How Bailey Zappe Impressed Bill Belichick In Three Ways Vs. Denver

Bill Belichick saw continued progression from his second-year quarterback in the Patriots’ Christmas Eve upset of the Denver Broncos.

The 26-23 win was the best outing of the season for Bailey Zappe, who went 25-for-33 for 256 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions in his fourth start of 2023.

Speaking Tuesday on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show,” Belichick said Zappe is “continuing to improve” and “moving in the right direction” in what essentially is a job audition for 2024.

New England’s head coach spotlighted three positives he saw from Zappe in the primetime road victory:

1. Though he lost a fumble on the game’s first snap, Zappe did not throw an interception after tossing one in four of his previous five appearances. None of his 33 pass attempts were deemed “turnover-worthy” by Pro Football Focus.

“The quarterback position, the most important thing is ball security and protecting the team and not turning the ball over,” Belichick said. “That’s definitely gotten better for him.”

This was the single biggest Week 16 improvement for Zappe, whose awful third-quarter INT against Kansas City all but doomed the Patriots in their Week 15 loss to the Chiefs.

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2. Zappe had success attacking downfield (5-for-5, 137 yards, one touchdown on passes that traveled 20-plus yards in the air, per PFF) and delivered a few clutch completions in gotta-have-it scenarios.

New England converted just 3 of its 13 third downs in the game, but Zappe’s third-quarter touchdown pass to Mike Gesicki came on third-and-9, and his 27-yard hookup with DeVante Parker that set up Chad Ryland’s game-winning field goal came on third-and-3.

“He’s made some key plays on third down and made a couple explosive plays on balls down the field to different receivers — to Parker, to Pharaoh (Brown) on the seam route, to (Jalen) Reagor,” Belichick said.

“And then he had a couple plays like the throws to (Ezekiel Elliott). One we missed out in the flat, and then the other one he got out there to him on time where he was able to break a tackle and score a touchdown. A big third-down, extended-play scramble that he hit Mike on for a touchdown. (He’s) continuing to improve.”

This game featured three of Zappe’s four longest completions of the season: 28 yards to Reagor, 30 yards to Parker and 41 yards to rookie Demario Douglas.

3. In Belichick’s eyes, Zappe “did a good job in Pittsburgh and Denver handling the crowd noise and the operation at the line of scrimmage pretty cleanly.”

In a night game at Mile High, the Patriots did not have any delay of game penalties or offensive operation errors that forced them to burn a timeout. Belichick also praised the way Zappe was able to decipher Denver’s multifaceted defense, which blitzed him on more than 40% of his dropbacks.

“We didn’t have very many mental problems there,” the coach said. “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. This was a team that we saw multiple different defensive looks out of — more than what most teams run — and that was challenging. But I thought he did a good job of that. (He’s) moving in the right direction.”

This wasn’t a perfect performance by Zappe or the Patriots’ offense, which looked lifeless early (-4 yards, no first downs on its first three possessions) and had three straight fourth-quarter three-and-outs before mounting its game-winning drive. Denver rallied from 16 points down in the final nine minutes to tie the game late, just as Pittsburgh nearly erased New England’s 18-point lead two weeks earlier before losing 21-18.

But considering the personnel around him, the hostile environment and the fact Denver was playing to keep its postseason hopes alive, this was an impressive showing from Zappe, who’s looked more comfortable leading the Patriots’ offense than Mac Jones did before his permanent benching.

The Patriots played this game without top running back Rhamondre Stevenson, top tight end Hunter Henry, veteran receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and starting left guard Cole Strange, and had a half-strength Trent Brown rotating with Vederian Lowe at left tackle.

Zappe will have two more opportunities to build his résumé when the Patriots visit the Buffalo Bills this Sunday and host the New York Jets in Week 18.