In QB Bailey Zappe's First Career NFL Start, The Patriots Blanked The Hapless Lions 29-0

 

    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.

The Patriots Steamrolled The Hapless Jaguars 50-10 & Clinched A Playoff Spot In The Process

 

    While I take little joy in beating up on one of the worst franchises in American sports, the Patriots (10-6 overall, 4-5 home) desperately needed a win after two tough losses in a row against the Colts (9-7) and Bills (10-6) in the last few weeks. Enter the lambs known as the Jaguars (2-14 overall, 0-8 away) who came to Gillette Stadium this afternoon and got crushed 50-10 by the Pats. With the win, New England clinched a playoff spot and kept alive their faint hopes for a division title. This is the first regular season with 17 games and the Patriots will end the campaign next Sunday afternoon (4:25, CBS) in Miami (8-8) against the Dolphins who were elminated from playoff contention today following a 34-3 drubbing by the Titans (11-5)-who are back on top of the AFC. Buffalo hosts the Jets (4-12) which means it is unlikely that New York will pull off the upset, then again the Jags beat the Bills earlier this season so I guess we can't take almost anything for granted these days in the NFL.

    Seeing No. 1 overall pick rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence (17-of-27 for 193 yards, TD, 3 INTs) look like a puddle was a powerful reminder how much it is all about fit and the situation that you are in when it comes to the NFL. How much better would Lawrence be with the Pats? We'll never know but for now, we feel happy that we have rookie quarterback Mac Jones (22-of-30 for 227 yards, 3 TDs) on our side. New England also has perhaps the best 1-2 combination of running backs in the NFL as rookie Rhamondre Stevenson (19 carries, 107 yards, 2 TDs) and Damien Harris (2 TDs) combined for four touchdowns. This being the Pats, of course we also have to talk about an undrafted rookie wide receiver-Kristian Wilkerson-who made his NFL debut and caught not one but two touchdowns while fellow receiver N'Keal "Bust" Harry was a healthy scratch. 

    New England's top two wide receivers Kendrick Bourne (5 catches, 76 yards) and Jakobi Meyers (8 catches, 73 yards, TD) also had nice performances while cornerbacks Myles Bryant and J.C. Jackson along with safety Kyle Dugger each recorded an interception. Like a homecoming game in college football, this one was never remotely competitive. The Patriots were up 7-3 after the first quarter but that became 28-3 at halftime following three touchdowns by the home team in the second quarter. The Pats tacked on 13 more points in the third quarter and they cruised in the last frame by adding nine more points before Jacksonville scored the most garbage time of touchdowns-a 28-yard catch-and-run by running back Dare Ogunbowale-that along with Matthew Wright's PAT cut New England's lead down to 50-10. 

    After three rushing touchdowns last week, Harris fittingly notched the first score in this lopsided contest: a two-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and kicker Nick Folk added a point after to make it 7-0. The Jags settled for a 29-yard field goal by Wright later in the first quarter. It only took until the second quarter for Jacksonville to look like they didn't want to be there anymore in the cold rain and fog of Foxborough in January. In a little under 11 minutes of game time, New England scored three touchdowns to effectively put it out of reach before halftime. Harris notched a seven-yard touchdown run, Wilkerson caught a six-yard touchdown (his 1st as a pro) and Meyers grabbed a four-yard touchdown with Folk adding three point afters for that 28-3 lead.

    In the third quarter, Wilkerson was left wide open and he caught a 20-yard touchdown (Folk's extra point was blocked) before Stevenson punched in a one-yard touchdown run (Folk's point after was good) after Dugger returned his interception to the Jacksonville one-yard line. In the fourth quarter, Folk hit a 43-yard field goal and Stevenson recorded a six-yard touchdown run (the two-point run conversion failed). The Alabama duo of rookie defensive lineman Christian Barmore and linebacker Dont'a Hightower both took down Lawrence for a sack apiece. This was your classic get right game for the Patriots and all you can hope is that like earlier in the season after they destroyed the Jets (4-12), New England can use this result as a springboard to bigger and better things. They shouldn't need any extra motivation against Miami who beat them in Week 1 at Gillette.  

