Tag: Cam Newton

Patriots Have a Losing Record This Late in the Season for the First Time in 18 YEARS

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I know that headline is the definition of first world problems and every Jets, Bills, and Dolphins fan in America is probably reaching for the closest pencil to stab me in the eye with. BUT, that doesn’t change the fact that in the midst of a bizarre, start and stop, don’t say it don’t say it don’t say it UNPRECEDENTED season, the Patriots officially have a losing record this late in the year for the first time since 2002! That is WEIRD! A lot of factors have gone into that, mainly the greatest quarterback of all time leaving town, but also this goddamn pandemic screwing with rosters and schedules all across the league.

I mean the Patriots have played all three of their QBs at various points this year and Cam Newton just missed the better part of the last two weeks of practice after a positive COVID test. Add in the fact that the Pats are dealing with injuries/other COVID issues and the team was forced to roll out some Papier-mâché amalgam of an offensive line unit yesterday. Newton was mostly mediocre throwing the ball yesterday with 2 picks and only completing 17 passes all day. In fairness, Newton has completed 15, 30, 17, and 17 passes in each game he’s played in this year so it wasn’t a disastrous drop off, but he did have his worst QB Rating of the year by far at 51.6.

Newton did rush for 76 yards and a TD though, including a 30+ yard run where he stiff armed the shit out of a defender at the end.

Another thing that stuck out to me was the decision to go for 2 instead of just kicking the extra point after scoring to put the game within 9. That was head scratching. If they just kick the XP then they’re only down 8 points, but failing to get the 2 point conversion put the Pats down by 9, which requires them to score twice to come back. Now I know the analytics stat heads say it’s actually smart because getting that play out of the way affects the game script and the team then knows they need two scores regardless, instead of banking on getting a 2 point conversion at the end and leaving yourself no time. I’m not a math or economics guy so I don’t want to sound like a disgruntled scout at the Moneyball table, but that sounds like a bunch of malarkey to me. Luckily it ended up not hurting them after Drew Lock melted and threw two picks to put the Pats right back in the game.

They only lost by 6 so it’s a moot point, but still seemed like an instance of the Pats overthinking things.

Now do we give Josh McDaniels credit for being in his bag with all the trick plays down the stretch yesterday?

Or do we rightfully give him and Cam shit for being incapable of moving the ball against a team that just barely beat the Jets the week before? I mean you never want to say it’s a waste if it works, but it didn’t result in a win so it’s kind of a waste to call all these trick plays against the goddamn Broncos because now it’s on film for future opponents to study. The element of surprise is what makes these plays work, despite the fact that I’m almost positive the Pats tried to run this same exact play on the prior series when Edelman got immediately tackled for a 2 yard loss.

I’m pretty sure the play where Newton went out for the reception is the same one that Brady got hurt on last year too. So it just goes to show the stark contrast of this year’s team vs last year’s; there are certain areas where Newton has helped tremendously as Brady nearly broke his leg on that same trick play last year. But the Pats are in a lot more rock fights this year and are just looking to keep opposing teams under 20 points as they’ve become much more reliant on the running game, the defense, and sleight of hand.

I want to err on the side of patience considering Newton and the team barely practiced the last week or two, but hey the same thing happened to the Titans after they flipped the bird to COVID protocols and they rolled in their first game back after essentially zero practices. So who the hell knows what to expect from this team, but I do know there is potential for an elite unit there. Just look back 3 weeks to the Seattle game, which they lost, but Newton went off for 397 yards and 1 TD plus 47 yards and 2 TDs on the ground. So if the Pats can get it together and find some semblance of consistency, which is easier said than done in these UNPRECEDENTED TIMES, then they can be dangerous.

Random Silver Lining of the Day

Cam Newton is in fact not afraid to dive into the pile to recover a fumble, despite sports talk radio hosts roasting Newton about that for weeks after signing with the Pats. Forgetting the fact that the moment in question was one play in a game that happened nearly 5 years ago. This was actually a huge moment that kept the Patriots’ slim chances alive. Cam didn’t play great, but it wasn’t for a lack of grit.

There’s Something About Losing a Winnable Game That Stings Something Fierce

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All aboard the Joey B Express because this train is leaving the station and to be honest with you I am not sure where it’s heading.

What started out as an aberation in this era (the past 15 years or so) of Boston sports, an anomaly, has turned overnight into what economists, stylists, and actually, human fucking beings in general call a “trend”.

One could say this startling reminder of athletic mortality began last December, well before we knew Corona was anything other than a Mexican beer brewed in Kentucky, when the Patriots decided to simply not show up against the Tennessee Titans in the wild-card game, allowing Derrick Henry to run roughshod without even considering stacking the box and, I don’t know, asking Ryan fucking Tannehill to beat us . We all sat there rather calmly all game, thinking “any second now”. Any second now McDaniels would wake up, figure things out, and the offense would cook a quick 21 point cake to get us the dub. Any second now the Mayo/S.Belichick brain trust on defense would unleash the Boogeymen and, fucking I don’t know, spy the aging QB who was running all over us, all the whole being known to throw more picks than a blinded Nathan Peterman. None of that happened though and we lost. To the Titans. In the playoffs.

