Bailey Zappe admits he needs to be better after halftime for Patriots
BOSTON -- For the past two weeks, Bailey Zappe has been excellent in the first half. The second half? That's been a different story.
Between the Thursday night game in Pittsburgh and Sunday's home loss to the Chiefs, Zappe was a combined 31-for-40 (77.5%) for 334 yards with four touchdowns and zero interceptions in the first halves. In the second halves of those games, though, he was just 11-for-19 (57.9%) for 86 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions. The first-half passer rating in those games was 134.8, while his second-half rating was 29.6.
On Wednesday, Zappe was asked what he's trying to prove in the final three games of this season, and he pointed directly to that performance gap from the first half to the second half.
"For me personally, I think it's important for me to put a full game together. You know, first halves been great. Second half hasn't been so good," Zappe stated. "So I think if I'm able to go out there and execute and run the offense the way it's supposed to be run for two halves, I think we'll score a lot more points. And that directly reflects on me doing my job well, and then that relates to everybody else doing good. So, I think that's for me, that's what I want to do."
Indeed, the Patriots have gone as Zappe has gone over the past two weeks. After scoring 21 points in the first half in Pittsburgh, the team was shut out in the second half. It was less dramatic on Sunday, but the Patriots did score more in the first half (10 points) than the second half (seven points).
"I think a little bit of it is just continuing to go through the system -- do what the coaches are teaching you to do and what they're coaching us to do throughout the whole week," Zappe said when asked what needs to happen for his second-half performance to match the first half. "As far as going right to left, one high, two high, things like that. Just going through your reads and taking the first up on a guy and not trying to make a play. Just not forcing anything, just playing within the system. As long as you do that, the system has been great for however many years. I've just got to follow the system."