IMPRESSIVE DEBUT: Cam Newton dominates in Patriots’ 21-11 victory over Dolphins

FOXBORO — The last time the Patriots had a quarterback who used his feet as much Cam Newton did on Sunday, it was 1977. That’s how far back you need to go to find anything close to resembling what the new Patriots QB accomplished in the stat sheet in Sunday’s 21-11 win over the Miami Dolphins.

Everyone knew life would be different for New England when Tom Brady signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the offseason. No one knew just how much different the [...]

FOXBORO — The last time the Patriots had a quarterback who used his feet as much Cam Newton did on Sunday, it was 1977. That’s how far back you need to go to find anything close to resembling what the new Patriots QB accomplished in the stat sheet in Sunday’s 21-11 win over the Miami Dolphins.

Everyone knew life would be different for New England when Tom Brady signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the offseason. No one knew just how much different the Patriots offense would actually look. Playing inside an empty Gillette Stadium, Newton drove the Dolphins defense crazy in the teams’ regular-season opener.

Newton led the Patriots with 15 carries for 75 rushing yards and two touchdowns to go with 155 passing yards. Newton kept the Dolphins off balance with a mix of play-action passes and designed run plays. The quarterback was 15-for-19 throwing the ball, and had Miami flustered. His teammates and head coach sang his praises after the game.

"It’s the new normal," Newton said. "It’s time for everybody, including myself, to realize this is what it’s like. I came full circle today for me just to realize that I’m a New England Patriot and I’m just going to embrace this whole moment."

The quarterback scored the Patriots’ first two touchdowns of the season. Newton’s 15 carries were the most by a quarterback in Patriots history. It was also the second most in his career, which is a good sign for the 31-year-old who missed all of last season due to a foot injury. The most Brady ever had with the Patriots was 10 carries in 2006.

Newton’s 75 rushing yards were the most for a Patriots quarterback since Matt Cassel had 62 in 2008. The only Patriots quarterback to rush for more yards in a game was Steve Grogan, who ran for 76 yards in 1976, 81 in 1977 and the Patriots team record of 103 yards in 1976.

"Cam’s been great for us," said Bill Belichick. "He’s a great teammate. He’s earned everybody’s respect really daily. ... I thought he played well today."

Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels dialed up this new-look offense as soon as Newton took the field in the first quarter. The first five snaps were all run plays with two from Newton, including the first first down of the season on a 17-yard scamper. On the second drive, the Patriots went run heavy again, but Newton also hit Ryan Izzo with a 25-yard dart. Newton kept that drive alive with a 7-yard run on third-and-5. He finished it off with a 4-yard run at 13:12 of the second quarter for the first touchdown of the new season.

"He's a stud," added Julian Edelman. "He brings an energy. He's fun to play with and I'm looking forward to compounding and building off this and fixing the things we didn't really do well and adding to the things we did do well and keep it going."

When the second half started, Newton, once again, put the Patriots on his back to put New England up, 14-3. This time, the quarterback completed his first three passes of the third quarter for first downs. Every pass attempt Newton threw on this drive came off play action with the quarterback pretending to hand the ball off.

At 10:21 of the third quarter, Newton faked a hand-off to Burkhead, then rolled to his right and kept running for an 11-yard touchdown.

"I think it was just through the feeling process more so for me and Josh, coach Bill and coach Jedd (Fisch) to understand who they have and what I have," Newton said.

The Patriots offense was rolling on their next drive, too. The team was 12 plays in and on the 10-yard line when Newton hit N’Keal Harry, who looked like he was heading for the end zone. But the receiver fumbled the ball through the end zone at 1:03 of the third quarter. That resulted in a touchback for Miami and a turnover for Harry.

The Dolphins turned that into a touchdown and Ryan Fitzpatrick added a 2-point conversation and the Pats were up, 14-11.

Newton knew they needed to respond on the next drive and the Patriots answered to take a 21-11 lead with 5:23 left in the game. Edelman started off the series with a 23-yard run and Miami was flagged for a 15-yard late hit. Newton rushed the ball on four of the next five snaps, including a 4-yard run on fourth-and-1, to bring the offense to the 1-yard line.

That set up a Sony Michel 1-yard touchdown to put the game out of reach.

"That was big. That was big," Newton said. "Coach Bill always talks about being mentally tough and we didn’t blink. At the end of the day, it was favorable for us to be mentally tough in that situation, not allowing the moment to be too big for us. I’m just glad the guys trust me to have the ball in my hands in that situation."

mdaniels@providencejournal.com

On Twitter: @MarkDanielsPJ