{"id":60031,"date":"2020-12-22T13:41:34","date_gmt":"2020-12-22T18:41:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clnsmedia.com\/?p=60031"},"modified":"2020-12-22T13:41:34","modified_gmt":"2020-12-22T18:41:34","slug":"film-review-cam-newton-is-still-the-bridge-the-pats-need-but-must-improve-in-scoring-zone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clnsmedia.com\/?p=60031","title":{"rendered":"Film Review: Cam Newton is Still the Bridge the Pats Need, But Must Improve in Scoring Zone"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Patriots\u2019 offense led by quarterback Cam Newton isn’t struggling to move the ball this season, including in Sunday\u2019s loss to the Dolphins.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Newton and the Patriots were officially eliminated from playoff contention when New England had five drives stall inside the Miami 30-yard line.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stalling inside the scoring zone is familiar territory for these Patriots, who rank tenth in yards per drive this season (yes, top ten) but are 29th in red-zone scoring efficiency.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In evaluating the quarterback position for 2021 and beyond, executing those key scoring situations has been a bigger problem for Newton than anything else this season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Newton, who will have a year under his belt in the offense and likely come cheap once again, is probably the best value play for the Patriots to start the 2021 season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As much as some Patriots fans are done with Newton, re-signing him on another low-cost contract while looking to the draft for the future remains New England\u2019s most likely path.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nobody is saying Newton needs to remain the starter or start the entire 2021 season, but he\u2019s the bridge the Patriots need right now. What are you going to do? Trade for Carson Wentz (and his $25.4M cap hit in 2021)? Sign Tyrod Taylor or Ryan Fitzpatrick? Why?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On top of the fact that those quarterbacks will go through Newton’s same growing pains with the Patriots playbook, they\u2019re marginal upgrades that’ll probably come at a higher cost.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And some of the issues for the Pats quarterback are certainly on the personnel around him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Unless Belichick is willing to pay the price for a Matthew Stafford-type, the play for the Pats is to retain Newton in the hopes he improves while finding a better exit strategy than Jarrett Stidham.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, to see significant improvement in terms of wins and losses next season, Newton needs to sharpen his execution both mentally and with his ball placement in the scoring zone.<\/span><\/p>\n

Newton\u2019s offense is moving the football between the 20s even with all his perceived struggles with accuracy, timing, and trust in the system and a mediocre group of pass-catchers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But those issues are directly impacting the Patriots\u2019 ability to punch the ball into the end zone is too often, making it difficult to tag Newton as a long-term option for this team moving forward.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

3RD & 3 AT MIA 27 (2ND, 8:59) C. Newton pass incomplete deep left to N. Harry\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n