New England Patriots Rumors: Why team needs to trade for a power back

The New England Patriots need to trade for a big back now to keep Cam Newton from being their only short-yardage option.

The painful loss at Seattle on the final play of the game once again demonstrates the New England Patriots need for a big short-yardage back.

Fantastic Cam Newton did his best along with a near-heroic effort by Julian Edelman to lead the Patriots to victory over an excellent Seattle Seahawks team last Sunday evening. They fell short on a last-play run by Newton that was stuffed by the Seattle defense.

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Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels felt compelled to call on Newton on the final play. The play failed and the game was lost.

Newton, Edelman, and N’Keal Harry had come close to upending a very strong Seattle team with an offense led by the inimitable Russell Wilson. Wilson fired five touchdown passes and he shredded the possibly overrated New England defense for 35 points and the win.

The highly touted defense couldn’t get the job done against a great offense. That doesn’t presage well this season for New England which has one of the toughest schedules in the league.

But, thankfully, Newton and his underrated offense came within a yard or so of leading the team to a very big victory over Seattle anyway. Again, not having a dependable, big back to rely on in short-yardage cost them. In this case, it cost them the game.

It wouldn’t have taken a defensive genius to ascertain that Newton was the best and really the only option on the play. They knew exactly what was on the way and snuffed it out along with the chance for a defining away victory.

The fact that Cam Newton was the only feasible option on the play again reveals the reality that New England still doesn’t have a big back. They need a bruiser who can present a viable second option for Newton and the Patriots’ offense on any short-yardage situation, goal line or otherwise. They can’t seem to come to grips with that reality.

This is not a new situation. New England’s season was crushed in 2019 due to its lack of an ability to convert critical third or fourth-down plays or dive for a touchdown from one or two yards out, all season long. Nothing was done to alleviate that obvious shortcoming in the offseason and it continues to plague the team now.

New England Patriots need a LeGarrette Blount type

One need only point to the Patriots 2016 Super Bowl-winning team when LeGarrette Blount ran for 18 touchdowns to help lead the ground offense that season. Blount was a 250-pound battering ran who could also scamper for big gains in the open field.

New England has had no one similar since and it has cost them. When you had the best quarterback to ever play the game, he still needs certain weapons to maximize his effectiveness.

The ground game is critical. Now, Newton at the helm is being counted upon to be both the quarterback and the running game. It’s a risky proposition since more running plays mean more chances of injury.

Cam Newton has already proven that he is still a phenomenal talent, not that it’s a great surprise. The only question was his health. New England stumbled into a gold mine with the Newton signing, despite their poor personnel proclivities.

Yet, they did nothing to bolster either the running game with a big back or the wide receiver position with another bonafide pass-catcher. It says here that the Patriots need to make both moves now.

A trade for a big running back (or alternatively bringing Blount out of mothballs), and a trade for a wide receiver are essential if the team is serious about competing this season. New England now has a top-flight quarterback (Haven’t they seen enough to contemplate an extension at market value, yet? They should have).

What they lack is a big running back to make that quarterback even more effective and to shield him from needless injury. They also need a wideout and maybe a tight end who can actually catch a ball.

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Let’s see if this stubborn team makes the moves they should to compete. It’s highly doubtful, unfortunately.

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