I feel like I remember an article highlighting some of the all time highest QBR performances when the rolled the statistic out and they were comically bad games. Then ESPN just disappeared those games from the QBR data.
2020 Pats: You Cam Go Your Own Way
- Thread starter RedOctober3829
- Start date
Not going to quote the article because it's all relevant, but Belichick reinforces that Cam gives them the best chance to win and he hints at playcalling may be to blame for some of the disfunction.
https://www.boston.com/sports/new-england-patriots/2020/12/11/bill-belichick-cam-newton-jarrett-stidham-cam-newton-patriots-quarterback
Worth a read. Talks positively about Stidham, but with reservation.
https://www.boston.com/sports/new-england-patriots/2020/12/11/bill-belichick-cam-newton-jarrett-stidham-cam-newton-patriots-quarterback
Worth a read. Talks positively about Stidham, but with reservation.
It’s too bad the Herald is pretty much dead because otherwise we could have a week of “BILL RIPS JOSH” and “BAD CALLS SINK PATS” headlines on the back page to chew over.
...and our weekends free in January, and don't have to go to bed late on Feb. 7th or wake up hungover the morning of the 8th. After 20 years, we need a break.
That quote from BB was taken out of context. He actually said the following:
"We're trying to win the game...using pre-1906 rules."
We’ve got 19 problems but the Pats ain’t one.
When the Pats don’t execute perfectly they generate nothing. Kind of amazing they are 6-7 with Izzo, Meyers, Harry, and Byrd as your main receivers. That’s like cooking with stale ingredients...
Sure all those guys I mentioned could contribute to an NFL offense. It is a matter of where they are on the Roth chart. Byrd and Meyers strike me as WR3s. Byrd can play all 3 roles but with his speed can work as an X. Meyers is an inside guy. Harry can play all 3 positions but imo is best suited as an inside guy. Izzo is a decent depth inline guy who is better at blocking. They could all be useful pieces to some degree. You wouldn’t want them as the main course though - they are contributors not stars.
You certainly know this stuff better than me - but I look at Harry and in particular Izzo and see two guys who should not be anywhere on an NFL depth chart. If Izzo can block, I'm missing it on the regular TV broadcast.
Agree on the other two, but Byrd looks like a damn good #3 and maybe even decent #2.
A legit WR1 would push Byrd and Meyers down to their appropriate spots as WR2 and WR3. Would help everyone out immensely.
Cam can't fucking throw the ball quickly and with accuracy, tho.
That seems like a problem.
Harry should not be on an NFL roster? That's hyperbole, right? Cut him and see how fast he ends up on an NFL roster.
Agreed. Even when he has flashes where he can ... those seem to come like a surprise.
But we've all seen by now the issues in consistency, awareness, timing and ball placement. Improving the wide receiver corps isn't going to change that.
All they need is a QB1, TE1, WR1 and then everyone slides down a peg into a more appropriate role.
Seriously, put Aaron Rodgers, Allen Robinson, and TJ Hockenson in the lineup and this team would be really good.
Thanks. I agree on the development, but also think they need a vet to push whomever it is we're trying to develop. They can learn how to prepare, etc, and the vet is there to hopefully avoid an apocalypse if the prospect flames out. If the prospect can't beat out a journeyman vet, well, that says it all.
I'd say it's questionable whether he should even be on a roster. But unquestionably he should not be on the field.
The WR certainly aren't great, but even having prime Randy Moss wouldn't fix this. Cam cannot throw, has no pocket awareness, takes forever to windup. His mechanics are shot. Ive never seen an NFL QB throw the ball while standing with feet parallel to the LoS instead of one foot forward and stepping into the throw. Cam looks like he is putting all his effort into these 20 yard throws that end up at the WR feet.
BB has forgotten more about football than I will ever know, but I just don't understand the downside of rolling Stid the remaining games. And those intimating he 'may lose the locker room' are silly. The greatest coach in NFL history is going to lose the locker room?
BB has forgotten more about football than I will ever know, but I just don't understand the downside of rolling Stid the remaining games. And those intimating he 'may lose the locker room' are silly. The greatest coach in NFL history is going to lose the locker room?
He is an average blocker. I think he is an average TE3/4 so he might be able to find the bottom of someone else's roster. I'm not lighting a candle at night pining for Izzo as a starter next year. I believe a loaded team like the Titans would scoop Harry up. The Ravens might want him too - they ask their receivers to block more than the average bear. Cleveland and 49ers might have fun with him too. He's not too far removed for someone who would want to give him another chance.
Completely agree.
Ok but that's the situation they are in. It isn't pretty to need 1-2 top end receiving weapons when you have none. It sucks that they currently don't have an inline TE who can catch worth a damn but, again, that's reality. Cam has some warts and personally I want them to draft a top 4 QB in this years draft but have you looked at the FA QBs? I'd rather roll the dice again with Cam who would get an actual off-season and hopefully better skilled position guys vs Fitz. YMMV there. If not Cam, who do you like? I know I just joked about Fitz but I wouldn't hate him as a bridge QB IF they draft someone like Trey Lance.
Draft wise this is another year where there are plenty of exciting WRs, a few good TEs, a unique big-WR/TE weapon in Pitts, and 4-8 QBs who could see their names called day 1 or 2.
FA wise WR is loaded this year too.