The Pats Scored 45 (!) Unanswered Points In A 45-7 Drubbing Of The Browns & A Fourth Straight Win

 

    The complete turnaround by the Patriots (6-4 overall, 2-4 home) over the last month has been nothing short of remarkable. This afternoon at Gillette Stadium, Cleveland (5-5 overall, 2-3 away) marched down the field on an impressive opening drive (11 plays, 84 yards, 4:55) and capped it off with a two-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Baker Mayfield (11-of-21 for 73 yards, TD, INT) to tight end Austin Hooper. No sweat, Browns kicker Chase McLaughlin's extra point was the last point of the entire game for Cleveland as New England rattled off 45 consecutive points en route to a throughly impressive 45-7 victory. Pats rookie quarterback Mac Jones (19-of-23 for 198 yards, 3 TDs) had his best and most efficient game as a pro and New England's defense combiend for five sacks as they won their fourth game in a row. 

    Earlier this season, we wondered if Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was losing his fastball on the sidelines and now, if he keeps this up he has to be considered a front-runner for the NFL Coach of the Year (which would be his 4th, tying Don Shula for the most all-time). More importantly, his team has transformed itself from an afterthought to one of the hottest in the league that seems to get better every week not to mention a legitimate threat in the weak AFC. Tight end Hunter Henry caught two touchdown passes (giving him TD catches in 6 straight games and 8 overall in that time span) and rookie running back Rhamondre Stevenson (20 carries, 100 yards, 2 TDs; 14 yards receiving) returned from last week's concussion to record a solid performance. Wide receiver Kendrick Bourne (4 catches, 98 yards, TD; 3 rushes, 43 yards) has also proven to be a valuable weapon for offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels as he continues to open up what started out as a pretty basic playbook in 2021.   

    This being the Browns, they just had to fall apart in epic fashion. Mayfield hurt his knee which forced his backup Case Keenum to finish the game for him. The two teams' numbers on third down told the entire story as New England was seven-for-nine and Cleveland was one-for-11. Henry caught a third yard touchdown pass from Jones late in the first quarter and Nick Fok's point-after tied it at seven. After Patriots safety Kyle Dugger picked off Mayfield and returned the interception to Cleveland's five-yard line, it took one play for Stevenson to punch it in and give New England a lead that they would never relinquish. Folk's kick made it 14-7 and that quickly became 21-7 after Jones' strike through two defenders to Bourne for a leaping 23-yard touchdown catch. Folk's 38-yard field goal with 17 seconds left in the second quarter handed the Patriots a commanding 24-7 lead at halftime. 

    Stevenson added a two-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and Folk's extra point made it 31-7 in favor of the home team. In the fourth quarter, Henry caught another three-yard touchdown from Jones and Folk hit another point after. Finally, wide receiver Jakobi Meyers ended the highlight reel filled day for the Pats with an 11-yard touchdown catch and run from backup quarterback Brian Hoyer-his first TD catch in the NFL after three long seasons. Folk's sixth point after gave New England its final margain of 45-7. 

    It will be a short week for the Pats as they will travel to Mercedes Benz Stadium for a Thursday Night Football (8:20, Fox) matchup with the Falcons (4-5 overall, 1-3 home). Atlanta had been playing alright until they got smoked 43-3 this afternoon in Dallas (7-2). Did I mention that they have another rookie head coach-the immortal Arthur Smith-for Belchick to beat up on? So yeah, as always anything can happen in the NFL (as proven every week in this crazy year) but you have to like the Patriots' chances to keep their win streak rolling.