Things seemed to get back to normal after that befuddling end to 2019. The Bruins played just about up to expectations this season, especially when considering they had to stop their season then restart inside a bubble. The Bs also had to deal with their starting goalie going out to fetch some milk, or in his case probably wings, and never coming back. The Sox sucked this year but at this point I’m pretty sure we’re all just about rooting for that given how hateable their ownership is.

Then our sports world got weird again in the form of the Bubble Celtics. King Marcus Smart, First of His Name, The J’s, and company started a little sluggish but really hit their stride at the end of the bubble season. They proceeded to thrash the 6ers in four. But then they had to go to fucking war with the Raptors, a war which they won. It was entertaining as hell, absolutely captivating, but at the same time, a bit discouraging. On paper, with Toronto having lost Kawhi, our squad should have beaten Toronto a little more handily. no offense to the other 6. Fred van Fleet just shouldn’t be able to lead a team to a seventh game against the young guns from Boston, in my opinion. So I was a little wary heading into our series with Miami.

Now, I don’t hold Jimmy Butler in as high regard as say, the prostitutes in Rio de Janeiro or, more relevantly, other basketball fans. I’ve just never seen “it”. But all the same going up against him and a good supporting cast did not excite me all that much. So I was pretty shocked watching the series play out. Not in the final score of the games themselves or watching the basketball actually go in the hoop or not, just everything else. We simply looked better. We played better. We were more athletic. We were a more cohesive team. But we just didn’t win. We didn’t execute. We didn’t actually score. We didn’t….beat a not as good team. It made zero sense. It must have been how the USSR felt watching the 1980 Olympics. I don’t know how to say. “How the fuck is this happening?” in Russian but I gained some empathy for Sergei and Pavel out in Moscow that series.

I carried that series in my gut with me. I figured it’d be there for awhile. It turns out I was wrong as I carried it around with me until just last night. With Cam Newton having tested positive for the big C19, the Pats trotted out journeyman not-extrordinaire Brian Hoyer against the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs. And by the 5:00 minute mark (or thereabouts) of the 3rd Quarter, guess what? We should have been winning. But we weren’t. How? Down a respectable 6-3 with the clocking ticking away at the half, Hoyer decided to take a sack rather than throw the ball away, costing us a field goal attempt that not even Nick Folk would have (probably) missed. then, with the score still 6-3, Patrick Mahomes laid an egg on his first drive on the second half. HUGE stop for the D. Hoyer then led an excellent, strategic, balanced drive down the field to get us to the 13. When Josh Mc could advance us no further on the ground, Hoyer dropped back to pass, held on to the ball too long AGAIN, and got stripped. Kansas City ball. Now instead of being 9-3 New England AT A MINIMUM it was Chiefs ball going the other way. Momentum had swung way to far the other way to ever come back to us. We lost 26-10 on a day where our receivers were showing up a little, our D was playing out of their minds, and weird-voice-having Patrick Mahomes was playing like shit.

That leaves us with THREE (3) instances of us just not winning games our eyes have told us we should since last December. In the time it takes to conceive and have a child (I’ve been told) that child would have born to a family that was absolutely bewildered by its sports franchises inability to win games against opponents they should have beaten, sometimes soundly. Instead their birth certificates would have beared names like “FUCKING FRANK CLARK” and “Tyler Herro Looks Like The Third Fucking Chainsmoker.” What a world.

And this, sadly, ladies and gents, is what sports fandom really feels like. I remember it. I’m not so young that I don’t remember asking no one in particular, with tears almost in my eyes, “Why can’t we just win?” I hope this isn’t just it, for the record. I hope I haven’t seen my last championship until I’m too old to care. I hope Cam Newton comes back, Brian Hoyer is locked in the abandoned Showcase Cinema at Patriots Place, and we catch fire with the rest of what looks like an excellent team. I hope the Bruins and Celtics come back next year refreshed, energized by having some (hopefully) semblance of consistency in their lives. I hope, and I can’t stress this enough, John Henry and the rest of the Sox ownership gets Epsteined and are forced to sell.

I hope we become winners again.

-JoeyB.

Silver Linings from the Patriots’ Loss to the Chiefs

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I am not a silver linings type of guy, as I said yesterday there are no moral victories in the National Football League. Yes, the Patriots lost 26-10 to the Chiefs last night, BUT there are some things to build on here for a team that was not playing with a full deck.

