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Cam Newton wasn’t hung up on a rough performance in the New England Patriots’ Week 3 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. Though New England won 36-20, Newton didn’t play a huge role in the win. The Patriots defense and running backs were the main reasons for the team’s success on Sunday.
But Newton, who carried the team in Weeks 1 and 2, wasn’t insecure about his limited role in the offense or his struggles to throw the ball downfield.
“That’s exactly what we want to do,” Newton said about the Patriots’ success running the football. “We want to put defenses in fits knowing that we have so many different ways to beat you and a plethora of different type of schemes, a plethora of different type of — we want to run downhill. We want to run on the edge. We want to throw it deep. It doesn’t matter.
“I think that’s been our biggest edge, for the most part, just having that ability to attack the teams in so many different ways and to still be successful.”
In Week 2, Newton threw for almost 400 yards in a shootout with Russell Wilson. But in Week 3, Newton had trouble pushing the ball downfield, with an average of just 5.8 yards per carry. And a large portion of the quarterback’s yardage came on screen passes to running back Rex Burkhead. He was the team’s top pass-catcher, with seven receptions for 49 yards and a touchdown reception. He also had six carried for 49 yards and two touchdowns. New England finished the day with 38 carries for 250 touchdowns. It was a stark turnaround after the running backs averaged roughly 3 yards per carry in Week 2.
“It’s just another different asset to attacking the defense,” Newton said Sunday. “Like I said, Burky had a day, and who knows who it could be next week?”
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