The New England Patriots lost their fourth consecutive game on Sunday, falling to the Buffalo Bills 24-21.
Following the outing, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick came out and said that he was not going to bench team quarterback Cam Newton.
“Cam’s our quarterback,” he said. “That’s the way it’s been all year.”
Newton finished the day with 174 yards through the air on 15 of 25 passing, as well as 54 yards and a score on the ground. Unfortunately, the only thing anyone will remember from him in this game is his key turnover that sealed the day for Buffalo.
Late in the fourth quarter with his team down by three, Newton marched his squad down the field with a potential field goal in sight. Unfortunately, before New England could capitalize, he fumbled the ball away. Safety Dean Marlowe recovered for the Bills.
Cam Newton’s fumble ices the game for the Bills 😯
(via @nflbrasil) pic.twitter.com/6TEUnGmAUV
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 1, 2020
Bills defense ices it 🧊 @BuffaloBills
📺 #NEvsBUF on CBS pic.twitter.com/iiVHzIkr6u
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) November 1, 2020
With the loss, the Patriots are now 3.5 games back of the Bills in the AFC East. The Miami Dolphins, meanwhile, are 4-3 and fresh off an incredibly impressive victory over the Los Angeles Rams.
Although the Patriots have made the postseason in each of the past 11 years and 16 of the last 17, it is increasingly looking like that streak will soon be broken.
New England has now lost four straight games for the first time since 2002, which was Belichick’s third year as head coach.
Belichick, for his part, tried to stay optimistic.
“I think the whole team’s responded,” he said.
“We had a lot of production from a lot of different people in the game. We just have to find a little bit more.”
This is how you get into the spirit of Halloween. https://t.co/AcyucHrDHS
— Game 7 (@game7__) November 1, 2020
Up until his game-ending fumble, Newton was actually doing decently well on the turnover front. Sunday marked the first time since Week 1 that he threw zero interceptions in an outing.
After the fact, he took responsibility for everything that had transpired.
“It’s unacceptable,” he said. “I’ve got to protect the ball.”
Now that’s how you do Halloween. https://t.co/C693pk7Nlh
— Game 7 (@game7__) October 31, 2020
Newton also acknowledged that his team wasn’t winning, which is the only thing that matters in New England.
“At the end of the day about wins and losses and we didn’t – I didn’t get the job done,” he said.
With wide receivers Julian Edelman and N’Keal Harry both injured, it’s hard to see a scenario where things pick up for the Patriots’ offense at any point in the foreseeable future. The only way that happens is with a big trade for someone like A.J. Green, which is being discussed.
More likely than not, all parties involved are simply going to have to start coming to terms with the fact that this season is going to be a failure. What does that mean for Newton and the Patriots long-term? Time will tell.
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Jennifer Withers Hoey is a former Business Development Manager who transitioned to writing about sports. With valuable connections all over the West Coast, she has used those contacts to break some of the most interesting stories pertaining to the Portland Trail Blazers, Oregon Ducks, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Seattle Supersonics (RIP), and more.