Defense Delights
The Patriots defense was masterful for much of the night (except for 2 dropped picks) holding the Chiefs to their lowest offensive yards total all season, just a week after they dropped 517 yards and 34 points on the Ravens. Patrick Mahomes was held to 236 yards and 2 TDs (both of which were about 2 foot tosses). The Pats also stifled Clyde Edwards-Helaire and the Chiefs running game all day, holding CEH to just 64 yards on 20 carries. Travis Kelce only had 3 catches for 70 yards on the night, but killed the Pats on a 45 yard reception late in the game.

RIP to the Brian Hoyer Era
The Brian Hoyer era lasted a grand total of 44 minutes.

Hoyer killed the Patriots with rookie mistakes all night long before mercifully getting benched by Belichick. I am normally a pretty calm guy watching the game and scrolling twitter in between plays, but I literally YELLED at my TV when Hoyer took that sack to end the first half and cost the Pats a field goal.

You can argue that the team was too cavalier with their timeouts, but thats because they had a guy in his 12th year in the NFL under center. He should know better so that was infuriating to watch. Hoyer only made it worse later in the game when a pass rusher blew by him and instead of immediately getting the ball out, he patted the ball somehow thinking the defender was gone. Nope, that guy immediately peeled back and forced the fumble on Hoyer who for some god forsaken reason still had the ball in his hands. Hoyer’s Awareness rating in Madden must have taken a nosedive after this performance.

In came Jarret Stidham, who the Pats finally reached their breaking point and relented on letting him play after Stid had the gall to go to a wedding over the summer. All it took was less than 3 quarters of watching Brian Hoyer playing for Belichick to pull the plug on that experiment. Physically Stidham looked pretty good as he chucked the ball around with ease. He made the typical mistakes of a young QB, but he also had some alarmingly bad throws with 3 picks (1 of which was called back). I don’t know if thats an accuracy issue or a decision making issue, but one of his interceptions was on an underthrown ball in the face of pressure. If he just steps up in the pocket to avoid the rush, this is a TD.

He did hit N’Keal Harry with a pretty touch pass in the back of the end zone for a touchdown on his first career completion though so that was nice to see.

Harry was a huge disappointment last year for various reasons, but it seems the experience of being in Year 2 combined with the power of positive reinforcement from Cam Newton hyping him up has paid huge dividends. Ironic, considering one of Tom Brady’s best friends is Tony Robbins, the de facto king of positive thinking, but it takes Cam Newton to bring it out of Harry.

Turnovers Galore
The Pats were uncharacteristcally sloppy, turning the ball over four times compared to just once by the Chiefs. You’re rarely going to win a game when you lose the turnover battle, you are never going to win a game against the Chiefs when you spot them points.

Young Guys Shine
Chase Winovich has officially arrived this season and particularly in this game as he was wrecking havoc and hurrying Mahomes all night long. Very encouraging to see for a team that is desperate for some pass rushers after all the players that either left via free agency or opted out this season.

Damiere Byrd looked like a legit NFL receiver yet again with five catches for 80 yards, but he also saw 10 targets so the QBs (not just Cam Newton) seem to trust him to make plays.

Damien Harris FINALLY stepped onto the field and he did not disappoint, racking up 100 yards in his first significant NFL game action. Harris only had 4 touches all of last season and was a scratch most weeks so I have been dying to see the former Alabama back get some significant work. With Sony Michel back on IR this is Harris’ time to shine and I think he probably takes the RB1 job for good. Granted the Pats routinely roll out multiple runningbacks on any given week, but I think Harris is the locked in bellcow back moving forward if he stays healthy.

Kyle Dugger looked great and his athleticism was apparent as he made some touch tackles, which impressed me the most considering the Patriots’ top pick was essentially playing Division II football last year.

Get Well Soon Cam
The Patriots showed they can hang with the class of the league if they play their best football, which they did for large shares of the night. Their QB play is what ultimately sunk them, but if these two teams meet again later this season it would be with Newton under center who obviously turns the Patriots offense into a completely different beast.

Edelman Drops
Jules had the dropsies last night, including a pass deflected off his hands that turned into a walk-in pick six for the Chiefs.

It’s tough to see Edelman drop more and more balls as he gets up there because he has been so money for so long for this Patriots team. It’s something to keep an eye on. He is far from washed, as we saw in the Seattle matchup when Edelman had one of the best games of his entire career with Newton slinging him the ball. But it makes sense for the Pats to not have their entire offense depend on a 34-year-old receiver.

Although Edelman’s potential heir to the New England Slot only had one catch last night, Gunner Olszewski sure as shit made it count with this one.

Give Me a Break
Looot of breaks went the Chiefs way last night and the Pats were still hanging around for most of the game. By far the worst was the fumble return that was whistled dead WAY too quickly and ultimately ruled a sack.

The clear strip and fumble return was blown dead by the refs who said they thought Mahomes was “in the grasp” of defenders.

Now I understand the irony of a Patriots fan complaining about a quarterback sack not being called a fumble, but that call was horrific. Total hose job.

