It wasn’t long ago, when it looked like the Patriots wouldn’t win another game. That was after losing to the Giants Week 12.
Of late, however, they’ve haven’t acted like one of the league’s tomato cans. They’ve managed to win two of their last three games against opponents still in the hunt for playoff spots.
Translation: The players don’t give a hoot about where the team lands in the draft order.
They’re still in it, to win it, even though their playoff fate was decided long ago.
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“We preach every day that we are playing for each other. We know the playoffs aren’t in the future so right now, we are playing for one another,” Bailey Zappe said following the 26-23 win over the Denver Broncos Sunday night. “Going into this week, we understood we had Christmas around the corner and wouldn’t it be nice to celebrate Christmas with a win. That was our motivation and to be able to go out there and execute it is great.”
Defensive tackle Davon Godchaux, meanwhile, had this to say to ESPN’s Mike Reiss following the game.
“It’s all about pride, man. Being willing to compete,” said Godcnaux. “We could have easily laid an egg and said ‘F— it, let’s get ready for Christmas, the season is over.’ But we have teams in front of us, and it’s good to knock a team like this out of playoff contention.”
As it was, the Pats were down numerous starters (Hunter Henry, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Jabrill Peppers just to name a few) but still put up a fight.
Along with playing for each other, by extension, they’re also playing for Bill Belichick, whose future with the Patriots has been the source of speculation for weeks.
“He hasn’t (quit), and there’s the trickle down effect he has,” captain David Andrews said of Belichick. “And, as leaders, I don’t think we have. Personally, as a leader, you can never lay down and quit. I can’t do that, and I won’t do that as long as I’m playing here for this organization … obviously it hasn’t looked great at a lot of points this year. But, I’m just proud of the way the guys keep fighting, the coaching staff, and everybody.”
That fight was evident against the Broncos. After surrendering a 16-point lead, the Patriots still managed to put together a game-winning drive behind Zappe, with Chad Ryland kicking the game-winner in the final seconds. How the final two games play out is anyone’s guess.
But ever since Zappe took over for Mac Jones as the starter, it’s provided a jolt not only for the offense, but the team as a whole.
Here’s the grades from the Patriots Week 16 win over the Broncos:
Quarterback : A-minus
Nightmare of a start. Great middle. Heroic finish.
That pretty much sums up Bailey Zappe’s performance against the Broncos.
On the very first play from scrimmage, he surrendered the ball with a strip-sack fumble. After that, he managed to get through the first quarter, and the opening half without any more miscues. He did miss a few open receivers early, but got better as the game went along, which hadn’t been the case the previous two games. When the third quarter rolled around, Zappe really hit his stride.
Protection issues were a problem, but Zappe confidently stepped up in the pocket to deliver strikes to all of his receivers. In that third quarter alone, he completed 8-of-10 passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns.
His touchdown throw to Mike Gesicki was a beauty. Everything seemed to be clicking on al cylinders.
But then the offense went cold. The fourth quarter was met with three straight three-and-outs, but with the ball in his hands, with 58 seconds to go in a tie game, Zappe delivered in the clutch to set up Chad Ryland’s game-winning field goal.
On third down, Zappe deftly eluded the rush and hit DeVante Parker with a 27-yard completion. He further advanced the ball into field goal territory with passes to Ezekiel Elliott and Gesicki.
It was Zappe’s best performance (25 of 33, 256, two TDs) to date. In his two seasons in Foxboro, he’s now 4-2 as a starter.
Running backs: B-plus
Ezekiel Elliott has been, hands down, the team’s best free agent acquisition this season. Between his professionalism, his approach, and ability to deliver in the clutch, Elliott has been a welcome addition. While he wasn’t able to produce much in the run game (27 yards on 12 carries), he was a safety valve for Zappe.
His 15-yard touchdown catch, meanwhile, epitomized the type of spark Elliott has provided all season. After taking a swing pass from Zappe, the 28-year-old back hurdled one defender en route to hitting the end zone for a score. In all, he was targeted 11 times, making nine catches.
Kevin Harris chipped in with 21 yards on seven carries, which again signaled how tough the run yards where to come by, while Tyquan Thornton added nine yards on an end-around.
Wide Receivers: A-minus
The group has been much-maligned all year. The receivers have been knocked for their inability to separate, and make plays.
Against the Broncos, that was hardly the case.
DeVante Parker played perhaps his best game as a Patriot. While his totals weren’t off the charts (4 catches, 65 yards ), he delivered in the clutch. Between his 30-yard reception in the third quarter, and the 27-yard beauty in the fourth quarter to help set up the game-winning kick, Parker made the type of game-winning plays the Patriots expected when they got him last year, and extended him before this season.
