Cam Newton's horrendous outing leads to benching from Bill Belichick

Bill Belichick made a quarterback change in the second half of New England’s game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

Will the change be for more than Week 7?

Patriots quarterback Cam Newton was bad on Sunday. He was 9-of-15 for 98 yards and three interceptions. After he threw his third pick on an errant pass, Belichick decided it was time to go with Jarrett Stidham. The Patriots trailed 30-6 at the time of that interception and eventually lost, 33-6.

The Patriots’ offense has completely stagnated. There’s not much around Newton, but he’s not helping either. He threw a few inaccurate passes against the 49ers.

In last week’s loss to the Denver Broncos, the Patriots scored just 12 points and Newton had 157 passing yards with a 51.6 passer rating. Newton has two passing touchdowns and seven interceptions in five games.

Cam Newton struggled against the 49ers, and was benched. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Cam Newton struggled against the 49ers, and was benched. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Newton missed a game when he went on the reserve/COVID-19 list. He has struggled since coming back. Stidham was viewed as the most likely candidate to start the Patriots’ season in the post-Tom Brady era before Newton signed on a one-year deal.

Belichick said postgame that Newton will be his starter next week against the Buffalo Bills.

Even if that’s true, it seems clear Newton doesn’t have a lot of job security going forward. He didn’t on Sunday.

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