Cam Newton refuses to give his former Patriots team their flowers despite being 9-2 on the season and having the NFL’s best record.
“It has fool’s gold written all over them, cubic zirconia middle of the mall” Newton said of New England’s success on “First Take.” “And yes, is Drake Maye playing good football? Absolutely. I would like to attest his great play to one specific person that I know too well, Josh McDaniels. Now Josh McDaniels may not be a great head coach, but he is a brilliant offensive mind."
Newton’s biggest issue is the Patriots’ schedule, which is statistically one of the easiest in the NFL.
“The thing I have a problem with is if you keep playing sorry scrubs, then you’re going to have this falsetto of a mentality going into the playoffs and it has one-and-done written all over it,” Newton said.
The Patriots have two big road wins against the Buffalo Bills and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and have won eight straight after a Week 11 win over the New York Jets on Thursday Night Football.
Still, Newton thinks the Patriots and Maye won’t play enough teams that will give them the type of competition they could see in the playoffs.
“I have more concerns with the New England Patriots playing five and six teams that have losing records than going into a situation where the competition exceeds what you may have been used to,” Newton said. “That’s the biggest question I have for Drake Maye.”
Newton has taken issue with Maye being referred to as a top-five quarterback, noting he wants to see the second-year quarterback play consistently against “well and capable” competition.
Maye’s play this year — despite what some may say about the schedule — has put him in the MVP conversation.
New England’s next opponent is the Cincinnati Bengals, who sit at 3-6 going into Week 11
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