New England Patriots: Don’t blame Cam Newton for this third-rate team

Pundits are blaming New England Patriots’ quarterback Cam Newton for the New England Patriots’ pitiful season. Look elsewhere, people. It’s not his fault.

It’s interesting to see writers blaming Cam Newton for the shortcomings of the 2020 New England Patriots. Sorry, friends, it’s pure baloney. He can’t do it all himself.

The last time I looked, there were 22 starters on an NFL team and another 11 on each special team. So why is all the blame being placed at the feet of Newton?

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The blame game is easy when it comes to the quarterback. After all, it is certainly true, that he is the most important player on an NFL or any other football team for that matter. That much is understood.

The problem with this faulty reasoning, however, is that he’s only one of the 11 on offense and not one of the 11 on defense and wouldn’t be caught on special teams.

So the logic is flawed. The thought process is ludicrous. And the argument is fallacious.

Newton may not have had a perfect season, and neither did Tom Brady with this bunch last year and why was that? It was because the construction of the team from top to bottom was flawed.

It became increasingly flawed when several key players opted out after the coronavirus occurred, which was their right and their responsibility if they so chose. No problem there.

Yet, with a team that had no offensive skill players other than Julian Edelman, the 34-year-old battering ram of a player who was, unfortunately, yet not unexpectedly, injured early, who the heck did Newton have to truly rely on in this offense? I’d say one other player, James White. That’s it.

This Patriots offense is a dismal shade of its former self in the glory days. No healthy Edelman. No monstrous Rob Gronkowski, Gronk. No Corey Dillon, Antowain Smith, or LeGarrette Blount to bash their way through any defensive line. And no receivers other than Edleman who could even catch a pass.

Not to mention any tight end at all. None.

When your best tight end caught six passes the year before, you are in a world of hurt, folks. And when you expend two premium picks, two third-round picks on tight ends and they catch one pass between them in the first half of the season, you are in deep quicksand.

So those who insist on blaming Newton for the pitiful condition of this offensive team are off base. It’s not the fault of this excellent quarterback.

The state of the Patriots rests with whoever makes the football operations decisions for the team. Period.

The importance of the construction of a team in the offseason goes a long way toward determining how that team will perform during the season. That’s the reality of the situation.

In the case of the Patriots, the responsible individuals are they who draft, select free agents, and otherwise assemble the personnel on the team. It is to them that anyone should look for the responsibility for this lackluster 2020 version of the Patriots. Not to the quarterback.

A good quarterback is like a chef. Give him good ingredients, he’ll furnish a good breakfast. Give him great, it will be a great lunch. Give him junk, and he will do his best, but you won’t get a top-shelf dinner.

This analogy applies to the 2020 Patriots. What’s clear is this, it’s not the chef’s, i.e. Newton’s fault. It’s the people who provided the ingredients. Look to them for the reasons. Look to them for the answers, if they have any.