The Patriots offense probably hasn’t produced to the level that Cam Newton was expecting when he signed back in late-June. And, those expectations were certainly realistic when a former MVP quarterback was joining one of the greatest head coaches of all-time.
However, eight weeks into the season, the actual result hasn’t looked great. New England is 2-5 entering their Monday night matchup against the Jets and find themselves in third place in their division.
Last week, the Patriots were on their way to a comeback win before Newton lost the ball, ending their hopes of walking out of Orchard Park with a victory.
Despite the lack of success, Newton still believes that the Patriots offense can be a productive group.
“I felt like, for me personally, one play can make you feel like the man or make you feel as low (as) the lowest man,” Newton said during a video conference. “You know what I’m saying? And for me, going back and looking at the film, it was a great week of preparation, I admit that, and then it just came down to just ball security.
“But all in all, as an offense, I think we’re extremely close. If we just keep stacking bricks on top of bricks on top of bricks, then hopefully we can put a full 60 minutes together this weekend.”
New England has struggled to get consistent performances on offense this season. Their strongest performance came against the Seahawks, who have been one of the worst defenses in the league.
In comparison to the rest of the league, the Patriots are 21st in yards per game (351.8) and 29th in points per game (19.4).
“It was never a discomfort in play-calling,” Newton stated. “Let me be very clear with that. It more or less was being in more manageable situations, especially in the second half. We’re an offense that thrives in short-yardage situations, and us being in long-yardage situations for a gotta-have-it situation like a third down or in the red zone, that’s just not a successful rate for us — or anybody in this league, for that matter.
“So we’ve just got to do a better job of being more efficient on earlier downs and knowing what we have to do as an offense to play complementary football with the defense, the special teams and things like that. All these keys have not changed since Week 1. We’ve just got to do a better job with honing in and doing what’s expected of us.”
Luckily, for Newton and the Patriots, they will face the 0-8 New York Jets this week who are giving up nearly 400 yards and 30 points per week. If there were a week to get back on track, this would be the week to do it.
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