The New England Patriots came into Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh on Thursday fresh off a five-game win streak, including a three-game historically awful stretch of play.
Expectations for the primetime game were low, as best evidenced by Patriots beat writer Ben Volin’s dull prediction for a matchup.
Official Volin Prediction: Steelers 5, Patriots 3.
TJ Watt with the walk-off safety.
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) December 8, 2023
But ultimately, New England’s offense found their long-missing stride. The team finally notched over 300 total yards for the first time in nearly a month and led a dominant first half for the team. And that first half was all the Patriots needed to seal the win away with a final score of 21-18.
Here are five big takeaways from the game.
1
Bailey Zappe... cooked?
Coming into Thursday’s game, hardly anybody could have expected the performance that second-year quarterback Bailey Zappe would put on against a formidable Pittsburgh defensive unit.
The former backup to Mac Jones threw for 240 yards on just 19 passes, averaging 8.6 yards per completion while completing three touchdown passes.
And it wasn’t as if Zappe was just completing dink and dunk passes either. The Western Kentucky product had multiple completions of 20 yards or longer, including this 37-yard pass to receiver Juju Smith-Schuster early in the first quarter.
Juju Smith Schuster for 37 yards
WHAT pic.twitter.com/OuJLM8sKT2
— Savage (@SavageSports_) December 8, 2023
In fact, the completion to Smith-Schuster was the Patriots’ first completion of 30+ air yards this season, according to ESPN insider Mike Reiss.
From @ESPNStatsInfo: Bailey Zappe's 37-yard pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster was the Patriots' first completion of 30+ air yards this season.
The Patriots were 0-of-18 on those throws this season entering the night, the only team without such a completion.
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) December 8, 2023
According to Next Gen Stats, Zappe had a 4.8 completion percentage above expected Thursday, which would have ranked him at No. 5 in the stat last week among NFL quarterbacks.
New England clearly isn’t bound for postseason success this season. But Thursday night’s matchup showed something out of Zappe that the team hadn’t previously seen.
And even though the Patriots are still likely to take a quarterback early in next year’s NFL draft, Zappe may have shown enough on Thursday night to keep at least a backup role on the team for the foreseeable future. And a performance like that would make anyone smile like this.
Zappe Hour. pic.twitter.com/kD93K8CbFH
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) December 8, 2023
After being on the wrong side of history for multiple weeks, the Patriots were finally on the right side with Zappe under center.
2
Even with offensive improvement, ineffectiveness remained
In the first half, the Patriots’ offense looked like a top unit in the NFL. New England scored a touchdown on their opening drive – the first time they have done so all season – in just over three minutes of game time, leaving many on social media struck by the sudden improvement.
Where has that been all year???
— Tom Caron (blue checkmark redacted) (@TomCaron) December 8, 2023
This first quarter begs the question — Why did the Patriots wait so long to make the switch to Zappe?
His pocket presence and poise are far superior to what Mac Jones was giving them.
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) December 8, 2023
In fact, some even made jokes about the team’s falling draft stock amidst their offensive upheaval.
I hardly knew ye pic.twitter.com/GGcnlmWKqt
— Brent Schwartz (@BrentSchwartzz) December 8, 2023
But those flying high at the first half offensive upheaval came back down to Earth after halftime ended.
The team did not have a drive longer than five plays in the entirety of the second half, and Zappe only had 44 passing yards along with an interception.
In total, the team had just two first downs in the second half of the game, completely stalling out while the Steelers nearly completed an 18-point comeback.
Even those who couldn’t get enough of New England’s performance had to acknowledge that the offense stopped playing the game after they ran into the tunnel for halftime.
3
Miscues nearly flip the game
While New England’s offense seemed to live up to the standard of their defense for the first time all season on Thursday night, the team’s performance still lagged, in part, due to repeated penalties.
Throughout the contest, the Patriots committed a total of seven penalties for 79 yards, with many of them coming in pivotal moments.
The first was on Pittsburgh’s first drive of the game when cornerback J.C. Jackson intercepted Steelers quarterback Mitch Trubisky, only for the play to be overturned after referees ruled Jackson had committed defensive pass interference just moments before picking off the ball.
Another was later in the second quarter when Jackson was again flagged for interference, this time in New England’s endzone, setting up the Steelers with a first and goal on the one-yard line. Pittsburgh would score just two plays later.
But possibly the most impactful penalty on the night was one that was not actually called. At least, not called against the Patriots.
With just over five minutes left in the game, New England forced the Steelers to punt the ball away. But before the snap got off, linebacker Jahlani Tavai jumped offsides. At least, that’s what the play looked like, until officials ruled that the Pittsburgh center had moved his head too quickly, deeming the infraction a false start.
The referees prevent Tavai from carrying out the tank agenda.
Shame pic.twitter.com/m7KFfMzHXc
— Savage (@SavageSports_) December 8, 2023
The penalty would have given the Steelers a first down. Instead, New England was able to drain most of the clock down toward the end of the game.
4
The linebacking corps stays dominant
The Patriots’ linebacking corps has been a dominant fixture in their defense all season long, and Thursday’s game was no exception.
Tavai, outside of his near-offsides penalty, had an impressive game, racking up 15 total tackles (more than double the next player) including a team-leading eight solo.
The group was able to ruin Trubisky’s night throughout the entirety of the game, racking up two sacks, six quarterback hits and four passes defended. Additionally, the unit recorded six tackles for loss.
That pressure amounted at one point to an interception for defensive back Jabrill Peppers, who undercut a deep ball from an under-pressure Trubisky.
Sign Jabrill Peppers to a Super Max contract @patriots 🌶️ pic.twitter.com/H4NOajcVKm
— Boston Cream 🍩 (@itsbostoncream) December 8, 2023
But even with the performance, the team as a whole struggled to fight off Pittsburgh’s comeback.
5
The perfect time to win
Those who were worried that the Thursday night victory would catapult the Arizona Cardinals ahead of New England in the 2024 draft order can rest assured that no such action will happen. At least, not this week.
With the Cardinals being on a bye week, the Patriots remained at the No. 2 overall pick despite tying their record at 3-10, according to team insider Evan Lazar.
If you're worried about the #Patriots draft pick after the win, they still currently hang on to the second overall pick at 3-10. The Cardinals are on a bye, so the Pats will stay put at 2.
— Evan Lazar (@ezlazar) December 8, 2023
In essence, the Patriots won at the right time. They did not screw up their tank to the top of the draft order and delivered a necessary win to a plethora of success-starved fans (for better or for worse).