Demario “Pop” Douglas (5 catches, 74 yards) also made his presence felt. His 44 catches on the season is the second-most by a rookie in the Belichick era. Douglas did have one miscue, dropping a perfectly thrown ball by Zappe in the third quarter. He had all kinds of room to run. Having the ball go off his hands also nearly caused a pick.
Jalen Reagor’s 28-yard catch in the first quarter provided the first sign of life for the offense. Overall, Reagor caught two balls, with Thornton adding another for 11 yards.
Tight ends: B
Things seemed pretty grim with Hunter Henry missing his first game as a Patriot. But both Mike Gesicki and Pharaoh Brown did their best to make up for that loss.
Gesicki made two of the biggest plays in the game, catching an 11-yard touchdown pass from Zappe in the third quarter, then making a four-yard catch late in the fourth quarter to give Chad Ryland a closer kick from 56 yards, as opposed to 60.
Brown caught two passes for 25 yards and was once again used quite a bit as a blocker.
Offensive line: D
The left side was a problem with the Patriots rotating left tackles and left guards.
Tackle Vederian Lowe and guard James Ferentz, who was signed to the roster ahead of the game, struggled right out of the gate. Ferentz was run over by D.J. Jones on the strip sack/fumble of Zappe on the first play from scrimmage. Lowe was also flagged for a holding penalty.
Trent Brown and Atonio Mafi alternated with Lowe and Ferentz. That didn’t solve the problem. Mafi had two holding penalties.
On the right side, Michael Onwenu allowed a sack. Zappe was also pressured quite a bit, having to move up in the pocket to avoid sacks.
Beyond that, the group didn’t get much push up front. The running backs didn’t have much space to roam. The Pats gained just 59 yards on 21 rushing attempts.
Defensive line: A-plus
There are dominant performances. And then there’s what Christian Barmore did against the Broncos.
The third-year defensive tackle was an absolute game-wrecker with three sacks – all coming in the third quarter – seven tackles (two for a loss) and at least a half-dozen quarterback pressures.
Barmore was an unblockable force, who almost single-handedly took down the Broncos. Russell Wilson will be having Barmore nightmares the rest of the week.
Davon Godchaux, meanwhile, had two tackles for loss. Jeremiah Pharms recovered a fumble and Keion White batted down a pass.
Collectively, the guys up front also helped keep another team under 100 yards rushing. That’s five straight games. A terrific effort all around.
Linebacker: B
This group consistently plays well week to week. Ja’Whaun Bentley led the team with eight tackles as the linebackers also played a part in keeping the Broncos ground game in check.
Jahlani Tavai, who continues to be everywhere, with four tackles and a forced a fumble. Mack Wilson also forced a Russell Wilson fumble, shooting in off the edge, but that was recovered by the Broncos.
Wilson continues to stand out in his hybrid linebacker-edge role. Josh Uche had a sack and a couple of pressures.
Secondary: B-minus
This group was missing it’s tone-setter, as safety Jabrill Peppers missed the game with a hamstring injury. It was also without cornerback J.C. Jackson, whose season is over after being played on the non-football illness list.
Jalen Mills played in place of Peppers, and played well.
Safety Kyle Dugger also made his presence felt with some big hits, and a tackle for loss.
As for the corners, a rag-tag group with Jonathan Jones, Myles Bryant, Shawn Wade and Alex Austin pretty much held their own. Wade missed a tackle leading to a touchdown. He also had a near-pick he couldn’t quite come up with.
Specialists: A
They certainly didn’t deserve an ‘A’ with Chad Ryland’s two missed kicks, a 52-yard punt return, a muffed punt and a penalty giving the Broncos better field position in the fourth quarter.
Their grade should have been much worse.
But let’s call it a Christmas gift in honor of Ryland shaking off another bad day at the office, and delivering in heroic fashion to win the game. He absolutely drilled the game winner, right down the middle from 56 yards out. With the altitude, it would have been good from even further out.
With his job likely weighing in the balance, Ryland came through and sent the Patriots home winners.
“Often times you find the greatest treasure in the darkest caves,” Ryland said following the win.
The special teams unit also produced a touchdown. Marte Mapu forced a fumble deep in Broncos territory, with Cody Davis scooping it up for a score.
Coaching: A-minus
Given all the injuries, the record, the occasion, it wasn’t out of the realm for the Patriots to just cash it in playing the Broncos in Denver on Christmas Eve.
It’s a credit to Bill Belichick and his coaching staff, that the players kept fighting, and wanted to win more than the team that was fighting for a playoff spot.
Belichick also outcoached Sean Payton in this one.
There was some conservative play-calling in the fourth quarter. There were miscues from the special teams unit. Even the defense muffed up, with Belichick burning a timeout in the third quarter when there was 12-men on the field.
By and large, Belichick was still the winner on this night.
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