A TB12-less Patriots Team

A promising start gave hope to New England Patriots fans as they won their first game versus the Miami Dolphins in fashion. Newly acquired quarterback Cam Newton seemed to be in sync with his wide receivers, throwing for 155 yards on 15 completions and was looking quick on his feet as he ran 15 times for 75 yards and 2 touchdowns. The team came up short against a very good Seahawks team, with Newton throwing a touchdown along with 397 yards on 30 completions, adding 2 rushing touchdowns and 47 yards rushing 11 times. 

Since the game against Seattle, the Patriots have gone 3-4 and have not looked great, to say the least. Through these past 7 weeks, the team has been fighting many injuries, and some players have even contracted COVID-19, causing the team to miss a week. 

Even with the struggles of Cam Newton under center, Coach Bill Belichick has decided to keep him there instead of plugging in their young prospect, Jarrett Stidham, who has little experience in the NFL. When Newton had COVID-19, he was placed on reserve to allow them to pick someone up from free agency during his time out. During the game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer, an NFL veteran, split snaps as the quarterback, and they both played terribly. This ended up solidifying Newton’s spot when he came back.

Avid football watcher and Scituate teen, Jake Mullahy, who is a junior at Dexter Southfield School in Brookline, said, “It has been disappointing not seeing number twelve take the snaps for the Patriots.” Since Mullahy was born, Tom Brady was the only quarterback he has seen play for the Patriots. Brady, who is now playing for Tampa Bay, is having a great season–through 10 games, he has thrown 23 touchdown passes and 2,739 yards per game.

On a 7-3 team down in Tampa Bay, Brady has arguably the best wide receiver corps in the league and a hall of fame tight end in Rob Gronkowski. This compares to Newton’s arguably worst receiving corps in the league. Brady and the Buccaneers look to add to their impressive season and stay in the playoff picture the rest of the year. Meanwhile, Newton and the Patriots are in the hunt and hoping to add another win against the Dolphins on December 20th.