Cam Newton is hurting, not helping.
The New England Patriots quarterback said Sunday that he’s “pressing” after the team’s 33-6 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 7. That sounds about right. Newton finished 9 of 15 for 98 yards and three interceptions. He wasn’t even efficient in the running game: five carries for 19 yards. It seemed when Newton should tuck the ball and run, he was desperate to prove himself as a passer. It didn’t lead to a Patriots offense that clicked.
“I have put this team in a rut with the performances here, and yet just start over with Monday and see where it goes,” Newton said after the game.
Bill Belichick said the Patriots will “absolutely” stick with Newton as the starting quarterback. And Newton said he is the man who can “without a doubt” get the Patriots back on track. There’s reason to be skeptical on both accounts. Newton’s decision-making has been a problem, dating back to the Patriots’ win over the Raiders in Week 4. And so Belichick could pull Newton next week, just like he did this week. Jarret Stidham is waiting to get his shot, even if he didn’t exactly make a great case for himself in relief of Newton in the fourth quarter.
The interceptions, the losses, Stidham nipping at Newton’s heels — this can’t be what the quarterback had in mind when he signed with the Patriots.
“I can’t allow myself to feel sorry for myself,” he said. “I know what the issue is and you just have to attack it and do better.”
What is the issue?
“Me not playing good.”
And the solution?
“It’s simple. Play better.”
If only it were that simple.
But Belichick knows how to overcome adversity. He has appeared in three Super Bowls after starting a season 2-2. Though, he is 2-4. The only time he started that poorly (in 2000), he finished 5-11. This is a new challenge. Newton, meanwhile, has experienced these lows in Carolina. He feels confident he can overcome these issues.
“It’s a lot of it mental,” Newton said. “I’m not going to point fingers at nobody else being the fact that I just didn’t get the job done. And when you have a performance like that going against a team like this, what happened tonight will happen again.
“So like I said, it’s a distasteful taste and feeling, but yet here moving forward you just got to get on a roll. We just got to get one. Once that happens — we just got to start with tomorrow, come back, review the film.”