There was also the Chiefs punt returner somehow not touching that bouncing ball a la Edelman in the AFC Championship, and the brutal roughing the passer call on Mahomes who should have won an Oscar on the play.

Overall this team looked pretty good playing the defending SB champs with their 2nd and 3rd string quarterback after commuting to Kansas City the day of the game. They showed they can hang with the best of them so I look forward to seeing this team back at full strength. The Pats are now 2-2 and 2 games back in the AFC East though trailing the Bills who look legit behind sudden MVP candidate Josh Allen. I knew the Bills would be good this year, but I did not expect this type of jump from Allen so kudos to them. The race for the AFC East crown is on now.

With Cam Newton Out Due to COVID-19, the Brian Hoyer Era Begins Tonight

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Spin cycle activated. Yes, Brian Hoyer hype videos do indeed exist.

Now that Cam Newton is out for at least this game if not multiple games after testing positive for COVID, we get a peak at what the Patriots would have looked like had they never signed Cam in the first place since Hoyer was QB1 earlier this summer.

If that highlight video doesn’t make you feel any better, well let’s take a look at Hoyer’s career stats. Hoyer’s teams are 16-22 when he is the starter and he has a career 59.1 completion percentage, 7 yards per attempt career avg, 52 touchdowns and 32 picks, with an 82.5 career QBR.

Time to test the theory that Belichick can win with anybody under center, but this is his biggest test since Matt Cassel was taking snaps in 2008.

There’s also Jarrett Stidham on the bench, but if you believe what you hear on talk radio, which I take with a gigantic grain of salt, the team apparently buried him on the depth chart after he took a road trip to Texas for a wedding during the offseason. I always found that, if true, to be an over the top punishment, even for Belichick. But hey when the greatest quarterback of all time leaves town creating a wide open, glowing opportunity for you to become a starter in the NFL, you probably don’t want your boss to think you’re doing anything other than playing, practicing, studying, and dreaming about football.

With on again, off again Patriots QB Hoyer most likely getting the start tonight the Pats have gone from -7 point underdogs to -11, which would be the third largest spread in the league this week. So Vegas is not feeling it.

I think the Pats are probably going to get dusted tonight if we’re being honest. They were already big underdogs to begin with, now they’re starting their backup QB on the road, on short notice, and are straight up commuting to Kansas City on game day to play the defending Super Bowl champs.

Theres no moral victories in the NFL, but hey if you want a silver lining, maybeeee this helps the Patriots if they end up playing the Chiefs again in the playoffs since KC won’t have any game tape of Cam vs the Chiefs. I don’t want to come off like an In Belichick We Trust goon so I’m going to leave it at that, but hey you asked for a silver lining.

The real problem is what if Cam misses multiple games? The Patriots play the Broncos next week, who they should be able to beat without Newton and then thankfully Week 6 is their bye. So that would give Newton three weeks before hopefully returning for Week 7 vs the 49ers, who would presumably have Jimmy G back by then. But you never know, Eduardo Rodriguez came down with COVID and missed the rest of the season due to complications.

Also considering not a single other Patriots player tested positive, for a guy who is renting a place, who intentionally did not move his family to New England because it’s a “business trip,” and orders vegan takeout food rather than going out — how the hell did he even get coronavirus?

Despite Newton being the only Patriots player to test positive, the NFL was quick to launch a full scale investigation into the team for not properly following safety procedures. FOH, Goodell.

Welp, hopefully Newton, as we hope for anyone that has contracted COVID, recovers and is back to full strength quickly. Until then, enjoy the Brian Hoyer Experience.

Robert Griffin III Confirmed Dragon Ball Z Guy With This MASSIVE Tattoo

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So Robert Griffin III unveiled a gigantic tattoo immortalizing Goku and the Hulk with the ink covering his entire leg. The tattoo artist Nic Westfall told TMZ that RGIII sat for 10 hours to knock out the Goku/Hulk leg sleeve.

It’s crazy how many gigantic, badass NFL players are diehard Dragon Ball Z fans like the nerd thats writing this blog.

I mean the examples go on and on, Adidas even did a DBZ sneaker collaboration a couple of years ago. So if anyone ever tells you something you like is dumb, just remember that some of the greatest, toughest athletes in the world are just big nerds at heart.

Now back to Griffin himself. It’s easy to forget how big RGIII was back in 2012-13 when he was the most exciting mobile quarterback since Michael Vick. He was a legitimate track star at Baylor and ran a 4.4 40 yard dash at the combine. RGIII was one of the guys leading the wave of mobile QBs coming into the NFL at the time and succeeding, ultimately paving the way for team’s to build around guys like Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson, Kyler Murray etc. Guys that would have been looked down upon for being mobile QBs only a decade ago. Griffin, Cam Newton, Russell Wilson all came into the league within a year of each other and permanently changed the way people viewed mobile QBs. No longer were they viewed as “rushing” QBs who had to rely on their legs. They were the new hybrid that was here to stay. RGIII was the Rookie of the Year and a Pro Bowler in his first season, unfortunately for him he had that horrible ACL injury and was never the same.

