Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes will face off with New England Patriots QB Cam Newton for the first time in Week 4 of the NFL season.
Mahomes has long admired Newton, dating back beyond his time in the NFL. Even dating back to before his time as a household name as a two-time BCS National Champion at Auburn. Newton was merely a JUCO product, playing for Blinn College in 2009 when Mahomes first saw his highlights. That was back before Mahomes was even playing varsity football, but he did ultimately watch some of his films from Blinn.
“I wish I could do some of the things that he does as far as how physical he is and the way he’s able to make plays happen,” Mahomes said. “He’s a great football player. Like you said, I watched when he was at Auburn. I guess he went to Blinn College, which is down there kind of close to East Texas. He played against like TJC (Tyler Junior College) and some of those junior colleges. I saw his highlights then when I was back in high school in those days.”
Newton is a special talent at the quarterback position. Mahomes respects him for his physicality and ability to make plays — two things that Mahomes has become known for over the past three seasons as well.
Mahomes anticipates that his defense will face a tough test against Newton this week. The former 2015 league MVP, Newton, is finally healthy and revitalized playing for his new team in New England.
“He’s a great football player and he’s in a great spot now and he’s playing really good football,” Mahomes continued. “I think it’s going to be a great challenge to go up against his team, knowing that they’re going to be able to really move the football. Hopefully, our defense is going to come out there and play like they did this last week.”
While the defense for Kansas City did have a strong week in Week 3 against another mobile quarterback, facing a mobile quarterback will always put stress on defenses. They’ll need to stay disciplined as ever when playing against Newton in order to get off the field and get the football back to Mahomes. Otherwise, this group could be in for a long day of power-running from Newton and the talented backfield of New England.
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