New England Patriots 21-18 Pittsburgh Steelers: Bailey Zappe throws three touchdown passes as Patriots snap losing streak
Bailey Zappe throws three touchdown passes while JuJu Smith-Schuster posts 90 yards against his former team as the New England Patriots beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 21-18 on Thursday night; watch the Buffalo Bills against the Kansas City Chiefs live on Sky Sports this Sunday
Friday 8 December 2023 07:06, UK
Bailey Zappe threw three first-half touchdown passes as the New England Patriots snapped a five-game skid while damaging the Pittsburgh Steelers' playoff hopes with a 21-18 victory on Thursday night.
Zappe passed for 240 yards in his second start for the Patriots (3-10), who became the second two-win team in five days to hand the Steelers (7-6) a potentially season-altering loss at home.
Hunter Henry had two touchdown catches for New England while Ezekiel Elliott had 140 yards from scrimmage - 72 receiving, 68 rushing - and caught a TD for the NFL's lowest-scoring offense, which reached the end zone three times for the first time since October.
JuJu Smith-Schuster added 90 yards receiving against the team he starred for earlier in his career.
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Mitch Trubisky completed 22 of 35 for 190 yards, passing for a touchdown and running for another while filling in for injured Steelers starter Kenny Pickett.
Trubisky also threw an ill-advised pass in the first half that was picked off to set up the first of Henry's two scores, and he inexplicably threw deep to a well-covered Diontae Johnson on fourth-and-two at midfield with just under two minutes left.
Pittsburgh got the ball back with 15 seconds remaining but had no realistic chance to score.
Stats leaders:
New England Patriots
- Passing: Bailey Zappe, 19/28, 240 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT
- Rushing: Ezekiel Elliott, 22 carries, 68 yards
- Receiving: JuJu Smith-Schuster, 4 catches, 90 yards
- Ezekiel Elliott, 7 catches, 1 TD
- Hunter Henry, 3 catches, 40 yards, 2 TDs
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Passing: Mitch Trubisky, 22/35, 190 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
- Rushing: Mitch Trubisky, 8 carries, 30 yards, 1 TD
- Receiving: Diontae Johnson, 3 catches, 57 yards, 1 TD
The Steelers managed 264 yards of offense, another step back for a group that briefly seemed on the verge of getting it together after offensive coordinator Matt Canada's firing before Thanksgiving. Pittsburgh piled up 421 yards the following week at Cincinnati, but the offense regressed in Sunday's loss to Arizona.
The Patriots, five days removed from a shutout loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in which they failed to reach the red zone, let alone the end zone, looked far sharper.
Zappe guided the Patriots to their first opening-drive touchdown of the season when he hit Elliot in the flat and the running back raced in from 11 yards out.
Two plays after Jabril Peppers stepped in front of Trubisky's pass into triple coverage, Zappe found Hurst in the back of the end zone to give the Patriots their biggest lead of the season.
The advantage swelled to 21-3 two possessions later when Hurst made a diving grab at the goal line for a 24-yard score that had some in the black-clad crowd chanting for backup quarterback Mason Rudolph, who has been buried on the bench for the last two years.
The switch to Rudolph never came, and while Trubisky got the Steelers within striking distance behind a 25-yard touchdown pass to Johnson late in the second quarter and a one-yard sneak with 11:44 to play that brought Pittsburgh within three, it wasn't enough.
Scoring summary
What did they say?
Patriots center David Andrews: "No one has quit in this locker room. We're fighting, we're working. We're trying to get better. That's all you can do. That's all you can ask for. It hasn't been perfect."
Steelers quarterback Mitch Trubisky: "I have to play better. I feel like I let the guys down. It's disappointing. I didn't play good enough to win."
Mike Tomlin on Pittsburgh's questionable fourth-and-two deep shot late in the game: "We play to win. We wanted to be aggressive. We just didn't get it done."
What next?
The Patriots are next in action at home to the Kansas City Chiefs next Sunday, while the Steelers are on the road against AFC wild card-chasing Indianapolis Colts on Saturday night in Week 15.
