For the second week in a row, the Patriots overwhelmed a below-average team in a game that was over by the middle of the third quarter. For the second week in a row, the Patriots faced an opponent with the same record as them, this time on the road as 3-point underdogs, and made them look silly. For the second week in a row, the Patriots defense had its way against an opponent with premiere offensive playmakers that had been putting up points and yards every week. And, for the second week in a row, the Bailey Zappe-lead Patriots offense was efficient, this time looking quite polished while putting up 38 points.
If the Packers game was “lucky,” and the Lions game was “against a bad team,” this game was “shit, they might be pretty good.”
Given how poorly Mac Jones played in the first three games of the season, specifically his 5 interceptions, and, conversely, how well Zappe has looked in his 3 games, your New England Patriots officially have a quarterback controversy. I’m not prepared to hand Zappe the job outright, but the kid has done enough (and then some) to at least start the conversation. And, the second you start the conversation, you have a quarterback controversy.
Let’s get into it.
Offense: THAT is what the Patriots offense looks like when it’s firing on all cylinders. I hate cliches as much as the next guy but there are two that are just too fitting not to use to describe the Patriots offense Sunday. “Balanced attack” is the first and “taking what the defense gives you” is the other. The Patriots ran 65 offensive plays, but the last 3 were kneel-downs, which are technically rushing attempts that resulted in a total of -4 yards, so they really ran 62 plays that attempted to gain yards. Of the 62 plays, 34 were pass plays (54.8%), and 28 were runs. In 2022, that’s about as “even” of a run/pass split as you’re going to see. Late in the Brady years, this team often got away from a true run game and forced the passing game, so much so that you could pencil in 10+ throws every week that were ostensibly run plays. Throws behind the line of scrimmage, the short pooch pass on the jet sweep to Edelman, and designed dump-offs to James White, Shane Vereen and even Kevin Faulk were running plays disguised as pass plays. A lot of that had to do with a supreme trust in Brady, and the belief that he’d get the ball to their fast and shifty guys in space where they could make someone miss, but there was an obvious lack of a true running attack for much of the past decade. This version of the Patriots, though, hangs their hat on their run game. Refreshing.
Then there’s the talk of Boston, Bailey Zappe, who took what the defense gave him all game long. You know those plays where a receiver ends up wide open and all of New England wonders how an NFL defense can let that happen? Well, I don’t have the technical football acumen to truly articulate exactly why or how, but that’s a function of taking what the defense gives you. Hunter Henry’s TD came on one of those plays. Henry was in motion on a play-action call with only Henry and Jakobi Meyers running routes. Zappe first looked right for Meyers (who was covered) then look for Hunter Henry in the flat for a check-down. The DB who was guarding Hunter Henry fell down and left the big tight end wide open for a walk-in score. Through the first three weeks of the season, Mac was forcing balls downfield in similar situations, hoping for a 50/50 ball or a PI penalty but instead resulted in interceptions. It’s little things like that play that has people talking about whether Zappe should be the man going forward.
Zappe played great all game, even on plays where the defender didn’t fall down leaving a receiver wide open. His TD pass to Thornton in the second quarter was a thing of beauty. He felt pressure, stepped up, found Thornton on his third or fourth read, and threw a dart to his receiver in the back of the endzone. I don’t remember a similar play from Mac this year, and I can’t recall one from last year either. Zappe ended the day with 309 yards on 24/34 through the air, which are impressive numbers, but the thing that stood out to me the most was the way he spread the ball around. He had four pass catchers tally 60 yards including both tight ends, and had six pass catchers with 4 or more catchers, including both tight ends, the lead back, Rhamondre Stevenson, and fellow rookie Tyquan Thornton. Simply put, when the defense has to account for a strong running game and can’t simply double-team one guy (hello, Ja’Marr Chase), someone will be open on every play and Zappe found that guy time and time again on Sunday.
The rest of the offense played well on Sunday, too. Isiah Wynn had his weekly penalty and Myles Garrett made some noise inside, including a strip sack, but the offensive line that had struggled through the first few weeks played a solid game and kept their QB mostly upright. Stevenson and the running attack did enough to keep the Cleveland defense honest, which opened up the play-action game.
Offensive grade: A-
Defense: Much like the Lions did last week, the Browns shot themselves in the foot over and over again. An interception on their first drive, a terrible play call on 4th and 1 that resulted in no gain, another interception, a strip sack, and a muffed punt basically sank their ship. The defense deserves a lot of credit for making plays when the opportunity was presented, but short of the strip sack, none of the Cleveland turnovers were the result of great playmaking by the Patriots defense. They were just bad football plays.
The two-headed monster of Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb came into this game averaging 192 yards a week between them but were held to just 70 yesterday. The Patriots confidence in their secondary allowed them to load the box to stop the run and dare Jacoby Brissette to make plays with his arm, which, as we all know, he can’t.
Kyle Dugger, who recorded an interception on the Browns second play from scrimmage, was all over the place yesterday. The 3rd year safety has shown flashes during his first two-and-a-quarter years in Foxborough, but Sunday against Cleveland was his best performance since entering the league. He still struggles in the pass game, but is a menace in and around the line of scrimmage. He’s been thought of as the logical replacement to fill the Patrick Chung role, but if he can play like he did against the Browns moving forward, he’ll not only replace Chung, he’ll be better.
There’s not much to nit-pick here. The only TD the Browns scored was on the shoulders of two rediculose throw and catches from Jacoby Brissett to Amari Cooper. Both came on 4th down and both were well covered. Much like the Julio Jones catch in the Falcons Super Bowl, sometimes you can do everything right on defense and the offense just makes a play. Other than that TD, the defense only allowed 3 field goals and forced 4 turnovers, so they get a pass from “token negativity” today.
Defense Grade: A
Coaching: I’m starting to like what the Patriots coaching staff is doing. When Mac went down, the offensive coaching staff was forced to truly simplify things to put Bailey Zappe in position to not only protect the ball but ultimately succeed. Mix in 3 inferior opponents (Green Bay down low blows), and I think the much-malined offensive coaching staff has found its footing and is emerging as an asset instead of liability.
I wasn’t too high on the two outrageously predictable runs up the middle when the Patriots had the ball on first and goal on the Browns 1-yard-line on their first drive. Two plays later and it was 3rd and 2 from the 2 yardline. It was the same “we have the field goal in the bag, so let’s not force it and risk turning the ball over” offensive playcalling that lost them the game in Green Bay, but this was the end of the conservative playcalling. Throughout the rest of the game, they let Zappe throw it and he rewarded them with a great game.
When the games are close, there’s a lot more coaching decisions to break down, but for the second week in a row the Patriots won in a laugher so there’s not much to bitch about here.
Coaching Grade: A
The Patriots face the Bears on Monday Night Football in Week 7 looking for thier third win in a row, and to get abo ve .500 for the first time this year. Full preview coming later in the week, but I can give you a quick preview. Patriots will ROLL.