Patriots turn rough start into memorable finish in 26-23 victory over Broncos

Updated Dec. 25, 2023 1:49 a.m. ET

Associated Press

DENVER (AP) — The game couldn't have started any worse for the New England Patriots — or finished any better.

A rare highlight in what's been a tumultuous season in New England was a gutsy 26-23 victory in Denver on a cold Sunday night that all but eliminated the Broncos from the postseason picture.

Quarterback Bailey Zappe lost a fumble on the opening snap and the Patriots surrendered a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter but it all worked out in the end when Chad Ryland drilled a career-long 56-yard field goal with two seconds remaining.

It was a blow not only to the Broncos' playoff chances — which the NFL now calculates at a mere 6% — but also to the Patriots (4-11) and their chances at a higher draft pick. Not that it was on their minds as they celebrated the upset.

“I’m on cloud nine, if that's even a thing,” said Zappe, who engineered the seven-play, 43-yard drive to get the Patriots in position for Ryland's winning kick and which was aided by two timeouts from Sean Payton that backfired on the Broncos' coach.

“We know the playoffs aren’t in the future so right now, we are playing for one another," Zappe added. “We understood that, ‘Hey, we have Christmas coming around — wouldn’t be nice to enjoy Christmas with a win?’ So that was our motivation.”

There's no telling what may be in store for the Patriots in the offseason. There's been speculation on the future of longtime coach Bill Belichick.

It was Belichick who decided to take Ryland with a fourth-round pick in the 2023 NFL draft. Ryland entered the game an NFL-worst 13 of 20 on field goal attempts. He made a 33-yard kick but missed a 47-yarder wide right just before halftime. He also missed an extra point. But he was true from 56 yards out as the Patriots won for the second time this month.

“I thought our whole team showed a lot of mental toughness — all week, all year, tonight,” Belichick said.

For the Patriots, the game was almost a microcosm of the season. One that's been full of missteps.

Like Zappe trying to pull the ball back and losing the handle and the Broncos (7-8) recovering it at the 6. But the New England defense stepped up and stopped the Broncos on fourth down. The Patriots came up big all night, forcing two fumbles — one on special teams that resulted in a 1-yard touchdown return by Cody Davis — and seven punts.

They actually had the crowd booing the Broncos and the sputtering offense. But then Russell Wilson rallied the Broncos from a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter to tie the game. They had a chance to drive into field-goal range, only to have the Patriots get the ball back to the offense, where Zappe went to work. His biggest play was a 27-yard completion to DeVante Parker with star cornerback Pat Surtain II in coverage, on third down as they marched into field-goal range.

“Got off to a rough start, but those guys really battled back, hung in there,” Belichick said. “Everybody’s really, really resilient.”

Zappe refused to play the “what-if” game on the season. As in, what if he had been named the starter earlier.

“I’m going to control what I can control,” said Zappe, who threw for 256 yards and two touchdowns. “That’s how I approach every day. How I take control of the ball and how I get the ball to the playmakers and how I prepare throughout the week. We have two days where we can celebrate this win and then we have to get right back at it."

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