RGIII really did help usher in a new age of quarterbacks though. It used to be a joke between my friends and I playing Madden in college because I would pick whatever team had a mobile guy as the backup QB and shred people. I would go out of my way to play with Troy Smith or Tyrod Taylor. But seriously, just look at how many mobile quarterbacks are starters in the NFL today. I count 8-11. Jackson, Mahomes, Newton, Russell, Murray, Watson, Gardner Minshew, Josh Allen. And if you wanted to you could throw in Dak Prescott, Baker Mayfield, Teddy Bridgewater, and Tyrod Taylor (who would be starting if not for the medical malpractice that happened on the sidelines in Week 1). Thats a third of the league!

So this is apropos of nothing, but the RGIII DBZ headline caught my attention so I had to give Griffin some love and reflect back on how big of an impact he had on the game in a relatively short period of time.

What Will the Patriots Roster Look Like?

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We are now five days away from the deadline for NFL teams to cut down to 53 man rosters. Came at us fast huh? Yikes. With a shorter training camp and no preseason, evaluating players had to of been a lot harder this year, not to mention the fact that the beginning of the season should be a gigantic shitshow.

As websites of our ilk are want to do, I figured I’d take a crack at breaking down what the Patriots’ 53 man roster might look like, based on rumblings and grumblings I’ve heard from the the various media actually allowed to attend camp. The Patriots in particular are kind of a bitch to predict given they play so positionlessly in some areas. But here goes nothing.

OFFENSE
Quarterbacks (3)
Keep: Cam Newton (QB1), Jarrett Stidham, Brian Hoyer
Cut: Brian Lewerke

No shockers here. If reports are accurate Cam is really starting to run away with the QB1 job. Not just because of his passing either. He has obvious superiority when it comes to athleticism and the energy he brings to the offense, I’m told, is palpable. Stidham gets another year to learn and Hoyer can stand in as old reliable.

Running Backs (4)
Keep: Damien Harris, Rex Burkhead, James White, Sony Michel
Cut: J.J Taylor

Word out of camp is we could see Harris picking up a lot more carries this year. I’ll be fine with that as it takes the load off Blanco and allows him to be the de facto 2nd or 3rd option in the receiving game. Sony Michel, whichever version, will start the season splitting carries with Harris while Burkhead can fill in wherever needed

Fullback (1)
Keep: Jakob Johnson

I have half a mind to doubt myself in keeping a Fullback. That said the Pats run game statistically fell off a cliff without a FB last year and Johnson by all reports has played really well this camp.

Tight Ends (2)
Keep: Devin Asiasi, Dalton Keene
Cut: Ryan Izzo, Jake Burt, Paul Quessenberry, Rashad Berry, Paul Butler

This seems strange for me to even write but I think Belichick may go full “fuck it” and roll the rookies out there. Camp is so hard to judge on its own merits, but Asiasi has looked like the receiving threat we didn’t know existed when we drafted him and both youngbloods have looked good blocking. Thus we reach the end of the line for Izzo.

Wide Receivers (6)
Keep: Julian Edelman, N’Keal Harry, Mohammed Sanu, Jakobi Meyers, Gunnar, Olszewski, Damiere Byrd
Cut: Isaiah Zuber, Devin Ross, Jeff Thomas

Probably not a ton of surprise here. Harry has apparently looked great this camp, adapting his college game of just snatching shit out of the air with zero separation to the pros. Gunnar, they say, now looks more like a WR than an interesting project. Sanu gets a chance to prove he doesn’t suck. Meyers gets to prove he wasn’t a one year preseason wonder.

Offensive Lineman (9)
Keep: David Andrews, Yodny Cajuste,  Jermaine Eluemunor, Shaq Mason, Joe Thuney, Isaiah Wynn,Michael Onwenu, Tyler Gauthier, Korey Cunningham
Cut: Ben Braden, Hijalte Froholdt, Justin Herron,

A lot of this is guess work. My first six, whether they start or not, I think are shoe ins. After that I’m not too sure. An example of this is whether they’ll keep Cunningham, a veteran backup Tackle from last year’s squad,  or 6th round pick Herron. I went with Cunningham.

Defense

Defensive Tackles (4)
Keep: Adam Butler, Lawrence Guy, Byron Cowart, Beau Allen
Cut: Bill Murray, Xavier Williams, Nick Thurman, Michael Barnett

Guy and Butler are locks and things get interesting after that. The Pats kept Cowart around so that should count for something. They have an old nemesis in Allen that they have a history of keeping around.

