Cam Newton set a new NFL record on Sunday night as the New England Patriots pulled off a surprise win against the Baltimore Ravens to keep their hopes of playoffs alive.

With 13:17 left in the third quarter and New England on a first-and goal at Baltimore’s four-yard line, Newton took the snap and ran into the end zone for a touchdown to give the Patriots a 10-point lead they would not relinquish.

The four-yard sneak may not have been the most memorable touchdown of Newton’s career but it was a statically significant milestone, as the Patriots quarterback extended his NFL records for most career rushing touchdowns by a quarterback and for most games with at least one throwing touchdown and one rushing touchdown to 67 and 54 respectively.

The rushing touchdown also brought Newton’s tally for the season to nine, which according to NFL Research is the most any quarterback in the Super Bowl era has had through their first eight starts in a season—Newton missed the game against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4 after being diagnosed with coronavirus.

With 10 rushing touchdowns, Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray is the only quarterback to have more scores on the ground than Newton so far this year, which is the first NFL season in history to feature two quarterbacks with at least nine rushing touchdowns.

To put the figure into context, Murray and Newton rank second and third respectively in the list of rushing touchdown leaders this season, behind only Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook, who has 12 scores on the ground. Both quarterbacks have more rushing touchdowns than Tennessee Titans star running back and last season’s leading rusher Derrick Henry.

The 2015 MVP completed his first 11 passes in the Patriots’ 30-27 comeback win against the New York Jets in Week 9 and was similarly accurate on Sunday Night Football, not giving up any turnovers for only the third time this season despite playing in treacherous weather conditions.

The win against the Ravens marks the first time the Patriots have won back-to-back games this season. Coming on the back a four-game losing streak, wins against the Jets and Baltimore have kept New England’s hopes of extending their NFL-record 11 consecutive playoffs appearances alive.

“We’re finding ways to win and that’s pretty much been it,” Newton told reporters after Sunday’s game. “We’re having great weeks of practice and following it up with in-game performance. Coach [Bill Belichick] preached about that and we just have to make sure that we keep doing that and keep moving forward.”

Thinking back to the week of practice leading up to the Patriots’ Sunday upset win over the Ravens, Cam Newton told “The Greg Hill Show” on Monday morning that it was another example of Bill Belichick seeing the future.

In this case, it was making players practice in difficult weather conditions.

“Coach [was] like, ‘Whatever we get out there, we’re going to practice in it,’” Newton recalled. “We had an opportunity to practice in some type of weather like that. I think it was beneficial for us.”

Amid heavy wind and rain, the Patriots played largely mistake-free football while the Ravens were unable to match them.

Still, despite the ultimate outcome in a 23-17 win, Newton lamented a missed touchdown pass to wide receiver Jakobi Meyers.

“It was like throwing a medicine ball though. I knew it as soon as it left my hand,” said Newton of the missed score in the third quarter. “There were a couple of those throws as a matter of fact like that last night where it was just like, ‘God, take the ball,’ and hopefully it gets to the right place. But last night was fun. Winning is always fun.”

Now 4-5, Newton believes the 2020 Patriots’ best days are still ahead.

“I do know that we haven’t peaked as a team,” Newton asserted.

Here are a few other notable points from his interview:

Going inside the huddle before Meyers’ touchdown pass

The most dramatic play for the Patriots on Sunday was a touchdown pass thrown not by Newton, but by Meyers. With just over a minute remaining in the second quarter, Meyers calmly dropped a 24-yard toss into the hands of running back Rex Burkhead to give the Patriots a lead they would not relinquish.

The second year receiver has a history not only as a quarterback, but also with Newton (having played as a 16-year-old in the 7-on-7 All-Star tournament hosted by Newton’s foundation in North Carolina).

WHO IS CAM NEWTON

Cameron Jerrell Newton is an American football Quarterback for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He previously played nine seasons with the Carolina Panthers, who selected him first overall in the 2011 NFL Draft. Newton had college football stints at Florida and Blinn before joining Auburn, where he won the Bowl Champion Series National Championship and Heisman Trophy in 2010. Nicknamed “Super Cam”, he is the NFL leader in quarterback rushing touchdowns at 67.

Newton made an impact in his first season where he set the rookie records for passing (4,051) and rushing yards (706) by a quarterback, winning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in the process. The league’s first rookie quarterback to throw for 4,000 yards in a season and the first to throw for 400 yards in his NFL debut,[5] he also set the season record for quarterback rushing touchdowns at 14. Between 2013 and 2017, Newton led the Panthers to three division titles and four playoff appearances. His most successful season came in 2015 when he was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) and helped Carolina obtain a franchise-best 15–1 record en route to a Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl 50. He is the second African-American quarterback to win NFL MVP and the first to solely receive it.