Malik Magic: Time For a (Drastic) QB Change For New England Patriots?
In 283 games over 20 years with Tom Brady as the starting quarterback, the New England Patriots were held without an offensive touchdown only four times. This season - including last Sunday in Germany - it's already happened in three of 10 games.
Moral to the story: It's time for some Malik Magic.
Not in an attempt to save the Patriots' pathetic present. But merely to plan for their uncertain future.
During this disastrous season - 2-8 heading into this week's Bye - we shouldn't be seeing the last of Bill Belichick. (Firing the legend now won't salvage a season beyond repair; the Patriots could win their last seven and still not make the playoffs.) But we've already seen enough of regressing Mac Jones and 2022 flash-in-the-pan Bailey Zappe.
With nothing to lose - except more games and, in turn, earn a higher draft pick - the Patriots should start undrafted rookie Malik Cunningham in the season's final seven games starting Nov. 26 at the New York Giants. Extra time during the Bye can get Malik prepared off the practice squad, and his debut can come against one of the few teams actually as bad as New England. In that "showdown" between the NFL's two worst offense, first to 10 will likely win.
In a season that has mostly defied logic, conjuring Malik Magic makes perfect sense.
After that back-pedaling, woefully underthrown interception in the final two minutes of last week's loss to the Colts, Jones is cooked. He's physically paralyzed; psychologically skittish. He's dramatically gotten worse the last two seasons under two different play-callers, and is merely a shell of the promising rookie that made the Pro Bowl 2021. We've seen enough.
Zappe was a breath of air last season. He won two starts and a lot of hearts in New England with a spunky style. But the shine has officially worn off. He had a bad offseason, was twice cut by the Pats and left vulnerable to being stolen by another team, and last Sunday threw into quadruple-coverage for a game-ending interception. We've seen enough.
Ranked 26th in yards and 31st in points, the offense is broken. Turns out Matt Patricia wasn't the sole problem. And JuJu Smith-Schuster surely isn't the lone solution. (Hard to fathom a receiver that gained 900 yards on a Super Bowl team a year ago now has less than 150 10 games into the season and last week produced just one catch and one pre-snap penalty.)
The offensive line has been dreadful since training camp. And both Jones and Zappe are about as mobile as your mail box. They are not close to elite: in decision-making, arm strength or throwing accuracy.
Malik Magic can't save the Patriots season. But he might at least make it more interesting.
USA Today
Other than an influx of playmaking talent at receiver and running back, what the Pats could desperately use is the added dimension of Malik's legs at quarterback.
Cunningham probably isn't the answer. The Patriots currently have the No. 3 overall pick and could be in line to nab USC's Caleb Williams or North Carolina's Drake Maye in next April's NFL Draft. But, seriously, could the offense get much worse? New England has been held to six points or less three times, topped 20 points only once and hasn't scored 30 in a game started by Jones since Week 17 of 2021.
We're 10 games into the regular season and the most exciting play of the Patriots' 2023 still might be Cunningham's quarterback draw for a touchdown ... in the preseason back in August.
Of course, stubborn Belichick won't make this move. His eye is on catching Don Shula for the NFL record, one painful win at a time and big picture be damned. Or ...
“We have a lot of things to work on this week as a team," he said Tuesday morning when asked about the quarterback situation. "We’ll work through those. That is what we are going to do this week.”
When the Raiders lose, they fire their head coach. When the Bills lose, they fire their offensive coordinator. When the Patriots lose, they ... can at least change quarterbacks.
