This really has just been a disaster of a season. The Patriots just got dunked on by the Buffalo Bills after going 29-3 against them between 2001-2019 with Tom Brady under center. It was a blowout, it was a changing of the guard, but to say it was embarrassing would imply that the end result was surprising. It was not. In the infamous words of Trent Dilfer, the Patriots aren’t good anymore. It’s the first time the Patriots have been swept in a season by a divisional opponent in 20 years, they are dead last in the NFL in passing TDs with 8 (one of which came from WR Jakobi Meyers), and the team is uncharacteristically undisciplined, which was only exacerbated by that head scratching challenge flag Belichick threw on what was clearly a catch directlyin front of him and his son.
Someone clearly told Bill to throw the red flag though so Ernie must be going blind up in that fucking lighthouse.
There is a lot of grave dancing, which is to be expected after the run the Patriots just went on over the last 20 years. But for people to already be comparing the Patriots to the Jets is hyperbole of the highest order. Lets just let this marinate for a little more than 15 weeks before locking the Pats in the NFL basement with the likes of the Jets. I fully expect Bill is going to Execute Order 66 this offseason and just start taking people out left and right because you can tell this season has stung, which can only be worsened seeing Tom Brady’s march to the playoffs down in Tampa. The Pats will have some of, if not the most, cap room in the league this offseason and a Top 15 draft pick so there are some assets there to work with. Whether that means trading up to snag a top tier QB, trading down and rebuilding with even more picks, or hoping another QB shakes loose in free agency, there are plenty of routes back to respectability. I will settle for respectability and then we can discuss returning to championship contender status at a later date.
The best the Patriots can hope for right now is a 2012 Seahawks scenario where they overpay for a backup QB free agent and then hit on a QB with a pick later in the draft. Best case scenario is the Pats sign Marcus Mariota, then draft a QB in the 3rd Round, and Mariota never takes a snap for the team. Similar to how the Seahawks and Pete Carroll gave career backup Matt Flynn a monster 3-year deal before realizing a few weeks later that they had hit the jackpot with Russell Wilson. But stumbling onto another Hall of Fame QB with a late round draft pick isn’t exactlyy probable so I can’t say I am expecting that.
What about former Washington QB Dwayne Haskins? The fastest a 1st Round QB has been outright cut by a team in the last 20 years. Nope. Moving on.
The Patriots unfortunately do not have a lot of elite talent and just about all of their best players are on the wrong side of 30. All of their best offensive players under 30 are linemen and runningbacks, which is why the running game is the only thing thats looked impressive at times. Tight ends we’ll get to in a minute, but the receiving corps is nothing I would bet money on. N’Keal Harry is looking like a gigantic bust and Damiere Byrd and Jakobi Meyers are nice 3rd or 4th receivers, but they are not true No. 1 guys. Things aren’t much better on the defensive side of the ball with their best players under 30 including guys like JC Jackson (who got robbed of a Pro Bowl this year), Chase Winovich, Deatrich Wise, and the book is still out but early signs have looked good on Josh Uche and Kyle Dugger. You can debate anyone I may have left out, but there’s not a lot of young elite talent on the roster except for Jackson (who sneaky got torched last night).
Cam Newton is a great dude, a seemingly beloved teammate, and he has been a model Patriot, but unfortunately he just looks cooked. I don’t know if it’s his shoulder or what, but he just cannot deliver the ball. It’s not all his fault though as the weapons around him have been more like Dollar Store Super Soakers. Even when he does deliver a good pass, he has bum receivers dropping balls like Byrd letting a would be TD bounce off his face mask.
Or rookie (3rd Round pick) TE Devin Asiasi dropping a key first down and adding to his grand total of Zero receptions on the season. Fellow 3rd Round TE Dalton Keene has a measly Two receptions on the year too so Tight End, a historically important position for young/new/mobile QBs, has been BARREN in New England.
Newton can still takeoff for an electric TD run though, which he did Monday night for his 12th of the year. However even that came after what realistically should have been another sack as Newton’s pocket presence and awareness has seemed non-existent this season. But even with the 2nd Most Rushing TDs by a QB in a season (trailing only himself in 2011 with 14), passing for just 5 touchdowns over 14 games simply isn’t going to cut it. I wish it had worked out better, I was really excited to see Cam as a Patriot, but it just hasn’t materialized. It’s not for a lack of effort or attitude, which has been admirable, but even the ever positive Newton sounded dejected after last night’s effort (5/10 for 34 yards, 47.6 QBR).
On Monday he looked exhausted and sounded frustrated. He has been away from his children for months, and not even an admirable work ethic and a team-first attitude has produced much.
