Don’t Get Your Hopes Up Patriots Fans. This Isn’t 2001

Many New England Patriots took to social media Sunday night with emotions of joy. Did the Patriots win? Nope. The Patriots battled with the Green Bay Packers to the end of overtime, submitting to a 27–24 loss in the end. The one thing keeping Patriots fans going was the performance of the team, while playing their 3rd string rookie quarterback Bailey Zappe. To be fair this was an impressive performance from the Patriots, but the fans sudden turn to “Bailey Zappe is Tom Brady” is something of delusion and pain. In respect to the fans, the similarities are there. Zappe was placed into the game after starting QB Mac Jones failed to start, and even one upped Brady by replacing the starter of the game Brian Hoyer. Both QB’s lost after coming into the game. Brady lost to the Jets 10–3 and Zappe lost to the Packers 27–24. Zappe even had a better game than Brady, posting a 66.7% completion percentage, 99 yards, and 1 TD. In Brady’s debut, he recorded a 50% completion percentage, 46 yards, and 0 TD. That being said, Zappe’s inflated stats for the modern era and ineffectiveness to diversify his game, clearly show he won’t be anywhere close to what Brady did. Zappe is set to square off with the Detroit Lions this Sunday and its safe to say I have my doubts about the QB.

Now, I think it’s safe to say Patriots fans aren’t very serious when they point out the similarities between Zappe’s performance and Brady’s in 2001. Despite this, as a Patriots fan I know people in this fan base will start things as a joke and then steadily start to believe them. If you want an example just look back to the hype around 4th round pick Jarrett Stidham and his picture in a kings throne or how Jimmy Garoppolo was going to be the next Tom Brady after he beat the Cardinals in his debut. Patriots fans are constantly looking for the next successor to Tom Brady, and the magic of Brady’s rise has left a delusional view that it can and WILL happen again. Sadly for Patriots fans, players and stories like Tom Brady only come around once in a lifetime. It’s a safe bet that Bailey Zappe is nothing more than another young and unexperienced backup quarterback.

I think we can all agree in saying these people are delusional if they aren’t just making a huge joke of this. If you have previously read my Patriots preseason reaction articles, you know how I felt about what Bailey Zappe showed early in the season. Bailey Zappe had an average preseason, but showed numerous flaws common to a 4th round quarterback. Zappe lacked true accuracy and the ability to push the ball downfield. Zappe looked uncomfortable in the pocket and couldn’t lead the offense down the field at an effective rate. These same traits were seen in the game against Green Bay. In the first half Zappe looked like a scared puppy and to the credit of Bill Belichick, he didn’t allow Zappe to put himself in a vulnerable position. Belichick giving Zappe limited throws might’ve been detrimental to the overall result of the game, but if he let Zappe sling it, trust me it wouldn’t haven’t been a one score game.

Zappe’s first preseason performance of the year came with a somewhat good stat line. Zappe completed 19 of 32 for 205 yards and 1 INT. That being said he over threw, under threw, and constantly made the rookie decision against the New York Giants number 2’s. I said after this game that Zappe needs polish and he still clearly does. In Zappe’s second preseason performance he completed 16 of 25 for 173, and 1 INT. This performance was followed by 10 of 14 for 84 yards and another INT against the Raiders. Zappe proved to be inefficient and irresponsible with the ball and when you can’t perform against 2’s, you’re clearly not ready to be let loose against 1's.

If Belichick had let Zappe loose we would have seen his preseason numbers times negative two in Lambeau. Zappe still isn’t prepared to be an NFL starter and he needs to be heavily controlled to even think the Patriots have a shot of beating the Lions this week. Zappe has shown upside but nothing comes fully developed. Zappe will not be Tom Brady, and he won’t even be Mac Jones. Bailey Zappe was drafted to be a backup in a couple years. The situation the Patriots find themselves in is an unfortunate situation no one in the front office had anticipated. With that being said, don’t embarrass yourself Patriots fans, and be thankful you have Mac Jones. There isn’t another Tom Brady, and there never will be.