Patriots’ Cam Newton explains how Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes is ‘changing the game’
There won’t be nearly the same focus on the quarterbacks in this week’s Chiefs game as there was on Monday night.
However, the Patriots seem to have made a wise choice in signing Cam Newton during the offseason. Newton, who was a free agent, received a $1.05 million base salary from the Patriots with the opportunity to make $7.5 million, NBC Sports reported.
Newton has completed 68.1% of his passes, above his career average of 59.8%, and thrown for 714 yards. He’s also rushed for 149 yards and four touchdowns.
A three-time Pro Bowler, Newton was the 2015 NFL MVP, and he’s been impressed with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, the 2018 NFL MVP. Newton compared Mahomes to some of the greatest NFL quarterbacks in history.
“He’s changing the game,” Newton said. “I think he’s shining light on the new wave of quarterbacks and it’s just fun to watch. And not only that, he has a lot of merit to what he does.”
Newton explained how what Mahomes is doing is special.
“It’s not like he’s just back there, just an arcade game,” Newton said. “Sometimes it looks like it, but he knows exactly what he’s doing and how he’s manipulating the defense, and that’s the same thing that the Dan Marinos used to do, obviously the Tom Bradys, the Aaron Rogers.
“You know those guys really have so much command of the offense that you dictate to the defense and that’s what he’s doing. He’s playing the game at a high level.”
Earlier in the week, Patriots coach Bill Belichick talked about the challenges of facing the Chiefs offense during a news conference.
“I mean they’re really good,” Belichick said. “It starts with an MVP quarterback and great offensive coordinator and head coach. Andy (Reid) does a tremendous job putting pressure on the defense. They’ve got a lot of good skill players, a lot of experienced players. I think the backs are a big weapon for them, both in the running game and in the passing game. So, yeah, there’s a lot to stop.
“We’re just going to have to play good team defense and there’s no one guy you can key on, there’s no one guy that’s going to stop this offense. We’re going to have to play well collectively as a team.”
