NFL Power Rankings, Week 14: Patriots keep rising, Eagles near rock-bottom
By Randy Gurzi
For some reason, it always seems Cam Newton’s teams do better the less he throws the ball. It’s an odd thing since he’s not a bad passer, but he’s just at his best when he can pick his spots and his team can run the ball. That was the case this weekend as the New England Patriots threw is just 22 times, with three of those coming from Jarrett Stidham, who had some snaps due to the Pats winning big.
Newton finished 12-of-19 for 69 yards and a touchdown while adding 48 yards and two more touchdowns on the ground. Overall, the Pats had 165 yards on 43 rushes as they won by a score of 45-0. Not only was their offense dominant on the ground, but they were also stingy on defense.
They held the Chargers to 70 yards on the ground and forced Justin Herbert into two picks as he had no touchdowns and just 209 yards on 53 attempts. It was a second win in a row for the Patriots who are now 6-6 — a far cry from the 2-4 team we saw a few weeks back.
With only four games left, there’s still a lot of work to do but New England isn’t out of the playoff picture by any means. They just need a few breaks and could really cover some ground with three games against AFC East opponents to close out the year after their game against the Rams next week.