Sometimes that most valuable thing you can do is not show up to work. The Patriots didn’t look like they skipped a beat by replacing Tom Brady with Cam Newton to start the season. However, when Cam sat out this past week against the Chiefs, fans saw just how valuable Newton is to this Patriots team.
Where would the Patriots be without Cam Newton? New England lost to the Chiefs 26-10, but that didn’t tell the story. The Patriots win that game with Cam, and it showed just how lost they would be without him. New England only scored one touchdown in that game, and it could have easily been erased given the fact that Jarrett Stidham threw a pick earlier in the drive. It just got waved up because of a questionable penalty.
Cam is essentially playing on the minimum. The Patriots signed Cam to a one-year contract worth $1.75 million. We all knew it was a bargain deal, but Cam has even been better than anticipated. He single handily saved the Patriots 2020 season.
New England’s defense is always going to hold up their end of the deal. Bill Belichick is such a defensive mastermind that it doesn’t matter who he has on the roster. The Patriots defense will find a way to be productive. Offensively? This New England team would be lucky to win six games without Cam.
Sure, it’s just a one-game sample, but we saw the truth against Kansas City. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see that neither Jarrett Stidham nor Brian Hoyer has any ability.
Brian Hoyer: 15/24, 130 yards, one interception
Jarrett Stidham: 5/13, 60, one touchdown, two interceptions
Both stat lines are ugly, but both probably played worse than the numbers indicate. Hoyer (as anticipated) showed zero talent and took terrible sacks to close out the half in field goal range.
Stidham’s one interception was on Julian Edelman. In reality, he threw three picks, but one was called off because of a defensive penalty, so it evened out. Stidham played as expected, proving he is inaccurate, incapable of moving the ball, and a terrible decision-maker. THE MAN CAN’T PLAY!
That’s not the point. The Patriots prepared to enter the season with those bums! The Patriots officially signed Cam on July 8. There was no urgency to find a quarterback. They didn’t draft one and prayed that Cam accepted their low ball offer.
Bill Belichick is a fantastic head coach. Probably the best at squeezing talent out of players. However, the fact of the matter is he’s not great at picking those players. The fact that Belichick was willing to enter the season Stidham is lunacy.
Whether Cam stays in New England or not beyond this season, he’s proved his value. Cam has shown he’s now a life preserver for a Patriots team that lacks talent. More so than anything, Cam has shown he’s healthy and is capable of running again.
