The Patriots were essentially taken around to the back of the barn and put out to pasture on Thursday night when the Rams handed them a 24-3 thumping that shot them back down under .500. Not only does this latest loss bring New England to 6-7 on the season, but it all but confirmed that a run into the playoffs is kaput. As things stand currently after this loss, SportsLine's number cruncher Stephen Oh gives New England a 3.7% shot of getting into the playoffs. Mathematically, there's the slimmest of hope. Realistically, there's no chance.
With three games remaining in the regular season, New England should begin shifting its focus from scratching and clawing into the postseason and moving into more of an evaluation phase. Bill Belichick the GM is going to have his work cut out for him this offseason as he tries to reconstruct this roster into a more competitive unit on a weekly basis. Question No. 1 in that endeavor is under center.
In the fourth quarter of Thursday's primetime shellacking, Belichick sent Cam Newton to the bench for Jarrett Stidham. While this is the second time this season the head coach has given way to the second-year quarterback following a poor showing from Newton, the hoodie is staying firm that a permanent change isn't coming.
"Cam's our quarterback," Belichick said after the game.
He even doubled-down during his presser on Friday morning stating that he's "answered that question for the last time," meaning that the Stidham Show is not exactly close to a full debut.
This firm stance by Belichick on Newton is puzzling, to say the least. While he's certainly not the only reason why New England is primed to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2008, Newton's not helping things. The quarterback's arm appears to be shot as he's thrown for just 272 yards over his last three games and he hasn't instilled much confidence that he can come back to Foxborough in 2021 and turn the ship around. After all, you kind of need to be able to throw the football if you're an NFL quarterback.
With the Patriots essentially knowing what they have in Newton, Belichick should use these final three games of the regular season (at Dolphins, vs. Bills, vs. Jets) as a tryout for Jarrett Stidham to see what you have in the 2019 fourth-round pick. So far, Stidham has dropped back to pass 37 times over the last two seasons. He's completed just 54.1% of those throws for 226 yards, two touchdowns, and four picks. Mediocre numbers, at best.
That said, all of those appearances by Stidham have come under duress or in garbage time. He's yet to be given a full week of preparation with the first-team offense to go into a game as QB1. That's an entirely different rhythm heading into a week and it'd behoove the Patriots long-term to see how Stidham deals with that. If he rises to the occasion, you may not have to use a chunk of your sizable cap space this offseason or a first-round pick on a quarterback. Instead, you could conceivably build a team around Stidham to further make them a competitive club in 2021. And if he fails, at least you know your marching orders this spring.
Again, this is all essentially a moot point because Belichick doesn't appear to be in the business of keeping Newton on the bench, but giving Stidham a shot to start would bring clarity to the most important position on the roster going forward.
