There are sudden indicators of positivity for the Patriots at quarterback.
The Patriots nonetheless may not have their quarterback of the long run on their present roster, however Bailey Zappe actually didn’t look misplaced beneath middle in Sunday’s 26-23 win over the Broncos.
Zappe’s 88.9 PFF grade was the very best mark for a Patriots quarterback since Mac Jones obtained an 89.9 grade two years in the past in Week 17 of the 2021 season. Zappe was 25-of-33 for 256 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He was strip-sacked on the primary Patriots offensive play of the sport however that was his solely turnover-worthy play. Additionally, he had three big-time throws and his adjusted completion share was 87.1%.
Overall, head coach Bill Belichick was impressed with Zappe’s play and showered him with reward Tuesday morning on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show.”
“The quarterback position, the most important thing is ball security and protecting the team and not turning the ball over. That’s definitely gotten better for him,” Belichick stated. “He’s made some key plays on third down and made a couple explosive plays on balls down the field to different receivers — to (DeVante) Parker, to Pharaoh (Brown) on the seam route, to (Jalen) Reagor. And then he had a couple plays like the throws to Zeke (Elliott), the one we missed out in the flat, and the other one that he got out there to him on time where he was able to break a few tackles and score a touchdown, a big third down extended play scramble that he hit Mike (Gesicki) on for a touchdown.”
It was simply Zappe’s finest efficiency of the yr, relationship again to the preseason. He was 5-of-5 for 137 yards with a landing on deep passes with a 99.9 PFF grade.
Zappe is 2-2 as a starter this season with highway wins over the Steelers and Broncos and losses at residence to the Chargers and Chiefs. Mac Jones was 2-9 as a starter and was benched in 4 video games earlier than Zappe took over the position in Week 13.
“Continue to improve and again I thought he did a good job in Pittsburgh and Denver handling the crowd noise and the operation at the line of scrimmage pretty cleanly,” Belichick stated. “We didn’t have very many mental problems there. I mean, there were a couple times when we got beat and that kind of thing. But as far as getting the plays called right, run right, blocked right, he did a good job on that. Denver had several different looks that we had to deal with. They had a couple different nickel looks and then their base defense and a couple of different dime looks. A team that we saw multiple different defensive looks out of, more than what most teams run. That was challenging, but I thought he did a good job of that. Moving in the right direction.”
Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien stated throughout a video convention name on Tuesday that he’s seen Zappe getting extra snug with the appears he’s seeing as he’s grown in expertise. He additionally known as Zappe “very poised” with stress bearing down.
“He was able to — I always call it — negotiate the pocket, manipulate the pocket,” O’Brien stated. “It’s not always perfect. He does a good job of that. I think (assistant QB coach) Evan Rothstein works a lot on that with him before stretch every single day. I think that really showed up in the game. Bailey did a really good job of keeping his eyes downfield.”
Zappe had an 80.4 PFF grade beneath stress on Sunday night time. That was the very best mark for a QB in Week 16.
Source: www.bostonherald.com