one thing nobody's accused the Patriots of is having lack there of.

Starting quarterback goes down for two months and the phone's still silent.

I am not getting into why but Cam Newton for whatever reason was not a very good passer in 2020. Cam Newton was ranked analytically in the bottom tier to backup rankings for many categories. And the Patriots would re-sign Newton as more of an emergency prospect to sign free agents in the spring.

The Patriots drafted quarterback Mac Jones and named Newton the starter. Newton would show some improvement from 2020 but not enough. During the spring and summer, many in the sports media would go to Patriots camp and say that Newton still looked like the 2020 version of himself.

While Cam Newton had a decade of NFL game experience over Mac Jones, Mac Jones appeared to have a higher football IQ and could do things in the Patriots offense that Cam Newton couldn't. Essentially the Patriots had to decide between IQ and accuracy or mobility and arm strength. Unfortunately for Cam, the Patriots went with IQ and accuracy. And the Patriots released Cam on the final day of cuts for the 2021 preseason.

Newton spoke some on the funky friday podcast. He denied that Mac Jones was helping him learn the playbook but then added too much in his own defense and told where Mac Jones was helping teach him. He put the blame for his five game sit out before the third preseason game on the Patriots. And implied that Kraft or the Krafts ("upper brass") were behind his getting cut. 

Newton insisted that he did not lose his job yet he's a free agent and Mac Jones is the Patriots starter. He insists that there aren't 32 starters better than he is, yet not even Ron Rivera has called him to Washington for a workout. Washington saw Fitzpatrick get banged up in week one and will be out eight weeks.

Cam Newton quoted late night talk show host and comedian Conan O'Brien on his Instagram account this week saying, "The beauty is that through disappointment, you can gain clarity. And with clarity comes conviction and true originality.”

Conan was implying that he was more than just a late night talk show host. And so one can assume that Cam is saying that he's more than an NFL quarterback. Which is true, Newton is a business man. So he'll find a way to make money.

There was a statement going around that Newton would have to wait for an injury to open a door for him to walk in and take a starting job. At the moment, that idea has been proven false. Newton has said that he's willing to take a backup job but admitted that he would've been a distraction in the locker room for the Patriots. It's a safe bet most teams feel that way about his presence.

Newton may have to wait for the 2022 offseason before a team comes calling if they even come calling. Analysts said that his training camp competition and the 2021 season would determine his career and with no disrespect, his career looks like it could be over more so now, than a week ago.

The Problem Wasn't The Play Calling, It Was The Defense And The Final Fumble.

The Patriots were marching down the field looking to take the lead in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. Yet fans are questioning why the Patriots ran the ball that much on the final drive that ended in a fumble. I wanna take on question.

While Mac Jones was playing well, the Patriots had a game plan and I think as the game went on the plan was altered to use more of the clock on offense. Miami had a good defense and the Patriots ran the ball to open up the pass. In defensive games, that's basically what one wants to see.

The Patriots made mistakes, too many penalties, not enough consistency on defense and the fumbles would hurt the team and eventually seal the game.

On the Patriots final drive, they were trying to run out the clock. The clock runs faster when teams run the football. We all know this. The Patriots defense wasn't getting stops when needed, so the team had to eat the clock. Call it smart football or call it conservative play calling, either way the Patriots knew what they were doing. Look at the Dolphins final drive. The Dolphins had their way with the Patriots defense and ate the clock until it reached zero.

The game plan or play calling wasn't bad when you actually look at the fact that the offense was playing defense to keep their defense off the field. It may just be me but the Patriots didn't seem to trust their defense to close out the game. Which leads me to ask, how concerned do we have to be with the Patriots defense without Gilmore? 

I told everyone when we drafted him that Barmore wasn't Wilfork. He is a pass stopper that is okay at stopping the run. Godchaux is the run stopper but it didn't matter because nobody could stop the run. I believe the team was designed for their safeties to come up an be extra linebackers but without Gilmore, their secondary is screwed up. Hopefully Gilmore is the answer to the problem, if not the rebuild is going to take longer than this season.

The Patriots Allow The Dolphins To Sit A Top The East.

The Patriots played their week one matchup and the big question was how would Mac Jones look in a regular season start. He was playing a Brian Flores defense, so it wasn't going to be easy. That question got answered tonight but some other issues would come forth. Many that didn't get fixed during the preseason.

