After the first regular season NFL game in Las Vegas, the Raiders will visit the New England Patriots in week 3 of the 2020 NFL season.
Coach Jon Gruden and the Raiders were likely hoping for their chances in Foxboro, as all signs indicated that untested quarterback Jarrett Stidham was the patriots’ starter this year after Tom Brady left this offseason to Tampa Bay.
But New England may have found Brady’s replacement when they reached a one-year deal with former NFL MVP Cam Newton on Sunday, said Adam Schefter of ESPN.
Newton confirmed the message with this Instagram post.
Cam Newton confirms that he has gone to the patriots in his IG story. pic.twitter.com/3kDOd1gDVd
– Ali Thanawalla (@Ali_Thanawalla), June 29, 2020
Newton comes to the Patriots after only playing two games in 2019 after out-of-shoulder shoulder surgery. Newton also missed the last two games of the 2018 season due to these shoulder problems.
The Carolina Panthers briefly explored a trade for Newton before finally releasing it in late March.
No matter who’s in the quarterback for the Patriots, Derek Carr and the Raiders offensive will still take on one of the NFL’s best defenses. New England had the best goal defense and gave up the fewest yards of an NFL team in 2019. The patriots lost some key players like Kyle Van Noy and Jamie Collins to the free agency, but Stephon Gilmore was arguably the NFL’s best defensive last year and patriot coach Bill Belichick always seems to find value in players that other teams simply cannot.
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The Raiders have definitely improved in the off-season by strengthening their defense with some key freelance linebacker agents (Cory Littleton, Nick Kwiatkoski), and by the 2020 draft, deployed three dynamic wide-angle receivers that bring all unique skills into position.
Although Las Vegas would probably not have been preferred in the game, Newton’s presence almost assures that chances against the Raiders will stack up if Week 3 runs around in a few months.
We’ll see if Gruden and the Raiders can play their cards right in Foxboro and steal a win.
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