Edge Players (6)
Keep: Chase Winovich, John Simon, Afernee Jennings, Derek Rivers, Shalique Calhoun, Deatrich Wise Jr.
Cut: Tashawn Bowers, Brandon Copeland

This is sooooo goddam tricky. Tne Patriots front seven should be considered its own state of matter. Wise and Calhoun stay for now as reports are that Josh Uche is getting a lot of looks as a MLB of all things. Jennings is listed off the edge here even though I think he’ll play a swiss army, elephant backer role akin to Hightower- If not now than in the future. One could argue Wise Jr. is also now a DT but whatttever.

Linebacker (3)
Keep: Ja’Whaun Bentley, Josh Uche, Cassh Maluia
Cut: Terez Hall, De’Jon Harris

Again, some are listing Uche as a rusher but he’s getting a lot of looks inside. Maluia should see a lot of snaps this year as well. Bentley gets to prove he’s the next Boogeyman.

Cornerbacks (6)
Keep: J.McCourty, Stephon Gilmore, J.C Jackson, Jonathan Jones, Joejuan Williams, Justin Bethel
Cut: Michael Jackson, Myles Bryant, D’Angelo Ross

I actually wouldn’t be surprised if Williams was cut, although he should get another year. Jackson looked good on the field last year but has been torched a bit this camp. Jonathan Jones was a pleasant surprise in coverage last year. JMac and Gilmore are the 1-2. Bethel gets stashed for his S/T expertise.

Safeties (5)
Keep: D.McCourty, Kyle Dugger, Adrian Phillips, Terrance Brooks, Cody Davis
Cut: N/A

The Pats have a group of one Pro Bowler, a few solid players, and two unknowns at Safety this year. Dugger was the surprise second rounder out of the DII rankings. He has received positive reviews this camp though. My onion with him has been this: We play a ton of man. Tight Ends are all the rage so teams are drafting big ass safeties (basically small LBers, called “moneybacks”) to cover them. If all a first year guy has to do is “go cover that big ass tight end” it should be easy enough to see what we have.

Specialists (4)
Kicker: Justin Rohrwasser,
Punter: Ryan Allen
Special Teams Ace/WR: Matthew Slater
Long Snapper: Joe Cardona
Cut: Nick Folk

I just cannot see Bill Belichick quitting on a 5th round pick with a big leg. Everything else is obvious.

Offense:  25
Defense: 24
Specialists: 4
Total: 53

 

Patriots QB Jarrett Stidham Might Be Injured, Probably Wraps Up the QB “Competition” With Cam Newton

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So it came out this morning that Jarrett Stidham suffered an injury, the extent of which is anyone’s guess, but it was serious enough for the team to take him to the hospital.

I guess this eliminates the need for a blog I had started writing yesterday morning: Would the Patriots Ever Really Run Multiple QBs in the Regular Season? Someone asked Belichick if he would consider the option since all three QBs were splitting reps pretty evenly until yesterday. And I don’t mean play multiple QBs when Hoyer starts the first 3 games and throws 9 interceptions and gets benched. I’m talking about a college style offense where Stidham plays 20 snaps and then Josh McDaniels sends Cam Newton in with his own package of plays. You know the old saying, if you have two quarterbacks you have none. It’s an old saying because it’s true.

Well it would seem like thats out the window now if Stidham is in fact injured. Unless Cam is an absolute bonehead and can’t pick up any of the playbook, which he’s not, then there’s no reason to start Brian Hoyer over a former MVP. I’ll roll the dice with a former MVP every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Sorry Brian, you definitely got a raw deal here but those are the facts.

Granted the Patriots don’t every say anything about anything, but the team is already downplaying the significance of Stidham’s injury.

Who knows whats true and whats not, but I do know that you don’t go to the hospital unless something is seriously wrong. This isn’t the UFC where guys go to the hospital as a post fight routine. So something was hurting him enough that the team thought a visit to the hospital was warranted. Either way, this conveniently wraps up the QB “competition” before it ever really heated up. There were reports of Newton starting to take over more of the first team reps while Stidham had been having an atrocious week throwing multiple picks. So this makes it that much easier for Belichick to give the job to Newton while the team quietly reassesses what it has with Stidham and makes a long term decision at the QB position.

But for right now, it’s HAM Newton time.

Cam Newton Channels Lord Petyr Baelish in His Latest Hype Video

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I know these pump up hype videos are very common these days on social media. Tom Brady and Julian Edelman post them before every big game, but Cam Newton must have a cinematographer on the payroll because he’s releasing like two a week. Today we get a mashup of Cam working out with guys like OBJ while the absolute GOAT of revenge Petyr Baelish provides the foreboding voiceover.

This offseason has been absolute chaos with Cam Newton not finding a job until July and questions of whether the season will actually start on time or not, but hey, chaos is a ladder.

If you think Cam’s not out for blood this season you’ve got another thing coming. Just please be healthy because I really want to see a pissed off former MVP going at the rest of the league’s neck.