I was concerned with the run game during the preseason. It seemed like the team allowed too many chunk yard runs in the preseason. The three opponents also rushed for three hundred combined yards against the Patriots. Tonight, again the Pats couldn't stop the run when they needed to and they gave up eighty seven yards on the ground.

There used to be a saying for games like tonight. That was the first team to rush for 100 yards would win. While the dolphins didn't get there, they needed up not needing to because of New England mistakes. Other teams are going to exploit this, do not take any opponent lightly.

Penalties were bad in the preseason. The Patriots gave up nine penalties to the Washington and eight in each of the two remaining games. Against Miami the Patriots had eight more. That seems to be their average, Belichick needs to get that under control or they're going to have a top ten pick in 2022.

There were two fumbles tonight and Bill had to turn to White and Bolden. Both have their place in the offense. White should open things up due to his pass catching abilities but Stevenson and Harris are better backs than Bolden and even though they fumbled, they should've played instead of Bolden. The fumbles are what killed the Patriots. And we know Belichick likes to punish players for fumbles.

Mac Jones looked every bit like a starting quarterback. There were a couple of passes that his ball placement could've been better. Like with the needed Meyers conversion. Yes, Meyers should've caught the ball but Mac should've placed it better. His decision making seemed on point but I am waiting to hear analysts talk about his decision making after watching the all twenty two film.

I expected Hunter Henry to get used like the receiving tight end he is. While there wasn't as much two tight end sets the way people had hoped, I was okay with most of the play calling. Maybe at the end they could've been more aggressive but they didn't need to be. If not for the Damien Harris fumble, the Patriots would've taken at least a two point lead.

The Patriots were a play away from victory. However, we had enough positive losses last season. The team has small mistakes it needs to correct. The Patriots also have to work on the run defense. Maybe things will get better when Gilmore is back and the team can use the personnel the way Belichick intended but until then, There may be more games like tonight.

One more thing. Outside my friends on twitter, there is talk that Newton would've one tonight. No he would'nt. He's no where near as accurate a passer as Mac and he's more aggressive at throwing into coverage. On top of that, yeah his rushing would've helped but which of the two fumbles would've been his? Cam is gone because Mac Jones can operate the playbook that the Patriots want to run better than Cam. 

I'm sorry you're bored of the offense that the Patriots ran for two Dynastys but as long as it works when M.E.s aren't happening, why change it? That's what tonight's mistakes were, M.E.s. I wish Newton the best and hope he signs on to one of the college offenses in the league but no way his arm is good enough to say he would've won tonight.

Cam Finally Spoke And Said A Lot Without Saying Much.

Cam Newton spoke on friday September 10th, 2021. There were somethings to be expected from Cam but the question would be, would this be the same Cam Newton that we have seen since he signed with the Patriots. For the most part yes but there were some things that didn't sit right with me during the interview. Newton sounded more wounded than classy.

The host whether it be his father or whomever was trying to frame the interview in a negative way. Trying to vilify the Patriots organization. I did not like this. Newton for the most part did his best to avoid that road. Cam even said it wasn't dirty when the host said it was to cut him that way.

Cam knew he was gonna be cut and said Mac will win in the nfl. If Cam truly believes that Mac Jones is ready to start and win games, with his high draft value there was little reason to play Cam from the start if the Patriots saw the same thing.

Cam says the reps were in favor "10 - 2" for Jones. Newton Acknowledged that it was a competition, even if it was "a bit deceptive" to the eye. Said it was more about "testing Jones's readiness" than being a true competition.

Cam admits both his and Mac's fans "were completely bias towards the other." Newton called out not only his doubters but his supporters. Basically saying while some of the criticism he received was unfair, he told his supporters they're being unfair to Mac Jones.

Cam said he was cut due to "being a distraction" and that he's "willing to be a backup." This is something we have heard by many in the media. Newton acknowledged that every mistake Jones made was going to have "Mac looking over his shoulder" and everyone looking at Cam.

Newton put the blame for sitting out due to covid on the organization, implying that they wanted him to handle things the way he did, knowing that it would lead to him being forced to sit.

Cam claimed the "pundits" were wrong about Mac Jones teaching him the playbook. Then he got defensive and tattletale on himself and told us exactly what Mac was helping him with. Newton said he's never had to identify the MIKE, that it was the center's job. He even tried to paint it that only two teams did that. One can assume he meant Tampa was the other. He should've left his answer at no. 