“It’s extremely frustrating knowing what you’re capable of but it’s just not showing when it counts the most,” Newton said. “… I’ve sacrificed so much this year and it hurts when you have the outing that you had tonight …
“I’m more or less venting,” he acknowledged.
Jarrett Stidham: Alright down 20+ points, time for me to get in there and start slinging it!
To be fair, Jarrett Stidham, who it looked like might not even see the field, was also terrible, completing 4 of 11 passes for 44 yards with a QBR of 3.7. Again, this team is devoid of elite talent at Wide Receiver (Julian Edelman is still out with a knee injury) and Tight End so it’s hard to evaluate anybody under center, but lets just say Stidham does not appear to be like a young Aaron Rodgers with his path to playing time merely blocked by a former MVP veteran QB.
To make matters even worse, the commentators were borderline depressing too. They will usually try to carry a game broadcast during a blowout, but they were talking about Newton and the Patriots like a “too old to be in the ring” heavyweight boxer that they were legitimately concerned for. And this was with 10 minutes left to go in the 4th quarter. Quite a lot of time to fill as the broadcasters pondered the precarious future of the Patriots.
So we’ll see what the Patriots do and whether they attack the offseason like they did after 2006 when they spent big in free agency and made splashy trades for studs like Randy Moss and Wes Welker, but even then that team had elite building blocks already in place.
All we know is this: Bill has the cap space, an unusually high draft pick, and all the motivation in the world to turn this thing around. Now let’s just hope this is a rebuild and not a tear down.
Yesterday the Patriots fell into a 10-0 hole almost immediately after the ball was kicked. Or at least it felt like it. The defense was getting the ball ran down its throat and making Rams’ ball catchers like Tyler Higbee look immortal in the passing game. The offense had had a possession or two and we watched Josh McDaniels again INEXPLICABLY abandon his power running offense to try and revert back to a passing first attack. It was 10-0 and it was already feeling hopeless.
And then Cam Newton threw the softest pick six you might ever see.
To a few different text threads I had the same reaction. I just laughed. Because of course that’s what happened. Our QB1 who just hasn’t been able to figure it the fuck out all year wasn’t able to collect himself when the entire 53 man roster was on its heels and put some points on the board. He couldn’t, even for a moment, look like the Cam of old. National champion, Heisman Trophy winner. First overall pick. Former league MVP. A guy who once threw for over 4,000 yards. And he couldn’t put together an even half decent drive when we really needed it.
But that might not be the worst part. The worst part is I still go into every week wondering if the old Cam, the real Cam, the one teams really didn’t want to play on Sundays, would reappear. The worst part is he, at least outwardly, still has the confidence. Not quite boastful swagger, but the confidence of a QB who just knows he is either gonna sling it or run around you or blast through you but one way or another you’re in for a long day. The worst part is I don’t want to give up on that guy.
Circumstance plays a part in all this optimism, in this hope. I know that. It’s not like we have an exciting option on the bench behind Cam Newton. When he caught the ‘rona earlier this year we started Brian Hoyer. Now sitting at #2 on the depth chart is Jarrett Stidham, which is to say, the Year 2 of Brian Hoyer. So we sort of, whether subconsciously or not, have known all along we NEED Cam to become that guy again. We need him to be the most dynamic QB in the league, maybe ever. There really isn’t another option.
But really the highest contributing part of this is Cam is just so easy to root for. He’s always smiling, he’s always having fun. He’s said to be an immensely hard worker and a football junkie. He ALWAYS owns up for his own play when it, often as of late, isn’t so great. He’s quick to talk up his teammates both to the media and on the sidelines. The entire coaching staff loves him and has called him the leader of this team almost since the minute he was signed. And all of this after overcoming years of debilitating injuries that sought to derail a once singularly promising career. He is literally everything you want in your starting QB, except that little part about getting it done on the field.
