Getty Cam Newton
It has been a tough two days in the media for the New England Patriots‘ Cam Newton. He didn’t have his best game on Sunday, and despite the team coming out on top, Newton’s critics have launched an all-out assault.
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“He is Mark Sanchez, and the Patriots are the Jets”
For years, Patriots fans made fun of Mark Sanchez, and their often-bumbling, AFC-East-rivals, the New York Jets. Under outspoken and controversial head coach Rex Ryan, the Jets were powered by a defense and curtailed by an inept offense with Sanchez and others struggling to make anything happen with the ball.
According to Boston Sports Journal’s Greg Bedard, that’s who Newton and his Patriots teammates have become. On a NBC Sports podcast that went live on Tuesday, Bedard laid into Newton and the Patriots.
On Sunday, they were the Jets. I think this was the lowest passer rating for a winning starting quarterback in the NFL since Mark Sanchez. On Sunday, Cam Newton was Mark Sanchez. The Patriots were the Jets. The Rex Ryan Jets. That’s who they were on Sunday getting terrible quarterback play. We might as well just bring Mike Tannenbaum in to run personnel. The Patriots right now, the way they’re constructed, they are the Jets. They have no quarterback play. They are limited on offense. They have good defense, and that’s where they are right now. There are plays there, that they scheme up that they design to work. For example, the throw to Damiere Byrd in the end zone, I think it was, all Cam Newton has to do is throw the ball a little quicker, and just lay it out in front of him. What does he do? He doesn’t come close to hitting him. That is a Mark Sanchez play. In years past, we would be giggling and laughing at the Jets and Mark Sanchez for a play like that, and we’d be like, ‘well, they’re the Jets.’ Well, that’s where the Patriots are right now.
You can catch the entire rant here:
Prisoner-of-the-Moment Commentary
Bedard is a bit of a prisoner of the moment with this take. Newton was admittedly bad on Sunday, but to have this sort of a take one week removed from a sparkling performance throwing the ball the week prior, and unquestionably strong play the past four weeks just seems a bit over the top.
It’s one thing if Newton had strung together two or three games like the one he produced on Sunday. It’d be another if the Patriots actually lost the contest we’re discussing. Neither of those things is true.
Prior to Sunday’s loss, Newton hadn’t thrown a pick in 117 consecutive throws, and he’d been great at protecting the ball most of this season. Moreover, Newton and the Patriots are in the best four-game stretch of the season from a W-L standpoint. Isn’t that why they play the game? If Newton plays poorly again, or better yet, if the Patriots actually lose to the Los Angeles Chargers, then we can unleash all of the venom and call for Jarrett Stidham to take his place.
Until then, let’s keep the focus on the most important thing, and that’s the team trying to keep its playoff hopes alive.