Patriots
“We needed him to step up and carry the mail today and he did.”
The Patriots ended a five-game losing streak with a 21-18 win over the Steelers on Thursday night, and Bill Belichick praised his team’s effort despite being well out of playoff contention.
“Really good week of preparation,” Belichick told reporters following the win. “Thought the guys played with a lot of effort, energy, toughness, resiliency.”
Following what he called a “disappointing” 6-0 loss to the Chargers on Sunday, New England faced a quick turnaround to prepare for Pittsburgh.
“Short week, not much sleep this week, but they put a lot into and it’s very satisfying to see the results that we had today,” Belichick summarized.
The Patriots’ offense experienced a mini-resurgence, coming alive in the first half. Bailey Zappe, making his second start, threw three touchdown passes in the opening 30 minutes (the first Patriots quarterback to achieve such a feat since Tom Brady in 2018).
“We had our moments. We hit some plays,” Belichick said of the offense. “That third down conversion was a big play by JuJu [Smith-Schuster]. Hunter [Henry] had two big red area catches. I thought we ran the ball competitively against obviously a very good defense.”
Regarding the running game, Belichick specifically singled out Ezekiel Elliott, who started in place of injured running back Rhamondre Stevenson. On top of scoring a touchdown, Elliott also played a role in preventing a Steelers defensive touchdown after Zappe threw a second-half interception. The veteran running back sprinted back to make the tackle.
“I thought Zeke ran hard, and [he] made a big play on the interception, kept them out of the end zone, and then we ended up getting a defensive stop on that,” Belichick noted. “That was a huge play.
“We needed him to step up and carry the mail today and he did,” Belichick added on Elliott, who signed with New England prior to the start of the season as a free agent.
The Patriots next play the Chiefs on Dec. 17 at Gillette Stadium. Now 3-10, New England nonetheless remains focused on the day-to-day according to Belichick.
“They’ve come in and worked hard every day,” he said. “We’ve tried to improve and correct things that will help us, and some of those things paid off tonight and hopefully they will going forward.”
Sign up for Patriots updates????
Get breaking news and analysis delivered to your inbox during football season.