Stidham Time

I’m done with Cam Newton.

If I’m going to be completely honest, I was done with Cam Newton after those back to back losses to Denver and San Francisco in October. But, over the next four games he was decent and the team started to win so I bit my tongue and accept him as the starting QB. But now he’s on a streak of three of the worst games I’ve ever seen a QB play and his piss poor play throughout the year has all but cost the Patriots a chance at a playoffs.

Over the last three games he has posted a QB rating of 23.6, 87.4 and 53.9. In the game where he posted the 87.4, he had 69 yards passing. In those three games he had just one passing touchdown to three interceptions while completing just 56% of his passes. Long story short, he can’t throw the football. 

Sure, he’s made some plays with his legs and has scored a bunch of rushing touchdowns but that’s not what you’re looking for from your QB. It’s certainly not what I’m looking for. I want a QB who can make plays with his arm. I want a QB who can read the defense, find the open receiver, make a good throw, complete the pass and do it consistently. This is something Cam Newton can no longer do, if he could ever really do it in the first place. 

When I watch Cam Newton play I see a QB who can’t read a defense, struggles to find the open receiver, gets flustered in the pocket, has zero awareness or feel for the pass rush, fires balls into the ground on short passes, under throws receivers on deep passes. Let’s be honest, he is a terrible QB. 

When the Patriots signed him, I liked the move. I thought he could still play, I thought he’d be a good fit, I thought he could adequately replace Tom Brady. I was wrong. The only positive thing you can say about Cam is that personality wise he’s been a good fit, his teammates and coaches like him. But in a weird way that might actually be hurting the Patriots, as it appears the team is hesitant to bench him. Are they just playing him because he’s a nice guy? 

If Bill Belichick truly does what’s best for the team, Cam Newton would’ve been benched weeks ago. There is no way you can tell me Jarrett Stidham would be any worse than Can Newton. I’m not sure there’s a QB in the league who would be worse than Cam Newton at this point. Every time Stidham has been given a chance this season he has impressed. He might have the two best throws of the season for the Patriots. His touchdown pass to N’Keal Harry in Kansas City and his touchdown pass to Gunner Olszewski in LA were both things of beauty. On the Harry pass, Stidham threw a textbook fade pass. He had perfect trajectory and nice touch, it doesn’t get much better than that throw. On the Olszewski pass, Stidham pump faked and pulled up the safety, fired a perfect spiral right into the open spot and hit Olszewski in stride for a touchdown. Those are elite NFL quarterbacks throws right there. We haven’t seen anything remotely close to throws like that from Cam this year. There’s no question that Stidham has his flaws but he has the tools to be an excellent QB and I think he deserves a chance to showcase his talents on the field. I think we as Patriots fans deserve to see him starting at QB. 

The Patriots season is all but over and Cam Newton is not the future so with three games left there is absolutely no reason to play him in these final games. Jarrett Stidham should be starting for the Patriots. I personally believe he can make the team better this year but it’s too late for that now so now it’s time to start building something for the future. 

If Stidham isn’t what I think he is, you’ll at least know and can go into the offseason knowing you need to completely rebuild the QB room. I understand it might not be a fair shake for Stidham due to lack of talent and deficiencies on the offense but despite their lack of elite talent, I have seen guys get open this year and Cam either can’t find them or throws a terrible pass in there direction. Give Stidham a chance to utilize the weapons they do have on offense. 

There’s enough there with Stidham to warrant him getting playing time. And I don’t mean the 4th quarter of a blowout. He deserves to get a full week of practice and prep, the game plan should be built around his strengths and you go into game day knowing he’s the starter. If the Patriots do that I think they will be pleasantly surprised at how improved the passing game would be and I feel 100% confident in saying that. Cam Newton can’t throw the football, he’s a terrible QB and he should not start another game for the New England Patriots.