Ups and Downs: Patriots looked like a competent football team in Pittsburgh -- at least for one half

BOSTON -- For the first time in months, the Patriots got to celebrate in the locker room. New England nearly let an 18-point lead slip away in Pittsburgh, but held on to beat the Steelers 21-18 to snap a five-game losing streak on Thursday night.

After looking line a competent football team for the first time in weeks during the first half, the Patriots looked like a two-win team throughout the final 30 minutes. But in the end, Bailey Zappe won the battle of the backups against Mitch Trubisky, and the Patriots can feel a little bit better about themselves for a few days.

They actually scored touchdowns on Thursday, which is a massive step in the right direction. They didn't lose to a bad quarterback. And for the first time since late October, we have an "Ups and Downs" post for you where the "Ups" aren't just participation trophies.

Ups

Zappe threw some DARTS

Zappe was feeling it in the first half. He threw for 196 yards and three touchdowns before halftime, and some of them were absolute beauties. He had a great 37-yard connection with JuJu Smith-Schuster on the opening drive, and his 24-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Henry in the second quarter was simply lovely:

After going 14-for-21 in the first half, Zappe was just 5-for-8 for 44 yards in the second half. His lone interception came off a batted ball, but another was nearly picked on the sideline when he threw behind Tyquan Thornton. So there were some throws he would have liked to have had back, and could have been costly.

But he spread the love, hitting six different receivers, and Zappe did enough to get a W. The offense looked better than it has all season in the first half. 

Opening Drive Touchdown

Al Michaels called it "a stunning beginning" when the Patriots scored an opening-drive touchdown for the first time all season.

It was a beautiful drive too, covering 75 yards over eight plays. The big play was the 37-yard hookup between Zappe and JuJu, which Smith-Schuster beat out a defender to pluck out of the air. That one catch opened things up for the rest of the first half.

The drive ended with Ezekiel Elliott diving for the end zone after taking a short pass from the Zappe. The QB also picked up a key first down on a third-and-9 with an 11-yard run. 

JuJu comes up big

In his return to Pittsburgh, Smith-Schuster looked like the guy the Pats have wanted all season. His 37-yard snag on the opening drive set an early tone for the Patriots, who had focused mainly on the ground attack over the last month. It was the first completion of 30 or more air yards by the Patriots this season.

Smith-Schuster finished with four catches for 90 yards, and had some nice chunk plays to move the chains for New England.

Peppers keeps making plays

The veteran safety was very vocal after last week's loss that the defense had to do even more. He came through with his second interception of the season early in the second quarter, which set up New England's second touchdown of the game.

It was a great play by Peppers, who baited Trubisky into making the throw, but pressure from Kyle Dugger and Myles Bryant forced the QB's hand. Overall it was a great play by the New England defense.

The Pats are now 2-0 in games that Peppers picks off a pass. He also had three tackles and deflected another pass on Thursday night.

Complementary football

The Patriots turned Peppers' interception into seven points when Zappe hit Hunter Henry in the back of the end zone for an 8-yard touchdown. The score gave the Patriots 14 points over the first 16 minutes of the game, more than they had scored in total over their previous three games.

It also gave the Patriots their first double-digit lead since Oct. 22.  

Zeke's big tackle

Elliott had a tough night on the ground, racking up just 68 yards on 22 carries. But he had seven catches for 72 yards, and made a huge tackle on Zappe's interception to save a touchdown. With Rhamondre Stevenson out, Elliott played nearly every snap and stepped up in a big way in a number of areas.

Downs

Offense non-existent in second half

After building that 21-3 lead, the Patriots offense did next to nothing the rest of the way. Their longest drive of the second half was five plays, and they got just 20 yards out of it. Three of New England's last four possessions were three-and-outs.

They escaped with a win, but boy did it get hairy in the second half when the offense stopped moving the ball.

The blocked punt

This just can't happen.

That came after one of those second-half three-and-outs, and right after the New England defense came up with a big stop following Zappe's interception.

Pittsburgh scored a few plays later to make it 21-18. Ty Montgomery was replaced by Kyle Dugger on the right side of the New England punt team after giving up that block.   

More bad penalties

JC Jackson had a PI that negated his own interception and another one in the end zone in the second half. Henry was flagged for an obvious push-off that negated his reception turned a third-and-7 into a third-and-17. 

Brenden Schooler also lost his cool on a kickoff return and gave a Steeler a shove, costing the offense 11 yards. After Schooler's unnecessary roughness penalty, the drive start at the New England 11 instead of the 22-yard line.

Jahlani Tavai nearly had a potentially game-changing offsides on a Pittsburgh punt, but the Patriots were very fortunate to have Steelers long-snapper Christian Kuntz get flagged for a controversial false start for bobbing his head like every snapper does in the league. That came on a fourth-and-3 and would have extended the Pittsburgh drive, but the Patriots got lucky. Really, really lucky.

Jackson had another tough night

In addition to the two pass interference flags, Jackson was also targeted by Trubisky on Pittsburgh's first touchdown pass.

Pick watchers take a hit?

If you're on the tank bandwagon, you probably wanted to see the Patriots blow it in the end. 

The quest for the top overall pick took a bit of a hit, but the Patriots will remain in the No. 2 spot this week with the Arizona Cardinals on their bye week. The Patriots also own the edge in strength of schedule over the Cardinals, so they still have the inside track for the second overall pick with four weeks to play.

And while Thursday night was a much-needed win, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs are up next for the Patriots. So 3-11 is very likely in New England's future.