The Pats Came Close Again But Couldn't Beat A Good Team As They Fell 35-29 In OT Vs. Dallas

 

    The Patriots (2-4 overall, 0-4 home) had another great opportunity to beat one of the better teams in the NFL this evening at Gillette Stadium but just like the Bucs (5-1) game two weeks ago, they came up short as they lost 35-29 in overtime to the Cowboys (5-1 overall, 2-1 away). In many ways, it would have been a miracle if Pats head coach Bill Belichick and his team had found a way to pull this one out since Dallas is clearly a more talented and much deeper team. The Cowboys recorded nearly twice as many first downs (32-17), they totalled over 200 more yards (567-335), held the ball for over 12 more minutes than the home team (39:17-26:51) and ran a whopping 32 more plays (82-50). So why the hell wasn't this an easy blowout win for America's Team? That was mostly because they were called for an absurd amount of penalties (12 for 115 yards) and they had two backbreaking turnovers in the red zone. 

    Much like the Tampa showdown, I don't think many logical people believed this would be all that competitive so kudos to the Patriots for almost pulling this off. Still, how many times can we pat them on the head for a close loss? This was already the third time this season that they have lost by one score.  That gets old really fast, especially when you have a chance to win in overtime only to stall on your lone drive and have Dallas' star quarterback Dak Prescott (36-of-51 for 445 yards, 3 TDs, INT) hit his speedy receiver CeeDee Lamb (9 catches, 149 yards, 2 TDs) with a walk-off 35-yard touchdown pass. 

    The end of the fourth quarter was insane as the Cowboys looked to have it sealed when their outstanding young cornerback Trevon Diggs (brother of Bills WR Stefon) picked off Patriots rookie quarterback Mac Jones (15-of-21 for 229 yards, 2 TDs, INT) and ran the pick-6 back 42 yards to put Dallas ahead 26-21 (they failed on the 2-point conversion) with 2:27 left in regulation. However, on the next play Jones hit New England receiver Kendrick Bourne for a 75-yard touchdown catch-and-run. The Pats got the two-point conversion as well with Jones finding wideout Jakobi Meyers on the goal-line. The issue at that point was that there was too much time remaining and the Patriots' defense was completely gassed. Cowboys kicker Greg Zuerlein had missed an early field goal but he was nails on a 49-yard attempt with 20 seconds left to go that tied it at 29. 

    This is the first time since 1993 (aka Bill Parcells' first year in charge here) that the Patriots have started 0-4 at home. In the past (mostly because they had Tom Brady), this would have been a game that they would have stolen. They scored first and led 14-7 after the first quarter and 14-10 at halftime. New England running back Damien Harris (18 carries, 101 yards) held onto the ball this week and he had a four-yard touchdown run to make it 7-0 with kicker Nick Folk's extra point. Prescott and the Cowboys answered as he found tight end Blake Jarwin with a one-yard touchdown pass on a simple play action fake. Zuerlein's point after tied it at seven but New England went ahead 14-7 on the following drive: tight end Hunter Henry caught a touchdown for the third week in a row, this time from 20 yards out and Folk's PAT made it 14-7 in favor of the good guys. The only points in the second quarter was a 30-yard field goal by Zuerlein. Prescott fumbled on the goal-line when he dove on a quarterback sneak but Pats linebacker Ja'Whaun Bentley knocked the ball free and fellow linebacker Kyle Van Noy recovered it. Earlier in the frame, safety Kyle Dugger grabbed his first career interception after cornerback Justin Bethel deflected the pass intended for Dallas receiver Cedrick Wilson in the end zone. 

    Dallas took their first lead in the third quarter when Dak found Lamb for a pretty one-yard fade to the corner. Zuerlein's point after gave the Cowboys a 17-14 advantage which they took into the fourth quarter. Zuerlein's 45-yard field goal put the Cowboys up 20-14 early in the final stanza but Patriots rookie running back Rhamondre Stevenson rumbled in for a one-yard touchdown run that staked his club to a 21-20 lead thanks to Folk's PAT. Cowboys defensive end Randy Gregory sacked Jones twice and nearly killed him both times since he basically got to him untouched. New England's offensive line continues to be a nightmare.  

