The only thing at stake in the New York Jets clash with the New England Patriots to conclude the regular season is perhaps a better draft position for the Patriots to get lost. Cam Newton is expected to remain on the team’s starting lineup on Sunday, but SportsLine supporters believe it is probably his last game with the franchise. Meanwhile, Sunday will be absolutely the last game as Jets coach for Adam Gase and could also be the final with quarterback Sam Darnold’s team. The Patriots are the 3-point favorites in the William Hill Sportsbook NFL odds.
New England’s one-year experiment with Newton clearly didn’t work, as the ex-NFL MVP is among the lowest ranked QBs in the league, with 78.9. Newton has only five touchdown passes and 10 choices, and the Patriots as a team have eight touchdown passes. No NFL club has had less than 10 TD passes since 2012 Chiefs, which ended with eight behind Matt Cassel and Brady Quinn.
Newton, who has 12 TD races, was pulled from his bad 38-9 home loss on Monday night to Buffalo after making 5 of 10 for all 34 yards, with coach Bill Belichick saying on Tuesday “I imagine” that Newton starts here. Young reserve Jarrett Stidham was no better at completing 4-to-11 for 44 yards and a passer rating of 49.1 against the Bills – and he was no good in the limited action of 2020.
Clearly, New England will have to deal with the quarterback during this off-season and the Pats would choose overall position 15 in the first round of the 2021 draft as things stand. A loss can move them a few places.
As for the Jets, there is no need for a tank, as they are stuck in the general choice number 2 in the 2021 draft, thanks to consecutive wins and the Jacksonville Jaguars winning them.
It has been reported almost everywhere that the Jets told Gase that he would be fired soon after the game or no later than Monday – this is not surprising, and SportsLine will have chances at the next Jets coach next week.
Now that the Jets cannot recruit Trevor Lawrence, however, can they decide to give Darnold another chance in 2021? The Jets could scale Penei Sewell of Oregon’s stellar offensive prospect in 2nd overall or a top receiver like Ja’Marr Chase of LSU instead of quarterbacks like Zach Wilson of BYU or Justin Fields of Ohio.
Most of the NFL still believe that New York will take a second QB, however. Darnold started 36 NFL games and his career passer rating is 78.4, which is 39th out of 40 qualified quarterbacks since 2018.
Via SportsLine Oddsmakers: Who will be Patriots’ Week 1 starting at QB in 2021?
- Another current NFL quarterback -250
- 2021 draft pick: +400
- Jarrett Stidham +750
- Cam Newton +1200
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