If you are still searching for a legitimate reason to watch the Patriots (2-3 overall, 1-1 at home) this season, rookie quarterback Bailey Zappe is quickly becoming a major incentive to tune in as New England beat Detroit (1-4 overall, 0-2 away) 29-0 this afternoon at Gillette Stadium in a gorgeous fall day rocking their superb red Pat Patriot throwback uniforms (which they should wear all the time if you ask me). In his first career NFL start (and only his second career NFL game), Zappe was poised and efficient as he went 17-of-21 for 188 yards, a touchdown and an interception (that bounced off of Nelson Agholor's stone hands). It was a classic Bill Belichick game as his defense was perfect with a defensive touchdown, two sacks (both by linebacker Matthew Judon who set a team record with a sack in the first five straight contests of the season), a forced fumble and recovery and another interception by promising rookie cornerback Jack Jones while the Lions were 0-for-6 on fourth down which frankly seems impossible for most other teams. Pats kicker Nick Folk added five field goals and running back Rhamondre Stevenson (25 carries, 161 yards; 2 catches, 14 yards) had a career day after Damien Harris left with a hamstring injury.
This result probably reflects more on Detroit's usual ineptitude (whose lovable head coach Dan Campbell is still looking for his first road win in his head coaching career) but then again, any win for New England is a good one in 2022. Furthermore, there are so many average to bad teams in the NFL these days, if you can beat enough of them, you should find yourself in the playoffs (ala the Patriots last season) at the end of the year. Also, while Mac Jones will (likely) remain the starter when he returns from his high ankle sprain, at worst this proves that Zappe is a capable NFL backup quarterback and we finally should have seen the last of Brian Hoyer in a Pats uniform. Quality quarterbacks are the most important commodity that you can have in the NFL so the fact that Zappe can play already is a huge bonus and a boon to New England's scouting department and coaching staff.
Folk obviously started the scoring with a 37-yard field goal in the first quarter and a 32-yard field goal early in the second quarter for a 6-0 Pats lead. The play of the game was safety Kyle Dugger's 59-yard scoop-and-score for a touchdown with 3:26 left in the first half. Folk added the PAT and then a 44-yard kick as time expired for a 16-0 halftime advantage. Folk-the clubhouse leader for AFC Special Teams Player of the Week-hit a 37-yard field goal on New England's first drive in the third quarter and late in the frame, Zappe connected with wide receiver Jakobi Meyers (game-high 7 catches, 111 yards) for a 24-yard touchdown catch after a blown coverage by Detroit's awful defense. Folk kicked another extra point and closed it out with a 29-yard field goal in the fourth quarter for the final lopsided margin.
Looking ahead, if the Pats can keep getting stable play from their quarterback(s) and the defense continues to be pretty stingy, there are a bunch of possible wins on the horizon. They are at Cleveland (2-3 overall, 1-2 home) on Sunday afternoon (1, CBS) where they will face old friend Jacoby Brissett. Much like the Lions, the Browns are born losers as they proved once again today as they fell 30-28 to the Chargers (3-2) who did everything in their power to giftwrap the game for them. The following week, the Patriots host the Bears (2-3) on Monday Night Football, followed by their first meeting with the Jets (3-2) this season-at the Meadowlands-then they host the Colts (2-2-1), have their bye in Week 10 and get the return meeting with the Jets at Gillette coming out of the break. Clearly, this is not the Pats of old where we can get silly and way too far ahead of ourselves right away. They could lose all of those matchups that I just mentioned so while it is boring and trite, we will just have to wait for next weekend and see if they can come up with another solid gameplan to help Zappe-assuming that Mac is still out-succeed while letting Cleveland puke on themselves enough to give the game away.