To defend Cam as much as possible, he doesn’t exactly have the Roman army-equivalent surrounding him. The patchwork offensive line has held up fairly well this season but when it starts to leak, holy damn does the boat go down quick. Yesterday was a perfect example of that as Jermaine Eluemunor was treated like a revolving door by the majority of the Rams defensive line. The irony is that I’ve derided Cam Newton all year for what appeared to be a complete lack of anything resembling pocket presence or feel, and yesterday he had those things in droves. He was stepping up, moving around the pocket, and feeling the rush. But none of that matters when you are the blood in the water and there is an AaronDonald Shark loose in the backfield. Then there are his his targets. I’m not going too far with this because I have another blog coming later on this very topic. But it isn’t like we’ve set up our new QB with a lot of weapons. Or any really. Julian Edelman, our one (1) mainstay at wide out has been hurt. We literally didn’t have a TE yesterday, did that dawn on anybody? Dalton Keene is at this point a rookie mini-offensive tackle and I’m convinced Devin Asiasi is a Greek myth where a potentially talented is football player is drafted by the game’s most storied franchise only to be super glued to the bench for all of eternity to pay for past transgressions of his family, or fucking something along those lines. It’s not great. But with all that said, there are guys open. And that is really all that matters. You can’t blame who the guys are if they are getting open. Byrd, Meyers, Ryan Izzo when he is healthy, and yes, occasionally, when he isn’t blocking from the back, N’Keal Harry all get open. Yet all Cam Newton can due a good percentage of the time is dump the ball in the dirt, miss them by a mile, hit a defensive back in the chest, or completely question his own ability and not attempt the throw, which has happened all too often. None of that even mentions the ABBBSURD amount of passes the 6’5″ and change Newton has had deflected/knocked down this year. There have been games where our passing attack has looked like Mugsy Bogues shooting jump shots on Hakeem Olajuwon and there has been exactly zero explanation for it. This whole season, where his career is, and his own skill-set just have be in his head at this point. I can’t imagine what else it could be.
Through the deflections, the frustrating sacks taken, the overall lapses in judgement (I would have let Damien Harris taken his chances 1-1 in the open field against a linebacker from the five last night, that’s just me) I’m still rooting for Cam Newton. And that’s the thing. I’m still saying “Come on man, you can do this” when if this was any other QB I’d be anonymously reporting that they were exposed to the rona, robbed a bank, pee in the pool, doesn’t tip, or has bad breath. Anything to get them the fuck off my team. With Newton, I want him to do well, and I want him to do well with the Patriots. Still. Despite the asshole outfits. He’s just that easy to root for.
We dropped, in all probability, out of playoff contention last night. So Cam Newton probably will not bring the Pats to the heights that we once hoped, and for a lot of us, kept hoping for. This was most likely a one season thing. It won’t have the same feeling, desperately begging Newton to put it together to win these next few, meaningless games; to dig deep for the moral victories that will let us all sleep easier at night. And that just sucks. Because he is so damn easy to root for.
I’m not going to put the blame all on Cam Newton here despite the way that game ended. This team is clearly just not that good and Newton’s top receiver yesterday was a former quarterback, and no I’m not talking about Julian Edelman. The offensive play calling was suspect at best. With all that being said, Newton hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass since Week 3. And I’m no NFL scout but it did look like Newton was laboring on a lot of his throws yesterday as he was still skipping passes on easy 5-10 yard routes. The offensive game plan yesterday was almost as if they were protecting Newton from himself. Newton was 15/25 with no touchdowns and no interceptions and there was almost nothing thrown deep. I looked at the drive charts for the Pats to see if my memory served me right and Newton had one completion of 28 yards, but that was thanks to a huge YAC play by James White. There was one medium range 22 yard completion to Damiere Byrd, but other than that there was nothing completed longer than 16 yards. So unsurprisingly the Bills were crowding the hell out of the box.
Meanwhile the Pats ran the ball 34 times, including 9 by Newton. So there was a lot of handing it off and more designed QB runs than we’ve seen in a while. I guess thats to be expected playing in the wind in Buffalo with two of your receivers out, but hey as Newton himself said the excuse basket is getting low. In the end the running was exactly what did them in as Newton failed to protect the ball while scrambling for a first and fumbled the game away.
To his credit he looked like he wanted to sit down in the shower and cry afterwards so I feel for him. But if you are unable to consistently move the ball through the air and are relying on your legs to make big plays then you have to protect the ball. The flashes this team showed on offense earlier in the season are now the Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.
I respect the hell out of the venom from FS1’s Tanya Ray Fox though. Say it louder for those in the back!
It only took Tom Brady leaving, no OTAs, no preseason, a bunch of starters opting out of the season, delayed games, weeks with no practice, Cam Newton getting and recovering from COVID, some bad weather and the world's stupidest fumble. Congrats on your big win, guys 🙃 https://t.co/BW3D2urnlk
So we now have to ask ourselves, is it time to move on from the Cam Newton experiment?
Sitting at 2-5 and having suffered four losses in a row this team is moving in reverse. They’ve guaranteed their worst record since 2018 (won the Super Bowl btw) and thats assuming they win out. I don’t know about you but I have a hard time imagining this team ripping off a 9-0 run. If they lose one more game, it’s their worst record since 2009 when they went 10-6 and lost in the Wild Card round. If they lose 2 more games it’s their worst record since 2002 when they went 9-7 and missed the playoffs sandwiched between two SB titles. And if they lose any more than that it would be their worst record since 2000 when they went 5-11 in Belichick’s first year at the helm.
