Cam takes blame for failed SNF final play: 'Just thinking too much'

Cam Newton looked like his old MVP self for most of the New England Patriots' Sunday night shootout with the Seattle Seahawks, but the quarterback came up short during the game's biggest play.

After running for his second 1-yard touchdown of the contest to bring New England within one score with 2:16 remaining, Newton again advanced his new team to the goal line, this time with three seconds left.

But Seattle was ready for Newton's run. The defense swarmed to stuff the quarterback and seal the 35-30 victory.

"I just didn’t make everybody right and that's the only thing I regret," Newton said after the game, according to USA Today's Mark Daniels. "In that type of situation, it's humbling to be able to have the respect of a team to have the ball in my hands. I just have to deliver. I saw a clip of it; I could've made it right by just bouncing it (outside). I was just trying to be patient. Just thinking too much, man. Or even just diving over the top. There's so many things that flashed over me.

“Playing a fast defense like that, as soon as you guess, you’re wrong. I’ll definitely learn from this. The play was there. The play was there all game.”

Newton couldn't finish the job, but the 31-year-old arguably produced one of his best career performances.

In addition to the two short touchdown scampers, Newton finished with 397 passing yards - his highest total since 2011 - and one passing touchdown against one interception. He also added a team-high 47 yards on the ground.

Russell Wilson ultimately outgunned Newton, pushing himself to the front of the early MVP race with a five-touchdown outing.

While New England sent a clear message to the rest of the league that it can contend without Tom Brady and a host of key defenders who departed this offseason, Newton isn't satisfied with a moral victory.

"It's many ways you can win in this game. We don't want to become one-dimensional," Newton said. "We had our opportunities. Just moving forward, we have a lot of things about being optimistic about but yet, we still have to get better.

"The reason why you play this game is for (one) stat and one stat only. We didn't get that statistic today and that's the win. For us, this is a disgusting taste in my mouth. I've just got to grow and get better in this offense and hopefully have a better result next week."