Cam Newton has been around Bill Belichick long enough to know that the head coach generally has a pretty good idea of how a given matchup is going to play out.
That was the case last weekend when the Patriots used a run-heavy offensive game plan and a zone-heavy defensive plan to slow down Lamar Jackson and run New England's winning streak to two.
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"Listen," Newton said after the 23-17 victory, "everything that coach coaches throughout the week, it tends to come up. And I'm beginning to think he either has, like, a Staples easy button, or a Buffalo Wild Wings button, or just a straight direct line to the football gods. Because he's, like, a football whisperer when it comes to anticipating what the game's going to be like, how we need to win, and things like that. I'm extremely impressed with that."
Perry: Newton a changed QB since getting benched
In a video conference with reporters on Thursday, Newton doubled down on that notion of his new head coach as a football soothsayer.
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"He always says, 'I've been coaching this game a long time, 47-plus years.' I just scratch my head," Newton explained. "Forty-seven years? Dang. He's got a lot of connections in his rolodex of numbers so I wouldn't be surprised if God or Jesus on one of them yellow pages he's got tucked under his desk. I wouldn't be surprised."
The Patriots might not need a crystal ball to beat up on the Texans (2-7) defense Sunday. Houston is the worst run defense in football, allowing 5.2 yards per carry. The Patriots, meanwhile, are the most efficient running offense in the NFL with an expected points added per rush figure of 0.087.