Now I’m not excited for it, but I think its time to rip the Jarrett Stidham band-aid off and find out what exactly the Patriots have here. The team needs to figure out whether he’s the next guy or not. If that means trotting him out there for ritual sacrifice then so be it, but the Pats need to determine if Stidham can get it done. If not then they have to make a move this offseason. Theres 3-4 potential first round QBs likely coming out this year and the Patriots should be in a good position to get one of them, even if it’s not Trevor Lawrence or Justin Fields.
There’s also been rumors about the return of the prodigal son Jimmy Garoppolo since the 49ers have reportedly been meh on him as the QB of the future.
But he did re-injure his ankle last night and according to Schefter will be out “indefinitely.” That comes after having already missed 2 games and then getting pulled in his first game back. Garoppolo has only made 30 starts out of a possible 56 games in four years in San Francisco due to various injuries including a torn ACL. My point being, I would not be shocked if the Niners decide to move on from him after this season. So if you’re a Patriots fan do you still want him? Do you think Bill can rekindle whatever magic he thought he had with the young QB? I’m not so sure of that as I was just a week ago. Especially after this latest injury since Belichick loves to say the best ability is availability. Either way the Pats will undoubtedly be kicking the tires on anyone with an arm attached to their body this offseason.
The Patriots are in a tough position brought on by the greatest player of all time leaving town, but also from poor drafting over the last few years finally catching up to them. The Pats are one of the oldest teams in the league as a result. Think about it, all of their best players are on the wrong side of 30: Edelman, Stephon Gilmore, both McCourtys, Matthew Slater, plus all the guys who opted out.
The book is out on this year’s draft class, but offensive lineman Michael Onwenu may have been a steal in the 6th round as Pro Football Focus has him ranked as the No. 1 rookie in the league. It’s debatable how much stock to put into PFF rankings, but being No. 1 on any list is pretty damn good.
Michael Onwenu is @PFF's highest-graded rookie in 2020.
He's played 80+ snaps at three different positions along the offensive line.
The books is probably still out on last year too. Chase Winovich looks like a nice role player, Joejuan Williams has shown potential, as has Damien Harris (now that he’s on the field), but N’Keal Harry has been underwhelming and we may soon find out with Jarrett Stidham. 2018 highlights include Isaiah Wynn and Sony Michel. Sigh. Ja’Waun Bentley has flashed at times, other than that there was Ryan Izzo, Braxton Berrios, and Danny Etling as notable names that year. 2017 landed them Deatrich Wise and three whiffs. 2016 was the year they took Cyrus Jones with their first pick and he was an unmitigated disaster. They did draft Joe Thuney that year though who’s been great, Ted Karras has been a solid contributor on the OL, Jacoby Brissett filled in for a game, Elandon Roberts, and a huge what if player in Malcolm Mitchell who looked awesome before knee injuries prematurely ended his career.
So yea, 5 years and arguably two elite players in Thuney and *maybe* Onwenu, but it’s way too early to tell. Other than that Belichick has collected role players, which is a far cry from the 2010 draft he absolutely NAILED, picking up Devin McCourty, Gronk, Brandon Spikes, pre-murderous Aaron Hernandez, and even a starting punter in Zoltan Mesko.
Bill Belichick on @OMFonWEEI: "I mean, look, we paid Cam Newton $1 million. It’s obvious that we didn’t have any money. It’s nobody’s fault. That’s what we did the last five years. We sold out. We won three Super Bowls, played in a fourth and played in an AFC Championship Game." pic.twitter.com/5LGeUboNGA
I don’t say all this to be an alarmist, I say it to be pragmatic. This team is facing a tall order and needs to really nail their next series of moves and the next draft to set themselves up for a rebound. If nothing else do it to shut up the Fired Football Coaches of America chirping from the peanut gallery like Rex Ryan.
I was watching this live yesterday and Rex was trying to play it cool and say it matter of factly, but you could feel the simmering rage in his voice after getting beat like a drum by Belichick and Brady for years.
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.
With no timeouts left and in FG position, Brian Hoyer takes a sack. That’s how the first half ends. Yikes.
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.
Three interceptions for this defense today 👏 @_sleepp
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.
Julian Edelman led the NFL in drops last season. This is now his fifth this season, and the most costly one… pic.twitter.com/dT3B2WtuW1
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.
Very quick whistle for the Chiefs. Play ruled a sack. Should have been a fumble recovery or INT for the Patriots. pic.twitter.com/6hhQkM8UOY
The clear strip and fumble return was blown dead by the refs who said they thought Mahomes was “in the grasp” of defenders.
Patriots had a tough call go against them when a would-be INT was ruled a sack by referee Tony Corrente. The call was explained by Corrente after the game (https://t.co/hFVYPZZW1k). Before moving on, I wanted to follow up with a few thoughts: pic.twitter.com/qXy5n6RW8h
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.
The 300s 