The New England Patriots shut down the highest scoring team in the NFL on Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium in the first career start for fourth round draft pick Bailey Zappe. Zappe played efficiently backed by his defense as New England rolled over the Detroit Lions 29-0 for their second win of 2022.
A pair of Nick Folk field goals in the first quarter had New England up 6-0. The defense got the job done in the second, as Matt Judon sacked Jarred Goff and forced a fumble that was returned 59 yards by Kyle Dugger for a touchdown. Another field goal by Folk made it 16-0 Patriots at the half. Zappe threw his second career touchdown pass and first at home to Jakobi Meyers of 24 yards in the third quarter. Detroit, who was averaging 35 points per game coming in that included 45 last week against Seattle, couldn’t muster much going 4-12 on third down and 0-6 on fourth down conversions in the loss in dropping to 1-4 on the season. The 0-6 on fourth down is an NFL record for one game. New England, who wore the throwback Pat the Patriot uniforms, were able to score the win on the 400th game coached by Bill Belichik in the organization.
Zappe finished 17-21 passing for 188 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Rhamondre Stevenson had a big game out of the backfield rushing for 161 yards on 25 attempts. Meyers had seven receptions for 111 yards and one touchdown. Jahlani Tavai had six total tackles, and Judon had two sacks and the one forced fumble on Goff. Jack Jones had an interception for a second straight week. Goff was 19-35 for 229 yards and one interception. Jamaal Williams rushed for 56 yards, and Josh Reynolds had 92 yards receiving in the loss. It was the first home shutout for New England since Week 3 of the 2016 season. The Patriots (2-3) head to Cleveland to play the Browns next Sunday at 1 p.m.
