Patriots: Debunking criticism of Cam Newton’s horrible 2020 statistics

Poor supporting cast doomed the Patriots in 2020

Cam Newton entered 2020 with the Patriots on a one-year deal in about as bad a circumstance as imaginable outside of if our nation is at war. In sense, our country and the world were and still are at war with Covid-19.

In addition, there was greatly restricted preparation time and no pre-season games, a real problem for anyone new to the Patriots.

This had to be especially challenging for Cam who had to direct what is reputed to be one of the most complex offenses in the NFL.

In addition, the Patriots’ offensive skill positions were a train wreck. Their top wide receivers consisted of Julian Edelman who was coming off a 100 catch season and little else.

In addition to Edelman, they had mostly untested or unproductive others like former first-round pick N’Keal Harry and former undrafted free agent Jakobi Meyers. To that group, they added Damiere Byrd.

Byrd was a journeyman who wound up with a respectable 47 catches but only one touchdown. Harry had two TD’s and 33 catches. Meyers had 59 catches and no touchdowns.

Edelman only played six games with 21 catches and zero touchdowns.

In sum, the Patriots wideouts caught four touchdown passes, The blame was misplaced on Newton for sending balls into the dirt (turf, actually) on occasion.

In recognition of their poor performance in his receiver room, Belichick spent big time in free agency on Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne.

Neither are world-beaters and those selections can and will be questioned. Yet, they should be an improvement over last year’s grouping.