He said Mac Jones didn't beat him out. It was a quarterback competition but Cam insists he "didn't lose the competition to Mac." Yet Newton is a free agent and not preparing to start versus Miami. He says "everyone was shocked" that he was cut. Blame was then shifted to Kraft for the cut. Kraft protected Brady, did Kraft step in or is Cam making an excuse to cover for the fact he apparently lost the competition?

The host at the end tells Mac "Sunday afternoons are gonna prove what you are." Like he was saying Mac wasn't a starter or something. The host seemed very angry and negative throughout the entire episode. Newton throughout the interview seemed like he tried to stay respectful, especially towards Mac. However, there were a few moments that are sure to rub some Patriots fans and personnel the wrong way and rightfully so.

Is Cam Waiting On Bill?

The Patriots sign Cam Newton in the summer of 2020 and he ended up starting fifteen games for the franchise. The passing game was pathetic compared to what we've seen over the last twenty seven to twenty eight years. Leading owner Rober Kraft to call out the team and the Patriots into drafting Mac Jones in the first round of the 2021 nfl draft.

Head coach Bill Belichick declared Cam Newton the starter after drafting Jones and said someone would have to out play him for the job. Belichick reaffirmed that decision during the preseason. While Mac Jones did well enough to presume he would start at some point during the 2021 season, very few thought that he out performed Cam enough or that Cam had done enough to lose the week one start.

In a surprise move on Tuesday August 31st, the Patriots cut quarterback Cam Newton. It's been four days and Cam Newton still is unsigned. There are many speculations why, ranging from nobody wants him to he doesn't want to be a back up. The "Brother From Another" podcast put out a theory that I haven't heard anyone else talk about. That theory is that Cam Newton is waiting on the Patriots to resign him. 

The Patriots backups quarterbacks are the same if not worse than last year. Stidham is on the injured reserve and Hoyer is on the practice squad. The Patriots signed quarterback Garrett Gilbert to the active roster. Gilbert doesn't know the playbook and isn't likely to be any good if Jones can't start. In that case it would make sense to bring back Newton over calling up Hoyer. And for Belichick to ask Cam to wait around.

Newton spent thirteen months with the team. He managed the team to a seven and eight record, missing a game due to covid. He should know the playbook, although former Patriots defender turned sports personality Rob Ninkovich claims "Mac Jones was teaching Cam the playbook."

Even if Newton was waiting for the Patriots to re-sign him, it would make sense for him to take any starting job that would come along in the meantime. For now it's a waiting game but Newton remains unsigned in free agent purgatory. I am going to put out there that we may have seen Newton throw his last pass in the NFL. 

Patriots Record Projection Changes.

Before the preseason I had the New England Patriots record projection at 10.5, with a floor of 7 and a ceiling of 14. After the cutdowns that has changed. And not in a good way. How much so and why, let me explain. 

The first problem I saw was Gilmore. Without him, who's playing outside? The Patriots secondary depth is all inside guys and safeties hybrids. They might get lucky and have a guy make due here or there but it's a whole that I expect teams to exploit. Gilmore is out at least six games.

While the Patriots drafted pass rushing defensive tackle Christian Barmore and signed run stopper Davon Godchaux, the team still has a hole. They gave up 145 yards on the ground to Washington, 82 to Philadelphia, and a 96 to New York. Both the Eagles and Giants got away from the run. 

The depth overall. Wide receiver, corner, inside linebacker, defensive tackle, quarterback, tight end, and even offensive line are all unbecoming or suspect. If someone goes down, do they have the next man up? I don't think so, maybe they can develop someone but with their draft history as of late, I wouldn't count on it.

Nordin is inconsistent with high upside and Folk is dealing with his back. When the Patriots need the leg of their kicker can they count on them? Folk is due for a down year and we saw how Nordin looked versus Philly. Now Folk could heal and they could develop Nordin, or they could send Bailey out to kick.

And then there's Mac Jones. Mac got fooled by the Giants trap scheme post snap. So his lack of knowledge of NFL defenses is going to put the Patriots in a spot. It's his experience level and will come with time. On top of that, does he have his emotions under control when things go bad? We saw twice this offseason where he didn't. And as I mentioned with depth, the Patriots really don't have a trustworthy guy to come in if something happens. Mac is much much more accurate than Cam but Newton's experience may be missed.