Cam Newton is a Patriot. What Should We Realistically Expect?

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As you all have heard by now the Patriots did the most Patriots thing ever this week and signed a former elite player on a massively team friendly deal. The marriage of Cam Newton and the Patriots is not something I expected, but I also was told by the Boston media all offseason how high the team was on Jarrett Stidham with Brian Hoyer being the adult in the room for at least a little while. Welp, it seems like Belichick had merely been eyeing a fancy new toy for months just waiting for the price to drop before finally deciding to pull the trigger. Newton comes to New England on an incentive laden one-year prove it deal as the signal caller looks to bounce back from an injury shortened season last year.

Jarrett Stidham’s head must be spinning right now. The heir apparent to the Patriots QB1 only had to beat out veteran journeyman Hoyer to earn the job. Now he’s got Hoyer and a former league MVP boxing him out of the starting gig. Stidham took a road trip to Texas with the wife and got Wally Pipped before he even got off the Pike. Stidham checking his ESPN notifications and seeing the Newton signing:

By the way, this also goes to show you to never, ever, ever discount what the wise guys are saying in Vegas. Oddsmakers had the Patriots as the favorites to sign Newton months ago and we all thought what the hell are they talking about? Whoops.

Julian Edelman seems to already be on board with the former MVP coming to Gillette though.

Using the infamous and ridiculous Cam Newton font in his post legitimately made me laugh out loud.

Although Tom Brady was immediately in Edelman’s comments like an ex-girlfriend trying to honey dick him.

You left Jules, Tom! Let him be happy with someone else.

I’ve been a big fan of Ham Newton’s game ever since his days at Auburn when he crushed my dreams as a Boston based Oregon stan in the National Championship. So I’m pretty excited to see what one of the most dynamic QBs in the game can do with the best coach in the history of the league.

KEY STATS

People point to Newton’s career 59% completion percentage as a reason why he won’t fit here, but I fully expect the Pats to run the snot out of the ball this year. They were already trending that way the last couple of seasons, drafting Sony Michel in the first round, and this past offseason using the franchise tag to bring back Left Tackle Joe Thuney. Now factor in that Newton’s completion % is nearly 10% higher on play action than it is on non-play action plays. His completion percentage on play action is 68%, which will pick teams apart if the Pats can develop a decent running game in 2020.

If the Pats do want to jam Newton into the Tom Brady quick, short pass offense? His accuracy is not as good as Brady’s (Brady is 63% career), but their time holding onto the ball and average yards per throw is surprisingly close. In 2018 (Newton’s last *almost* full season with 14 games) Cam averaged 2.69 Time to Throw compared to Brady’s 2.62 seconds and 5 Completed Air Yards compared to Brady’s 5.6. He also had a Passer Rating of 94.2 compared to Brady’s 97.7 with a Completion Percentage of 67.9 compared to Brady’s 65.8.

Tom Brady is the GOAT and my favorite athlete of all time, but Cam Newton is not a bad replacement if healthy. Newton also only threw two more picks than Brady despite having an Aggressiveness % of 17.2 to Brady’s 13.9. And if that stat is entirely new to you as it is one I found that fits my agenda, have no fear: “Aggressiveness tracks the amount of passing attempts a quarterback makes that are into tight coverage, where there is a defender within 1 yard or less of the receiver at the time of completion or incompletion. AGG is shown as a % of attempts into tight windows over all passing attempts.”

INJURY HISTORY

As with any player, especially at QB, a recent injury history like Newton’s is alarming. Pats Pulpit does a great job of breaking it down extensively, but here are the spark notes.

  • January 2019 – Shoulder surgery on his throwing arm
  • December 2019 – Foot surgery for a Lisfranc fracture
  • 2014 – Ankle Surgery

It’s not an overly lengthy injury history, but it is a very recent one. Shoulder and foot injuries for a 31-year-old mobile QB are not ideal. Thats why he was available though and the last thing you want to do is repeat the Dolphin’s fatal mistake when they passed on Drew Brees in 2006 because of his shoulder injury. They went with Daunte Culpepper instead and have sucked for the past 14 years, meanwhile the Saints took a chance and won a Super Bowl as Brees flourished into a Hall of Famer.

FIT WITH PATS

As I mentioned earlier, this Patriots team already seemed poised to run the hell out of the ball so bringing in Cam Newton makes sense as they could utilize any of their half dozen runningbacks (is Damien Harris still alive and well?) and run the old Full House package from Madden ad nauseum. I don’t expect the Patriots to morph into an RPO team overnight like the Ravens did with Lamar Jackson, but I do expect a ton of Shotgun and spreading the defense out so Newton can utilize his strengths.

