New England Patriots: 4 plans most likely to go wrong in 2021 season
By Jerry Trotta
1. “Cam Newton Will Return To 2018 Form For The Patriots”
It’s no secret that Cam Newton was one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL last year, as he ranked near the bottom of the league in passing yards, passing touchdowns, yards per attempt, first downs gained through the air, QBR and passer rating.
It’s also no secret that Newton’s struggles were attributed to extenuating circumstances, like signing shortly before the start of training camp, testing positive for COVID-19 (which reportedly had a nagging impact on his physical conditioning), and poor surrounding talent.
The latest buzz suggests Newton has close to a full grasp of the playbook, but that alone shouldn’t mean he’s going to turn back the clock and play like a world-beater. After all, we’re talking about a quarterback who, despite padding the stat sheet, has always struggled with accuracy, decision-making and pushing the ball downfield.
Patriots QB Cam Newton probably won’t morph back into a world-beater in 2021.
This isn’t to say that Newton won’t improve upon last season. Regressing further…almost isn’t possible. However, Patriots fans shouldn’t be surprised if the former MVP plays like an average to above-average quarterback next season…which is simply what he is at this stage of his career.
Expecting Newton to replicate the dominance he displayed in 2018 with the Panthers, when he completed a career-high 67.9% of his passes for 3,395 yards and 24 touchdowns to just 13 interceptions (94.2 rating), is delusional based on what we saw in 2020.
