There's no sugarcoating it: Cam Newton was terrible Sunday afternoon. The New England Patriots defeated the Arizona Cardinals despite a dreadful performance from their starting quarterback.
To Newton's credit, he didn't hide from just how awful he was at Gillette Stadium.
Shortly after Nick Folk kicked a game-winning field goal, FOX Sports cameras caught Newton apologizing to Josh McDaniels on the Patriots sideline. Newton on Monday confirmed he indeed said, "I'm sorry, man," to his offensive coordinator.
You can watch the scene unfold here.
Newton's apology, while an undeniably endearing moment, was appropriate.
The 31-year-old completed just nine of 18 passes for 84 yards while throwing two interceptions, one of which gave the Cardinals a chance to win the game. Newton took unnecessary sacks, missed open receivers and made some baffling poor throws. He did add 46 yards on the ground.
That Newton packaged those statistics with a victory was a rare feat.
Exhibit A:
So, what should the Patriots do with Newton? Given Sunday's performance was about as bad as it can get from a professional quarterback, a case could be made for giving Jarrett Stidham an extended look. New England essentially must win the rest of its regular-season games if it wants to make the playoffs, and as such can't afford to have its quarterback throwing away contests.
However, such a move seems unlikely, as Newton is well-liked in the Patriots locker room and occasionally this season has looked like a viable signal-caller, something Stidham has yet to do as a pro.
Should Newton proceed as the starter in New England, he must do better moving forward. Accountability is great, but it does little to help a Patriots team that isn't good enough to overcome such glaring shortcomings at the quarterback position.
