Last week against Buffalo, driving New England to a game-winning drive, quarterback Cam Newton fumbled inside the 20-yard line to wrap up a stunning 24-21 defeat. The 2-5 New England Patriots are in quite a predicament that nobody could have foreseen after the first three weeks of play. Throughout the season their defense has been a formidable unit, but the lack of consistency from Cam Newton, the team’s driving force, has been a major factor in their head-scratching record.

Victories over an ascending Miami Dolphins and Las Vegas Raiders team in weeks one and three were impressive, let alone the fact they were stuffed at the 1-yard line to lose 35-30 with time expiring against the mighty Seattle Seahawks in week two. Sitting at an imposing 2-1 record and with Cam Newton playing at a 2015 MVP level, the Patriots could only keep going up from here, right?

  Looking back now, the season took a significant turn when it was officially announced that Newton had tested positive for the COVID-19 virus during preparations for Kansas City. He was forced to miss that game in which his presence was badly missed in a winnable, yet 26-10 defeat. In week five, after not playing in a game for nearly three weeks due to rescheduling, Newton struggled against a vulnerable Denver Broncos team in a 18-12 loss. A couple of unfortunate turnovers and a lack of offensive chemistry lead to the surprising home loss. The following week the Patriots were outplayed in all aspects of the game in yet another consecutive home loss (extremely rare under Belichick) to the San Francisco 49ers, 33-6.

The lack of continuity between players as well as a loss of team swagger has sunk the Patriots from legit contenders to scrapping for a last-seed playoff spot in the AFC. Since testing positive for COVID-19 Newton’s stats have plummeted to 429 passing yards, zero passing touchdowns, five interceptions, and two rushing touchdowns compared to 714 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, two interceptions, and four rushing touchdowns in the previous three games respectively.

  The 2-5 Pats face off against the winless New York Jets this week in a game where they need to re-establish their identity again. The Patriots are very difficult to beat when Newton is methodical, they are running the football well, and their defense is creating pressure against opposing offenses. I’m certainly not one to bet against Bill Belichick as I think he will turn this team around to a similar level of play earlier this season. It’s important to note that if Cam Newton didn’t fumble, the Patriots would have either forced the game to OT or won despite having many key pieces injured including Julian Edelman and Stephon Gilmore against Buffalo last week. The Patriots will have to nearly “run the table” and hope that Buffalo and Miami cool off in the AFC East, or else they will be bounced out of the playoff picture soon.