Zappe shoulders blame for Patriots' loss to Chiefs after costly interception

FOXBORO -- Bailey Zappe had another solid first half for the Patriots on Sunday. But he once again struggled out of halftime, and a very costly interception on his first throw of the second half had the quarterback shouldering the blame for New England's 11th loss of the season.

Zappe's strong play in the first half had the Patriots trailing the Chiefs just 14-10 at the break. He was in a nice groove, completing 17 of his 19 passes before the half for 141 yards and a touchdown. 

But just like Week 14 in Pittsburgh, Zappe failed to build off those first two quarters. He tried to do too much on his first pass of the second half, and forced a toss to a heavily covered Pharaoh Brown. Kansas City linebacker Willie Gay -- one of the three Chiefs blanketing Brown downfield -- came up with the errant Zappe pass for an easy interception, which led to some easy points for the Chiefs.

Gay returned Zappe's gift to the New England 7-yard line, and the Chiefs took a 24-10 lead a few plays later when Patrick Mahomes connected with Clyde Edwards-Helaire for a six-yard score. The Patriots never recovered, as the offense mustered just 57 yards in the second half. 

"Simply not good enough," Zappe said after the 27-17 loss. 

Zappe finished his afternoon 23-for-31 for 180 yards, a touchdown, and that costly interception. He looked good when he had a clean pocket and even made some plays when that pocket collapsed. He tried to do just that on his interception, making a defender miss to buy some extra time for his receivers downfield. 

But no one was able to get open, and Zappe said he should have slid to gain some yards or just simply thrown the ball away. He pinned the loss on that one ill-advised throw.

"It was terrible on my part. If you take away that, if you take away seven points, it's a whole different game," he said. "They got the ball on [the New England 7-yard line] and two plays later they score. You take away that play and it's a different game.

"I was able to make a guy miss, I just need to be able to throw that out of bounds," he admitted. "It was first down; throw the ball out of bounds and get to second-and-10. Who knows what happens on that drive. We were able to move the ball all day up to that point.

"I just have to be smarter. I've got to be better," Zappe added. "That's on me."

The Patriots barely moved the ball after that turnover, and Zappe was just 6-for-12 for 39 yards in the second half. The team scored its only touchdown after the defense came up with an interception of Mahomes and gave them the ball at the Kansas City 29. Kevin Harris' rushing score made it a 27-17 game.

But the Patriots' next possession started at their own 1-yard line, and they gained just six yards before turning it over on downs with just over two minutes to play. The Pats went three-and-out three times in the second half, and another drive ended with a punt after just five plays.

Zappe is now at four touchdowns and four interceptions on the season. He vowed to be better and play smarter in Week 16, when the Patriots visit the Denver Broncos for a primetime matchup on Christmas Eve.

"You learn from those things and get better. That's what it's all about," he said. "We have another week to get better and I'm excited to go against the Broncos and get after it."