The New England Patriots asked Cam Newton to do less in Week 3. And still, the Patriots blew out the Las Vegas Raiders, 36-20.
The fact that Newton had to carry — quite literally, with 26 rushes — the Patriots through their first two weeks was a bit troubling. Newton has an injury history that might prove problematic if he’s exposed to too much contact. In Week 2, Newton was essentially the entire offense, with 397 passing yards and a passing touchdown to go with his 47 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. It was impressive but maybe not sustainable.
So the Patriots began to hand off the ball in Week 3, which, at first, wasn’t working. New England looked to see how the passing game was gelling, and, frankly, that wasn’t working either. The Patriots stuck with their rushing attack, which came to life when they split touches between Rex Burkhead, J.J. Taylor and Sony Michel — all of whom had brilliant games.
Newton finished the day with 17 of 28 for 162 yards at 5.8 yards per attempt with one touchdown and an interception. He added nine carries for 27 yards. He didn’t stink, but he definitely struggled. His interception was a clear lapse in decision-making, one of many in the game — he scrambled and fired the ball directly to safety Jonathan Abrams. Newton’s downfield passing wasn’t clicking, in part because he was locking into Julian Edelman, who was often crowded with two or three defenders. So Newton’s longest pass of the day went to N’Keal Harry for a 27-yard reception, with about 10 yards coming after the catch.
The fact that Newton struggled as a passer is not encouraging for New England. The fact that his running backs buoyed him, however, was a tremendous sign. Rex Burkhead suddenly turned into the team’s top receiver as the Patriots hammered the Raiders with screen passes. He finished with a team-high seven catches for 49 yards and a touchdown. He also added six carries for 49 yards and two touchdowns.
In the running game, Sony Michel might have had the best regular season game of his career, with nine carries for 117 yards. It was certainly his most efficient game, with a 13 yards per carry average. And then J.J. Taylor, the undrafted rookie, added 11 carries for 43 yards.
The Patriots ground game was able to churn away at the Raiders, because the defense generated so many turnovers (3) and a touchdown, with Deatrich Wise recovering Shilique Calhoun’s strip sack in the end zone.
So, yes, Newton struggled, even though the Patriots masked those deficiencies with a heavy dose of screen passes. But New England was able to win despite Newton’s shortcomings. That’s a good sign for the Patriots.