Bill tried to sign Humphries to 10m+, Jared Cooks to a big deal. If he doesn't upgrade the skilled players with at least multiple middle-class FAs I would be shocked.
You can't run a football team without investing in WR/TE whether it be through FA, trades, the draft, UDFA, or a combination of those (or all of the above).
I also think this idea is hilarious because BB has made a career out of making unpopular moves and telling everyone to fucking deal with it.
Clearly cutting leadership vets like Milloy cost BB all credibilty. Pats got smoked by Buff the next week. That 2003 season really turned out terribly.
Tom Jackson was maybe the first to utter the preposterous idea that BB had lost a locker room. I believe the quote was “everyone hated him.” That was after the 31-0 loss that started the 2003 season.
I was being sarcastic.
As if N'Keal Harry didn't have enough to think about, his trainer apparently decided to open his mouth
“We’ve got a new quarterback. We’ve got to put some of that (expletive) on Cam. Cam hasn’t been the most accurate this year. Like if (N’Keal) had Tom Brady, Tom Brady would’ve fed him. But we’re back there with Cam and Cam’s getting acclimated to the offense, too. …
“It’s a big deal coming from Tom Brady to Cam Newton. … That’s one of Cam Newton’s biggest issues is mechanics.”
Whitfield says he was misquoted.
https://nesn.com/2020/12/nkeal-harry-responds-to-trainers-comments-about-patriots-qb-cam-newton/
“We’ve got a new quarterback. We’ve got to put some of that (expletive) on Cam. Cam hasn’t been the most accurate this year. Like if (N’Keal) had Tom Brady, Tom Brady would’ve fed him. But we’re back there with Cam and Cam’s getting acclimated to the offense, too. …
“It’s a big deal coming from Tom Brady to Cam Newton. … That’s one of Cam Newton’s biggest issues is mechanics.”
Whitfield says he was misquoted.
https://nesn.com/2020/12/nkeal-harry-responds-to-trainers-comments-about-patriots-qb-cam-newton/
Yeah, Harry looked awesome last year with Brady throwing, so this all makes tons of sense.
While that sucks, it's a big relief over some of the alternatives. It did look like he wasn't exactly grabbing his knee, so this makes a lot of sense.
Sounds a bit like a guy who's started their last game for 2020.
https://www.nfl.com/news/cam-newton-i-did-not-live-up-to-patriots-standard
https://www.nfl.com/news/cam-newton-i-did-not-live-up-to-patriots-standard
Generally speaking a torn quad tendon isn’t very good news, as bad as an ACL or worse. Victor Oladipo still isn’t fully back from his in the NBA.
Sounds like it wasn’t a full rupture, so thats good at least. But if he needs surgery it must at least be a pretty high grade partial tear. The devil is in the details and if it’s only partially torn it may not be too bad.
But not often you hear anyone downplay a quad tendon tear.... that’s a bad injury, similar to an Achilles.
Sounds like it wasn’t a full rupture, so thats good at least. But if he needs surgery it must at least be a pretty high grade partial tear. The devil is in the details and if it’s only partially torn it may not be too bad.
But not often you hear anyone downplay a quad tendon tear.... that’s a bad injury, similar to an Achilles.
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Very rare to need surgery for a quad muscle tear. Maybe a hematoma evacuation if anything.
More likely at least a decent portion of his quad tendon ripped off the patella and they need to reattach.
Joe Flacco threw more TDs than Cam Newton this season.
What I do wonder is what Cam looks like in practice. Either his practice doesn't translate to the field or they were blinded by his "rushing" ability because on the field he looks like a poor mans Ryan Finley. His mechanics are some of the worst I've seen from a QB and his decision making is non-existent. Add in zero touch and abysmal accuracy and you get 2020 Cam Newton. 2020 Patriots might as well just run the wildcat 100% of the time because their QB play was the equivalent of that if not worse.
This is pretty amazing...playing around on Stathead football just now...there are all of four quarterbacks since 1990 who have started at least 10 games in a season and thrown fewer touchdown passes than Cam Newton has this year.
Out of EIGHT HUNDRED AND TWENTY-TWO 10+ start seasons since 1990...FOUR have thrown fewer touchdown passes than 2020 Cam Newton.
(BTW: 1993 Mark Rypien; 1995 Trent Dilfer; 2000 Akili Smith; 2010 Jimmy Clausen)
Out of EIGHT HUNDRED AND TWENTY-TWO 10+ start seasons since 1990...FOUR have thrown fewer touchdown passes than 2020 Cam Newton.
(BTW: 1993 Mark Rypien; 1995 Trent Dilfer; 2000 Akili Smith; 2010 Jimmy Clausen)
What do the numbers look like if you include Cam's rushing TDs? (Yes, I know, still bad, just curious).
Not including his rushing TDs is being misleading. Not that he was good but it's a major component of his game and helped made him somewhat passable sometimes (how's that for a qualifier?) even as his passing deteriorated.
Sure. But as far as throwing the ball - kind of a big thing for a QB - it's not like we could just assume if he didnt run it for a TD, that he would have thrown it. Theres a strong possibility that he wouldnt even convert 50% of those rushing TDs into passing TDs. It's a lot harder to throw in the redzone than the rest of the field. If anything, his rushing TDs emphasis his failure as a passer even more.
Also, teams have running backs that could probably run it in on many of those plays. I'd prefer a quarterback who can actually throw the ball.