Russell Wilson threw for 288 yards and 5 TDs in the Seattle Seahawks 35-30 win over the New England Patriots, but that wasn’t the story. Seattle has a much better team and everyone picked them to win. The story is the return of MVP Cam Newton. A veteran, who was discounted and disregarded as washed up by many supposed football experts. A guy who carried a weak ass Panthers franchise on his back for a decade and then got discarded after a few injuries.
The Patriots snatched Cam up when “nobody” wanted him. There was even discussion that Jared Stidham would compete for the starting job. How disrespectful. Cam didn’t sweat it though. Fastforward to Week 2 of the 2020 COVID-19 season and Cam has already made New England fans to forget about Tom Brady.
Cam Newton: 1 PASS TD, 1 INT, 552 PASS YDs, 71.4 COMP%, 4 RUSH TD, 122 RUSH YDs.
Record: 1-1.
Tom Brady: 3 PASS TD, 3 INT, 456 PASS YDs, 64.8 COMP%, 1 RUSH TD, 9 RUSH YDs.
Record: 1-1. #GoPats I #GoBucs pic.twitter.com/cX7I8zy5ck
— CHRIS TORELLO 𝕏 (@TorelloSports) September 21, 2020
After managing a ball control offense to a Week 1 win over Miami, Belichick and OC Josh McDaniels took the reigns off Cam and the charismatic Dab Master threw for 397 yards, ran for 47 and added two TDS to the mix. If not for Julian Edelman allowing a great pass to go through his hands in the endzone — a ball ESPN analysts admitted Edelman would catch more times than none — we would be celebrating the upset of the NFL season so far.
In addition to his All-Pro play, Cam notched his 40th career game with a passing and rushing TD, extending his NFL record.
Wins are wins and losses are losses and most of the time, there’s no such thing as glory in defeat. This is one of those instances that disproves that common sports theory. Bill Belichick has probably never been so elated over a loss. The team has probably never been so inspired to win a game following the news of running back James White losing his dad in a car accident, while his mother lays in the hospital in critical condition.
The Patriots turned all of that painful negative energy into a positive effort while paying respects to their hurting friend.
He’s finding out that Cam is capable of doing everything he could do before under the right circumstances. Belichick also knows that he can contend for a championship if he can get the defense together and add a weapon or two.
Despite his performance, Cam still shouldered the blame for the loss, showing the leadership that elite signal callers relay in wins and losses.
Belichick has 14 games left to accomplish this task, so as predicted, this will be one of the most challenging, exciting and fulfilling seasons of Belichick’s 21-year Patriots career.
The Hoodie also knows that he probably won’t have to worry about enduring just the second losing season of his entire Pats run. With Cam at the helm, the Pats are going to be in every game they play this season and favored in most of them. As long as he can deal with carrying a huge load for a team that lacks offensive weapons, the Pats have a shot. Wait a minute…Cam’s been doing that his entire career with the Panthers so this isn’t anything new.
Some tried to rain on the Patriot’s parade by focusing on the final play in which Cam was upended at the 1-yard line with a chance to win the game. They questioned the play call. They questioned whether or not Cam should have bounded it outside. Even Cam said, he probably should have done that. However, Belichick isn’t wasting his time crying over spilled milk.
“We had one play to score, and we tried to go with what we thought was our best play,” said Belichick. “What else is there to think about?”
Certainly not that game, as the Pats will now face the schizophrenic Raiders on September 27 and then the Super Bowl champion Chiefs on October 4. There’s also a game on the 4th against the 2019 NFL MVP Lamar Jackson and the Super Bowl or bust Ravens.
Here comes Cam. He’s back and on the attack.
