Ok...maybe we have a little bit of a quarterback controversy. Just a tiny one.
Bailey Zappe went from having an “ok” game by NFL standards against a bad Lions team to having a bona fide “damn good” game, throwing for 309 yards and two touchdowns in his second start to lead the Patriots to a dominating 38-15 win over the Browns.
Not to be lost in the Zappe storyline, of course, is another masterful defensive performance that held the league’s best rushing attack, led by the dynamic Nick Chubb, to just 70 yards on the ground, picked up four sacks on old friend Jacoby Brissett and took the ball away four times.
Also, the offensive line (outside of Isaiah Wynn) did a heck of a job keeping Myles Garrett and the Browns’ defensive front off of Zappe most of the day, and Rhamondre Stevenson (two touchdowns) kept cementing himself as the best back on the team. Plus, you had Tyquan Thornton scoring two touchdowns (one receiving, one rushing), giving a taste of what he can do in this offense.
Somehow, with a fourth-round rookie at the helm taking over for Mac Jones, the Patriots are putting themselves right back in the playoff picture at 3-3 and proving they can keep making this run in the midst of a winnable stretch in their schedule.
We might not be in Wally Pip territory just yet with Jones and Zappe, but this is no longer a laughing matter.
Bailey Zappe busts out against Browns
Is Mac Jones still going to be the starter when he’s healthy enough to return? Yes. But Bailey Zappe has removed any excuses for him not to play well from here on out.
“The Patriots have a new play-caller! He doesn’t have the weapons! The protection’s not good enough!”
Nope. Don’t want to hear it. Not when a fourth-round rookie is out here just doing what he’s told and putting up 300 yards and two scores through the air.
It wasn’t all perfect for Zappe, of course. He had one drive in which he threw two completely uncatchable balls that reminded far too much of his erratic training camp and preseason performances, and there was a delay-of-game penalty and another time New England had to burn a timeout because the clock ran down too low.
But Zappe’s ability to shift between quick decisions and throws and waiting for things to open up on longer plays stood out on Sunday. He also proved he could attack downfield when needed, dropping in a beautiful 50-50 ball to DeVante Parker at one point for a big gain.
Even better, he was able to capitalize through the air in the red zone — something New England has struggled with this season — hitting Tyquan Thornton for the latter’s first career touchdown reception.
He might not have the profile of a true NFL starter, and it would be unwise to throw Jones in the trash for him just based on three games this season for each player. But Zappe keeps demonstrating his readiness to stand in and execute an NFL game plan, and the Patriots are keeping their season alive because of it. Jones had better be taking notes, because Zappe has been showing how it’s done.
The tight ends arrive!
All it took was one play.
Jonnu Smith caught a short pass, broke a couple of tackles and all of a sudden was rampaging through the Browns defense — bum ankle and all — for a 53-yard gain.
On the very next snap, Zappe hit Henry for 13 yards on a corner route to get down to the 2-yard line, which set up the Thornton touchdown catch a few plays later.
Two drives later, after an interception by Jalen Mills, Zappe spotted Henry wide open after the tight end busted through coverage by safety Grant Delpit and hit the tight end for a 31-yard score.
Just like that, the Patriots had gotten more from their two high-priced tight ends together than they have since they signed with New England last March.
Both Smith and Henry have done their part as blockers in the running game when they’ve played, but that’s not what they’re getting paid to do. When they can be part of big plays like this, they make the Patriots’ offense that much more dangerous.
Patriots oozing with young talent
Don’t get too caught up in Zappe Fever that you forget about what the rest of the Patriots’ rookie class is doing.
Cole Strange keeps holding down the left guard spot and improving by the week, making sure no one pines for the loss of Ted Karras.
Tyquan Thornton got his first NFL touchdown catch and breezed into the end zone with easy speed on an end around for his second score of the day. By the end of the season, he could conceivably supplant both Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne if he keeps playing like this.
Jack Jones and Marcus Jones each had lockdown reps in coverage down the field, with Marcus nearly getting his first NFL interception on a diving attempt to break up a deep corner route.
Sixth-round Sam Roberts stepped in for Christian Barmore when the second-year star went to the sidelines with an injury.
And that doesn’t even talk about the likes of Rhamondre Stevenson, who proved for about the tenth time he’s RB1 material.
The praise for Bill Belichick’s last two draft classes needs to be as loud as the disrespect was.
