By Jordan Long
Last night, the New England Patriots fell to the L.A. Rams 24-3 to start week 14 in the NFL. With the defeat, the Patriots are 6-7. It will be the first time since 2002 New England will not have double-digit wins. That season they ended up 9-7. New England doesn’t have a quarterback controversy at this time.
The Patriots have played this season with Cam Newton as the starting quarterback. He has struggled despite their 6-7 record. Newton has passed for 2,172 yards, the lowest total of his career for a full season. The only other time he had lower passing yards was last year when he played in 2 games, tossing for 572 yards. Newton totaled 5 touchdowns but can’t seem to read defenses with 10 interceptions.
Newton is also a runner and can rush the football. This year his running ability has kept New England in games rushing for 451 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Last night, Newton couldn’t generate much offense. He was 9 of 16 for 119 yards, no touchdowns but threw 1 interception that the L.A. Rams took back for a touchdown. Newton ran for 16 yards. The offense wasn’t clicking.
It wasn’t all his fault. His offensive line was not protecting him against a good Rams defense. He was constantly running around trying to make plays to avoid being sacked. Newton was sacked 4 times and helped New England put up 3 points.
With the game pretty much decided with the Patriots down 24-3, Stidham was put in with 10:12 left. It was his chance to see what he could do with the football. It didn’t matter. New England was unable to put up more points but he was 5 of 7 passing for 27 yards.
According to ESPN, Head Coach Bill Belichick said, “Cam’s our quarterback.” Newton even stated that he is not worried about being replaced. He said, “That’s not my call. I’m just doing what I’m asked, with the mentality of getting better, and that’s what I keep planning on doing.”
The Patriots might as well see what they have in Stidham next week against the Dolphins. They aren’t moving the ball like they should on offense with Newton especially through the air. Stidham may do a better job. He could move the chains for them to score more points. The worst case is he doesn’t show he is better than Newton and the Patriots go back to him.
The problem with putting Stidham as the starter is he hasn’t started a game yet for New England. He has seen action in only 7 games for the past 2 years. The Patriots are still in a playoff race and have an outside shot at the last playoff spot. If they fail to earn a postseason berth, it will be the first time since 2008. They probably won’t switch to Stidham until they are out of it completely or week 17, the last week of the year.
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