There were some great performances from NFL quarterbacks this Sunday, while others looked like they should be demoted down the depth chart.
Another NFL Sunday has arrived, and let’s just say that it provided better entertainment than the Thanksgiving Day games. Seriously, both the Detroit Lions-Houston Texans and Washington Football Team-Dallas Cowboys matchups were rather boring blowouts.
As per usual, there were some stellar performances by quarterbacks on Sunday. Patrick Mahomes of the Kanas City Chiefs lit up the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by primarily targeting star receiver Tyreek Hill. Then there was Kirk Cousins, who helped lead the Minnesota Vikings to a last-minute , 28-27 victory over the Carolina Panthers.
Of course, with the good comes the bad, and there was some bad play from quarterbacks. Here are three that put up bench-worthy performances in Week 12.
The New England Patriots were expected to be in a tough spot against the Arizona Cardinals. They did surprise the world by securing the 20-17 upset win thanks to a last-second, game-winning field goal by Nick Folk. But in terms of offensive production, it was an ugly day at the office.
Quarterback Cam Newton was coming off a 365-yard, one touchdown performance against the Houston Texans last week entering Week 12. But against the Cardinals defense, Newton couldn’t get anything done through the air. On 18 pass attempts, Newton completed just nine of them for a grand total of 84-yards, the fewest he’s ever recorded in a single game. That, and he managed to throw two interceptions in the contest, with one of them coming on his very first pass attempt of the game. Newton compiled a passer rating of 23.6, which was the lowest number posted by a Patriots quarterback since Tom Brady recorded a 22.5 rating against the Buffalo Bills in 2003.
Newton did much better in the ground game, as he rushed for 46 yards on nine carries. Luckily, New England managed to squeak out a victory against a playoff contender to pull them to a 5-6 record.
While this performance was a bad one for Newton, he’l still start next week. But if he has a repeat act against the Los Angeles Chargers, he can expect to hear Jarrett Stidham be summoned to the field by head coach Bill Belichick.