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The Patriots, at 2-10 and in the hypothetical NFL dumpster, went into Pittsburgh on a short week and knocked off the 7-5 (now 7-6) Steelers in their home stadium.
With 13 games in the books and four remaining, here are five immediate thoughts from New England's 21-18 win:
5 - Uh… Offense?!
Just when you thought the Patriots were completely dead in the water, they pulled out one of their best offensive performances of 2023. And they did it right from the start.
New England received the ball to start Thursday’s contest against the Steelers, and in his second start of the season Bailey Zappe led the Patriots to their first opening drive touchdown since Thanksgiving 2022.
An eight-play, 75-yard drive, sequence was sparked by a 37-yard, jump-ball throw to wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster…
…and ended with a 11-yard Ezekiel Elliott touchdown catch.
We’ll get to Zappe’s full performance in a second, but the second-year pro went 3 of 4 passing for 60 yards on the first drive and looked calm, cool, and collected both in and out of the pocket. A precursor to a solid first half from the signal caller.
4 - Bill Belichick was right. Jabrill Peppers and Kyle Dugger are two of the best safeties in football.
“[Jabrill] Peppers and [Kyle] Dugger are two of our best players and two of the better players in the league at that position,” said Bill Belichick this week when asked about the Patriots and their safety depth.
He was right.
The two put together a fantastic 1-2 punch on a interception to start the second quarter. Coming in on a blitz from the edge, Dugger forced Steelers quarterback Mitchell Trubisky to rush into a throw that Peppers read like a book. Here’s a look:
Dugger finished Thursday with seven tackles, 0.5 sacks, and two QB hits and Peppers tallied three tackles, a pass deflection, and the above interception.
While Peppers in under contract in 2024, Dugger is is set to be a free agent this coming Spring. The Patriots need to find a way to keep both in Foxborough for the foreseeable future.
3 - JuJu Smith-Schuster finally shows up.
When the Patriots signed JuJu Smith-Schuster, I thought it was a smart addition to add to the offense. A possession receiver with better yards-after-catch ability than Jakobi Meyers.
While he hasn’t come close to living up to that this season (hauling in just 22 catches for 149 yards and a touchdown through eight games played), Thursday night’s performance in Pittsburgh is what I was talking about.
Smith-Schuster looked to return to his old self, in his old stadium, against the Steelers hauling in 4 catches for 90 yards including several chunk gains for first downs.
2 - Hats off to Bailey Zappe for a really solid performance.
"[Bailey] Zappe said it was a wake up call when he got cut by the Patriots in camp,” sideline reporter Kaylee Hetung told those watching Amazon Prime’s broadcast on Thursday night. “And yet even as he signed with their practice squad the very next day he told [Zach] Kittley (his college offensive coordinator, h/t Nicole Menner) ‘Trust me, I've got this. Eventually I'll be the starter.’”
He was right. Thursday’s game in Pittsburgh was Zappe’s second start of the season, and he made it count, completing 19 of 28 pass attempts for 240 yards and three first half touchdown passes on the way to the Patriots’ third win of the season.
Coming into Thursday, Zappe had completed just 50% of his passes for 299 yards over one start and mop-up duty behind Mac Jones. It was clear that a few weeks in the offense, as the de facto QB1, went a long way for the signal caller.
It wasn’t perfect, by any means, as he threw a second-half interception and the offense didn't score a point in the final two frames. But overall, it was a quality showing for Zappe.
1 - Patriots win. But at what cost?
The Patriots' win in Pittsburgh brings them to 3-10 on the 2023 season, but due to both a) the Arizona Cardinals being on a bye this week and b) New England having an easier strength of schedule, they’ll remain with the No. 2 overall pick following Week 14.
But they’re not making the path to a top pick easy on themselves.
As I’ve said what feels like one million times on this website, a team is never going to actively tank in the NFL and as you saw on Thursday, they’re going to give it their all to get themselves in the ‘W’ column. But, for Patriots fans looking beyond this season, the potential of landing the No. 1 pick now looks slim with the Bears (via the Panthers) having a two-game hold on the top spot.
It's surely good to see a win, but now it's time to head back to scoreboard-watching in the never-ending fight for a top pick.
Make sure to follow Mike on Twitter @mikekadlick, and follow @WEEI for the latest up-to-date Patriots and Boston sports news!
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