    The Patriots should finally get that first home win of 2021 next Sunday afternoon (1, CBS) as they host the Jets (1-4) who they beat 25-6 at MetLife Stadium in Week 2. Honestly though, will that prove anything? So far, the Jets and Texans (1-5) are the only teams they have managed to beat this season. That Week 1 loss to the Dolphins (1-5) looks terrible at this point along with their no-show against the Saints (3-2). The bottom line is that this looks like a non-playoff team for the second season in a row. That does not sound like much but remembering how spoiled we were for 20 years makes this particularly painful. The Patriots were the model franchise in sports for most of those two decades and now they appear to be a rudderless franchise filled with so many aging veterans, bad draft picks and a stubborn old head coach who is obviously nowhere near the same guy without the best quarterback in NFL history on his side.

Longtime Patriots Safety Patrick Chung Signed a Two-Year Extension to Remain In New England

Not that anyone has really noticed besides your grandfather but the 2020 MLB regular season has yet to start while the 2019-20 NBA and NHL regular seasons have been paused now for more than two months while we all deal with this endless nightmare called Covid-19 aka the 'Rona. Since they have more time to plan and see what the world looks like this fall, I have the most faith (along with the stubborn meathead nature of Roger Goodell) that there will be some form of the NFL in 2020-most likely without fans. That's why talking about NFL news and moves seems most relevant these days versus the other leagues that all still seem very far away from getting back on their respective fields, courts and rinks for any games that actually count.

With that said, the Patriots might be in rebuild mode but at least whenever they fully return to work, we can be confident that they possess one of the best safety groups in the entire NFL. Today they signed veteran Patrick Chung to a two-year extension (through 2023) which means that the 32-year-old is basically guaranteed to end his productive career where it all started: in Foxborough. With their top pick (2nd round, 37th overall after they traded away their 1st round pick) from last month's NFL Draft Kyle Dugger (a safety from Division 2 Lenoir-Rhyne) unsigned, the Chung move allowed the Pats to free up $925,000 in cap space. Keep in mind that their best safety-captain Devin McCourty-also signed an extension earlier during the pandemic which truthfully feels like it happened about three years ago.

It's hard to believe but this will be Chung's 12th season in the NFL so anytime a non-kicker, punter or backup QB reaches double-digit years in the league, you know that the clock is really starting to wind down. For being a solid player, he received a $3 million signing bonus which added to his $1.1 million salary for 2020 makes for a nice payday. By nature, NFL contracts (particularly for the detail-oriented Patriots) are always very tough to comprehend if you're not a lawyer, player agent or Bill Belichick. The former Oregon Duck can also earn up to $800,000 in per-game roster bonuses and a $100,000 workout bonus. Should Chung choose to play beyond this season, 2021-2023 would have the identical setup money-wise: base salary of $1.9 million, up to $400,000 per-game roster bonuses, $200,000 in incentives and a $100,000 workout bonus.

For many reasons both on the field and off the field, Chung has had a unique journey with the Patriots. He was drafted in the 2nd round (34th overall) in 2009 and had an up-and-down first four seasons for the Pats, probably because he missed a bunch of games with injuries (playing only 8 games in 2011 and 12 games the next year). From there, he went to the Eagles for one mostly nondescript season in 2013 (39 solo tackles, 20 assisted tackles & 1 fumble recovery in 12 games) before surprisingly returning to New England where he's been tough, dependable and consistent in his second go-around. In the last six seasons here, he's only missed five total regular season games which is a rather incredible change from his early days.

He's never been (and will never be) a Pro Bowler but he is on the next tier of quality players that every good football team needs to have in droves to compliment its stars. Chung is not big in stature (5-foot-11, 215 pounds) by the NFL's superhuman standards but he's athletic enough to be able to cover tight ends and be close to the line of scrimmage to help defend wide receivers and running backs in the short passing game. He has appeared in three Super Bowls with the Patriots and is a two-time champion.

Last summer ironically might have been his most notable headline as a Patriot when he got busted with a mountain of cocaine in his lake house in New Hampshire. Somehow, someway that was mostly swept under the rug (pun totally intended) and he never went to jail nor has been suspended by the league for it. I just think that's notable in terms of ways that Chung wants to celebrate this deal under quarantine. Granted, I'm not advocating for it but couldn't we all use a little booger sugar right now to get away from our troubles for a bit? Haha just kidding, stay in school (remember those?) kids!

Tweet