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J.J. Watt was a menace for Cam Newton and the New England Patriots on Sunday. Newton was asked about Watt’s four deflected passes in his team’s 27-20 loss to the Houston Texans, and at least one person felt the quarterback’s answer was “unsatisfactory.”
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“He’s JJ Watt”
Watt had four batted passes in the game, and the final one helped to thwart the Patriots’ final drive. Newton was asked about Watt’s nearly unprecedented ability to swat passes out of the air at the line of scrimmage. Newton’s response to the question, which came from NESN’s Doug Kyed was: “He’s J.J. Watt.”
Newton then paused, laughed, and shook his head in disgust before Kyed expounded: “He doesn’t get four batted passes every game, so is there anything specific that he was doing or that the offense was doing?”
Newton somewhat interrupted and said, “he’s JJ Watt, he’s an all-pro, perennial all-pro. He’s a defensive Player of the Year, one of the best players in this generation. So for us, it is what it is. They get paid too. So for us to go against that, I’m not saying we fold up the tent, but at the same time, they’re going to make plays just like we’re going to make plays and we just can’t get bent out of shape when that happens. We just got to move on and still be able to move the ball like we did show sometimes today, but it’s not enough.”
It’s been rare to see Newton that agitated with a reporter’s question this year, but for some reason, this one appeared to get under his skin. While his agitation was somewhat understandable after a tough loss, not everyone took it in stride.
USA Today’s Henry McKenna took Newton to task for what he called an “unsatisfactory” answer.
McKenna wrote this in his lede:
Cam Newton’s postgame press conferences have bordered upon self-flagellation after the New England Patriots’ losses. That’s why it was surprising to see Newton fail to take accountability when asked about J.J. Watt’s four batted passes in the Houston Texans’ 27-20 upset win over the Patriots in Week 11.
McKenna continued later in his piece with this passage:
Newton’s follow-up response paints a better light on his thought process. Watt, a potential future Hall of Famer, had two tackles on the day. The fact that he logged four pass deflections is a case of winning some and losing some against a really good player. But perhaps that win-some-lose-some mentality is a bit too prevalent in New England’s locker room as the Patriots fall to 4-6, a record that likely puts them out of the playoff hunt when considering their tough schedule ahead.
Here is the media session with Newton:
Unfair Criticism and Microanalysis
McKenna does great work, but this is an example of unfair criticism and impractical expectations during a tough interview from a guy who has poured his heart out during media contacts all season.
As McKenna mentioned in his piece, Newton hasn’t shied away from taking accountability all season, so it’s unlikely he was trying to dodge blame in this situation. The fact is, the batted passes were a combination of a few factors.
First, as Newton said, Watt is a great player–even at this stage of his career. Secondly, the Texans were blitzing off the edge throughout the game with speedy defensive backs, which was forcing Newton to get rid of the ball quickly for slants, screen passes, and short dump-offs. Those passes traditionally have low trajectories, which put it in the field of play for a swat down. Watt, being an experienced veteran, likely knew this, and under the tutelage of old master Romeo Crennel, it would be no shock if this tag-team effort was built into the Texans’ gameplan.
I think we’re still trying to figure out if Newton is missing opportunities to slide coverage to pick up blitzes, or if there is another schematic issue, but in any case, safeties firing off the edge have been an issue the last three weeks.
It was probably unrealistic for McKenna to expect Newton to give him a detailed answer that offered a look behind the curtain–especially an hour or so after the loss.
Was there more to the situation than, “he’s JJ Watt?” Sure, but I’m not expecting much when those kinds of questions are asked. Newton chose to compliment a peer during this time rather than going deep with an answer that really doesn’t impact his bottom line very much.
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