If the Patriots are really going to play like this in the “Pat the Patriot” throwbacks, just make the change permanent.
The defense pitched a shutout against Jared Goff and the high-scoring Lions offense while Bailey Zappe and Rhamondre Stevenson kept the chains moving all afternoon against the last-ranked Lions defense en route to a 29-0 win to move to 2-3 on the season.
Though the Lions might not be that good, the Patriots took care of business in their most complete performance of 2022, and you can’t ask for much more with a rookie quarterback making his first NFL start.
Speaking of which:
Bailey Zappe gets the job done.
Despite the lack of gaudy numbers, Zappe (17-of-21 for 188 yards, TD, INT) didn’t look like a rookie making his first NFL start too often against the Lions.
The fourth-round pick played smooth, efficient football while the Patriots ran and defensed their way to a win — exactly what you want from a young quarterback.
On top of that, his pocket presence improved dramatically seemingly over the course of a week. The highlight: Zappe escaping up through the pocket and checking it down to Hunter Henry on the team’s first offensive drive of the second half. Only once did Zappe appear to bail out of a clean pocket when he didn’t need to, and rarely did he throw as errantly as he did early in his outing against Green Bay.
The lone interception he threw wasn’t remotely his fault; he put it right on Nelson Agholor, and Agholor coughed it up into the hands of Lions safety DeShon Elliott.
The football came out on time and with conviction against the Lions — none of the floated medicine balls begging not to be picked off. (Also worth noting: the Lions didn’t sack him once and rarely bothered him.)
Last week was just survival for Zappe. This week, he looked more like he was thriving. We’ll see if he gets another chance to take his game up another notch next week with Mac Jones still nursing his ankle injury.
Defense dominates Detroit.
I warned you not to trust Jared Goff.
Sure, he didn’t have a fully healthy crew at his disposal with DeAndre Swift and D.J. Chark out. But he’s just not a quarterback any respectable defense needs to fear, and the Patriots showed that.
First, Jack Jones (more on him later) swiped Goff on an ill-advised red-zone throw on Detroit’s second drive to take points off the board for the Lions. Then, when Dan Campbell trusted Goff to make a play on 4th-and-9 in the second quarter, Matthew Judon abused right tackle Penei Sewell and dislodged the ball from Goff’s grasp, leading to a 59-yard scoop-and-score for Kyle Dugger.
The Lions tried to convert on fourth down six times against the Patriots — once on the doorstep of New England’s end zone. Bill Belichick’s squad turned them away all six times.
New England's defense has once again been the backbone of this unit through five games and has been far better than many expected. As well as Zappe played, that unit deserves the game ball.
Rhamondre Stevenson SZN is upon us.
Every time the Patriots need Stevenson to carry the load for them, he just dominates.
The offense simply looked more explosive and fluid with him in the game, as seen when the Patriots’ second drive of the game stalled out in the red zone after Stevenson subbed out (following a 49-yard run) and Damien Harris came into the game.
Then, once Harris exited the game with a hamstring injury, it was all Stevenson, and he didn’t disappoint, slashing around and smashing through Lions defenders for a career-high 161 yards.
His running style is simply special to watch, with his ability to make defenders miss in a phone booth and out in the open field on display multiple times. He seems to have an instinct for cutting even as he stumbles forward that can’t be described in any way other than preternatural.
Then, there were plays like the one where Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone through he was going to level Stevenson on a toss play only to get thrown on the ground himself by the burly running back.
Harris will still get his touches in this offense and rip off some big runs the way he does. But Stevenson is looking more and more like the engine that makes the Patriots’ offense go.
Jack Jones is HIM.
I picked Jones to lead all rookies in interceptions this season, and he’s making that prediction possible through five games.
Jones nabbed his second interception of the season to kill a Lions red-zone drive — coming off of his man in zone coverage, leaping to snare the ball and getting both feet inbounds while he was falling backwards toward the sideline. Just a ridiculous play that showed off everything that’s made the rookie fourth-round corner so intriguing.
You think he cares what anyone has to say about his “disrespectful” comments last week as long as he keeps playing like this? For that matter, do you think his teammates mind?
They don’t, and neither should anyone else.