I honestly think James White might catch 100 balls this year (career high 87 in 2018). Newton looves throwing to his runningbacks. Sure he’s had the best RB in the game in Christian McCaffrey, but Newton threw to his RB1 more and more each year. From 2016-2019 McCaffrey had 80, 107, and 116 receptions on 113, 124, and a whopping 142 targets last year. Somewhat surprisingly that was *only* 8th in the NFL in total targets, but it also was 34 (!) more than any other RB in the game.

Obviously the Patriots have not had a mobile quarterback really ever, even before Brady, but when you see the actual numbers compared to Newton it is jarring.

Mobile quarterbacks have only very recently started to find success in the NFL so it clearly never hurt the Patriots before, but adding this element to their offense will be a welcome bonus to having Newton under center.

Mike Reiss said on ESPN the other day he believes the Pats will keep their offense 75% the same with about 25% changed to suit Newton.

Lets not forget that Josh McDaniels did in fact draft Tim Tebow in the first round back in 2010 while he was the HC in Denver. The Pats also had some fun with their most mobile quarterback since Doug Flutie when Jacoby Brissett was forced into emergency starting duties against the Texans in 2016. The Pats ran some RPO and Brissett ran the ball 10 times that game, including this 30 yard TD on a designed QB run.

And Brissett’s not even a mobile quarterback! He just looked that way compared to the Clydesdale that is TB12. Cam Newton ran a 4.59 40 yard dash at the combine compared to Brissett’s 4.94. Granted Newton has since had foot surgery, but my point is the Pats had a great game plan for a guy that runs a slower 40 time than me. Imagine what kind of damage they can do with a guy like Newton?

EXPECTATIONS

I’ve said in the past that watching Newton last year he looked cooked, but coming off a shoulder surgery less than a year prior and then injuring his foot really decimated any chance he had of stepping into throws. Not to mention his ability to scramble, so its no surprise he looked terrible. But Cam was great as recently as 2018 even though his season was cut short after 14 games with the shoulder injury. In 2018 Newton threw for 3,400 yards, 24 TDs, 13 INTs, 67.9% completion percentage, 94.2 Rating, with 488 yards rushing and 4 TDs. A far cry from his MVP year, but this is also with him throwing to his runningback, DJ Moore, Devin Funchess, Jarius Wright, Curtis Samuel, something called Ian Thomas, and a 33-year-old Greg Olsen. Not a ton of household names in there outside of McCaffrey.

CBS Sports’ Will Brinson was on Toucher and Rich this week calling Cam the greatest QB in league history and is *very* high on the fit.

“I think if Cam is healthy, Josh McDaniels and Bill Belichick will unleash a really lethal offense…Rob Gronkowski is the second greatest red zone threat in league history and Cam Newton is No. 1 because he can run the ball.”

Although would it surprise me if Belichick just up and decides it’s not working and cuts Newton in training camp? With an incentive laden one-year contract, it would not shock me. I’d hate to see that happen though because this is the most excited I’ve been to watch the Patriots since Brady left for Tampa.

The fit remains to be seen, but I think Newton is DYING to prove he is still an elite QB in a league that is now littered with mobile QBs. Newton was the prototype so it must really piss him off to see half a dozen QBs winning with his blueprint. He wants to prove he is still the alpha and if he is fully healthy, motivation will not be a problem so I am excited to see what Belichick and McDaniels do with him.

JERSEY TIME?

I have to admit, I was pretty meh on the new Pats jerseys when they came out, but I think part of that was probably with Brady leaving town there wasn’t really any other players that made me want to buy a $100 jersey. I already have an Edelman jersey, Devin McCourty flirts with retirement more and more these days, Dont’a Hightower is also on the wrong side of 30. I love Chase Winovich, but I need to see him on the field more before I even think about elevating him to jersey status. N’Keal Harry needs to catch about a dozen touchdowns this year to get into this conversation. So who does that leave? Maybe Stephon Gilmore? I guess if I had to pull the trigger it would be either White (a Super Bowl hero) or Patrick Chung (a longtime Patriot who does anything and everything). BUT, I gotta say, this looks pretty sexy.

I have a rule that I don’t buy jerseys of players unless they have recently signed a contract extension so as to not end up with another Sergei Samsonov jersey that immediately became a throwback about a week after I bought it. But if Ham Newton has 10 touchdowns in September, it’s going to be pretty hard to keep my credit card in my pocket. Even if he is only on a one-year contract.

Would still be a better jersey to won than the two *different* guys I’ve seen wearing John Lynch Patriots jerseys in Allston over the years (Lynch retired before the start of the 2008 season).

Or maybe the injuries have finally caught up to a guy who has absolutely abused his body for the past decade and Newton really is cooked. Well its a win-win situation for the Pats. They get a 31-year-old, hyper motivated former MVP QB, who will not be fazed in the slightest about replacing a legend and ultimately dominates with a fresh start OR we get A+ fashion shows every week that will provide weeks worth of content.

Like I said, win-win.