BSJ Game Report: Packers 27, Patriots 24 (OT) - Undermanned New England nearly pulls off upset

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Everything you need to know from the Patriots’ loss to the Packers in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:

BOX SCORE

HEADLINES

With upset within reach, Patriots stall: Despite being down to third-string rookie QB Bailey Zappe after Brian Hoyer (head) was lost on the second series, the Patriots had the ball in overtime at the Green Bay 46-yard line, facing 2nd and 5 — needing only a field goal to win the game. They probably needed about 9 yards to realistically to give Nick Folk a chance to win the game with a 54-yard field goal. But an outside zone run went nowhere on second down, Zappe threw incomplete on third down while pressured, and Bill Belichick decided to punt the ball back to Rodgers on 4th and 5. He never gave up the ball, and didn't face a third down on the drive until the final play when they just wanted to burn clock.

"You have to give Coach Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots a ton of credit," Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. "They came in shorthanded. They battled. They took us all the way to the end, plus some."

Zappe acquits himself well in emergency duty: The rookie from Western Kentucky was pressed into action when Brian Hoyer was injured and played solid: 10 of 15 for 99 yards and he led two scoring drives in the second half — and didn't turn the ball over. He had two explosive plays: a 25-yard touchdown to DeVante Parker off playaction, and a 21-yarder to Nelson Agholor. 

“Of course, it was exciting at first," Zappe said. "It was a dream come true to play in an NFL game. It’s obviously not the outcome we wanted at all. First, I give credit to my teammates. They kept me calm, they kept me…getting the nerves out of me. They kept me in my space; cool, calm and collected. And everyone played well tonight. O-line played well. We ran the ball well. It really just comes down to me. I need to make more plays and the outcome’s different.

Belichick was just effusive in his praise of Zappe after the game: "It was good. I thought he competed well.”

Thanks, Coach.

Rookie corner Jack Jones comes up big: Jalen Mills was declared inactive before the game, meaning Jones would make his first start — and you couldn't tell in the slightest. Jones stripped Romeo Doubs on the second Packers offensive play, and capped the first half with a pick-six of future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers to give the Patriots a 10-7 lead.

"I almost missed the throw so badly he overran it," Rodgers said. "That would’ve been nice. If I throw the ball where I was supposed to, he probably picks it right in stride, he can kind of catch it behind him. It’s frustrating for sure. I felt like before the game, I even said it, ‘I think the only people that can beat us are ourselves.’ I felt that last week even though Tampa is a great team. So 7-3 there, as ugly as it was, to go into halftime 7-3 is obviously better than throwing a freaking pick-six and being down 10-7. I had a little conversation with myself, might have had an assist from David Bakhtiari in the locker room and went back out there and played a little bit better.”

Isaiah Wynn benched for Marcus Cannon: Right tackle Isaiah Wynn continued a rough string of play by giving up two sacks in the first half. To start the second half, former RT starter Marcus Cannon took his place — although both played when New England used an extra tackle after TE Jonnu Smith (leg) was lost for the game.

Brian Hoyer, Jonnu Smith leave with injuries: Hoyer was sacked by Rashan Gary to end the Patriots' second drive. He eventually went to the locker room and did not return. Belichick did not reveal who the next option after Zappe would have been, although it appeared they were warming up Parker and Kendrick Bourne. 

SECOND GUESSES

There were a few. Obviously the fourth down call in Green Bay territory in overtime — we'll write more about that.

The Patriots punted three times total in Green Bay territory — after the second drive, in the second quarter, and in overtime. The play in the second quarter was just a 4th and 1. 

FOUR UP

Jack Jones: Had some missed tackles and gave up a few plays on the final drive while in off coverage, but he came up with two turnovers. That's huge.

"Jack made some good plays and there are some other things he can work on like everybody, like all of us," Belichick said. "It was a big play at the end of the half.”

Offensive line (minus Isaiah Wynn): Thought those guys had a chance to dominate in this game, and they did helping the backs to a 5.1 average and largely keeping the QBs clean.

"I think there’s a lot of things that we need to clean up, because we knew they were going to run the football and there were moments in that game where we didn’t go a very good job," LaFleur said. "That’s something we’ll take a good, hard look at moving forward.”

Bailey Zappe: Didn't light the world on fire, but there are a lot higher draft picks who play worse on a regular basis around the league. He did what he needed to do to put the team in position to win the game. Didn't look overwhelmed.

Matthew Judon: Only had one official sack but it seemed like he was a pain 

THREE DOWN

Isaiah Wynn: Will have to review the film to see what he exactly gave up, but it seemed like he allowed at least two sacks, maybe three. I had been told the coaches were getting Marcus Cannon ready as quick as possible. Wynn might be going to the bench.

Jake Bailey: He had two more bad touchbacks and a 31-yard punt that nearly cost the Patriots the game in the fourth quarter. His net of 37.6 was not good.

Myles Bryant: He plays a brutally tough position but he should not get beat/have a holding penalty on third down against an over-the-hill vet like Randall Cobb. Might be time to open the competition there, maybe give it Jack Jones when Mills is back.

TOP PLAYS

INJURIES

QB Brian Hoyer (head): Did not return.

TE Jonnu Smith (left high ankle sprain): Did not return.

S Adrian Phillips (leg): Returned.

TWO TAKES BEDARD WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

Patriots deserved better in this one: In the stadium, you could feel the Cheeseheads thinking, 'We deserve to lose this game. We're going to lose this game.' And I'm not really sure how the Packers didn't lose this game. The Patriots should have won this game. This Packers team isn't that good, the Patriots' strengths hit right at the weaknesses of the Packers. It was there for them, and for the second time in two weeks, the Patriots lost a game they could have won.

"I settled in and I usually don’t have two terrible halves, so I kind of returned to the form I expect for myself and we started moving the football," Rodgers said of his own play.

The Patriots' red zone defense is what's really killing this team: The Packers were 3 of 4 in the red zone today, but their only miss was on the final drive in OT — when they just wanted to run clock and kick a field goal. The Ravens were 5 of 5 in the red zone. So, really, the Patriots' defense is 0 for 8 the past two games in the red zone. That's 56 points. That's the difference in the games, not Aaron Rodgers as Belichick kept saying over and over again.

“In the end, Rodgers was too good," Belichick said. "He made some throws that only Rodgers can make. We had pretty good coverage on some of those and he was just too smart, too good, too accurate. In the end, he got us. We couldn’t quite do enough in the other areas to quite offset it. But I thought we really competed well. A lot of guys competed well. Obviously, we just came up a little bit short. In the end, Aaron got us on too many things. I thought we did a pretty good job on him, but there was just enough for him to take advantage of or make a couple of great throws that we couldn’t quite cover."