So with all that my projection has changed. I expect the Patriots to win 8 games. Their floor is 5 games and their ceiling is 11 games. It's not saying the passing game isn't going to be better without Cam because Newton makes mistakes of his own but the team overall has holes that a well run organization can game plan against. 

Are the Mac Jones - Tom Brady comparisons fair?

Mac Jones has been compared to several players. Some of the names that have gone around are Kirk Cousins, Chad Pennington, Derek Carr, Matt Ryan, Drew Brees, and Joe Montana. There is another name that he has been compared to and that's Tom Brady. The problem is that people are looking at 2020 Tom Brady and not listening to the comparison being made.

Tom Brady has always been a cerebral quarterback but for anyone to think Mac Jones is at Tom Brady's level in 2021 is insane. If anyone listens to the comparison, they'll hear the comparison is to the Tom Brady from 2001 to 2004. The only thing that cannot be measured against is his clutchness. 

Of the quarterbacks listed above not including Tom Brady, Kirk Cousins has been listed as the basement. I think statistically that's too good. Derek Carr has been listed as him currently and again I think that's too high statistically based on 2020, especially yardage wise. I mean take a look.

Cousins 67% completions, 4200+ yards, 35 touchdowns and 13 ints.

Carr 67% completions, 4100+ yards, 27 touchdowns and 9 ints. 

The Patriots are going to be a run first team. Those stats are not impossible but aren't realistic. However, Brady's stats over his first few seasons are. Let's look at his career average over that span.

2001-2004 Tom Brady averaged 61.75% completions, 3480 yards, 24 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. One might say that these stats and Carr's aren't that different. Derek Carr threw for 256 yards a game. Brady over that four year span averaged 217 a game. One may not think there's much difference between 24 and 27 touchdowns but I disagree.

Over his three preseason games Mac Jones averaged 69.42% completions, 130 yards and .33 touchdowns. He did this primarily against back ups so it's inflated. Now I believe comparing Jones to 01-04 Brady is a good starting point. If Jones can come in completing 62% of his passes, that's a win for the Patriots.

From a play stand point, all the quarterbacks listed are intelligent. While Cousins is probably the most inconsistent of the lot, they all can or could manage games and take what the defense gives them. Brady in his early years was a good game manager.  If Mac Jones can play consistently at a game manager level at his worst, the Patriots should be fine. Over the Patriots three preseason games, Jones has shown the capability to do that.

So are the Brady comparisons legitimate? It depends on if the proper context is used. If one is referring to how Tom Brady looked in the early part of his career, than yes. If one is referring to a slow but cerebral pocket quarterback, than yes again. If one is referring to one of the most clutch quarterbacks of all time, the answer is no. 

Mac Jones is not a hall of fame quarterback at the moment but he is intelligent, aware, and accurate. His supporting cast is good but not elite, and the depth is weak. This may shock my fellow Patriots fans but success for Mac Jones this season in my opinion is managing the Patriots to eight wins. That's one more than last season. Anything above that is overachieving.

How Will Cam Newton Be Remembered By Patriots Fans

Steve Grogan was with the New England Patriots from 1975 until 1990. Over that span he started 135 games and played in 140. Over that span he had a 75 and 60 record. Does anyone remember Tommy Hudson, Marc Wilson, Hugh Millen, Jeff Carlson, or even Scott Zolak's playing days? Probably not but I bet half dont remember Drew Bledsoe. That small gap in between franchise quarterbacks, nobody remembers the bridge quarterbacks except diehards.

So what about Cam Newton? Newton played one season for the Patriots. He went led them to a 7 and 8 record. He missed a game due to covid, and was a few plays away from a few more wins. With exception to the stat sheet, how will Cam Newton be remembered in New England? The plain truth is he won't be. He will be as remembered as Butch Songin

Some may say he helped bridge the team from the Tom Brady era but the same can be said about quarterbacks from the 1991- 1992 as far as bridging eras to from Grogan to Bledsoe. It's now 30 years later but go back twenty years and I bet nobody remembered them. While we may or may not appreciate Cam Newton, it's just the way it is. 

The only good thing to about Cam Newton and the only way he'll be remembered is when people say "he's (Mac) not Tom Brady," we can reply "but at least he's not Cam Newton." Over time people will stop comparing comparing Mac to Brady in negative ways, and any mention of Newton will stop. And he'll be just another obscure player in Patriots' history.