{"id":59332,"date":"2020-11-24T13:30:04","date_gmt":"2020-11-24T18:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clnsmedia.com\/?p=59332"},"modified":"2021-08-30T04:52:36","modified_gmt":"2021-08-30T04:52:36","slug":"lazar-cam-newton-has-a-future-with-the-patriots-defense-remains-bigger-concern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clnsmedia.com\/?p=59332","title":{"rendered":"Lazar: Cam Newton Has a Future with the Patriots, Defense Remains Bigger Concern"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Patriots quarterback Tom Brady spoiled New Englanders rotten over the last two decades, and we say that with all the love in the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the Brady era, Pats fans were accustomed to seeing their offense come out on top in close games thanks often to a level of quarterback play that we will likely never see again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This season, New England is 1-4 on game-winning or trying drives. Cam Newton had the ball five times with a chance to tie or take the lead in the fourth quarter and failed on four of them, with the most recent stall coming on Sunday in the loss to the Houston Texans.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Patriots had game-winning or trying drives end at the Seattle 1, the Denver 24, the Buffalo 19, and now the Houston 24-yard line, which isn’t something we are used to seeing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Other elements of the game that we aren\u2019t accustomed to are inconsistent footwork, sometimes poor short accuracy, and slower processing of defense before and after the snap.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All of those things were, among other attributes, what made Brady great; clutch and surgical.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Patriots offense needs to work on the first talking point, clutch, as 1-4 in critical late-game situations is the difference between 4-6 and 6-4.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, we need to stop expecting Newton, who has never been Brady-like, to have pinpoint accuracy to all areas of the field and near-perfect mechanics every time he releases the ball.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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(via Sports Info Solutions)<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Newton was 17-of-29 with an on-target percentage of 65.4 on throws under ten air yards. On throws of ten-plus air yards, he was 9-of-11 for 219 yards and a touchdown.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In other words, our expectations are that every quarterback will pick apart the short stuff and get the ball out quickly because that\u2019s how Brady has trained us to watch the game.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Welcome to life without the GOAT where the next guy, whether it\u2019s Newton or someone else, will play the game differently, which doesn\u2019t make them bad. The rest of the league is used to it by now.<\/span><\/p>\n

Newton is a different and more inconsistent passer but still gets the job done on the whole.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Since fully recovering from COVID, Cam is 11th in expected points added per drop-back and ninth in completion percentage over expected (CPOE), a top 15 quarterback by most metrics.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On Sunday, he was terrific at reading, manipulating, and throwing deep, and although some of his mistakes are confusing to Brady-impacted eyes, they\u2019re common for most QBs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the following audio breakdowns, we\u2019ll take you through five of Newton\u2019s throws on Sunday that show the 31-year-old playing the position at an extremely high level.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Although there\u2019s still more football to be played, if Newton maintains this level of play, there\u2019s no reason to walk away from him at the end of the season if the money makes sense.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After going over Newton\u2019s tape, we\u2019ll get into the Pats defense’s far more alarming coverage issues.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

1ST & 10 AT HST 47 (1ST, 11:03) C. Newton pass deep middle to D. Byrd for 17 yards<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n