Patriots' Bailey Zappe Praised by NFL Fans After GW Drive vs. Russell Wilson, Broncos

The New England Patriots defeated the Denver Broncos on Sunday night as Bailey Zappe performed exceptionally well in the second half, winning by the final score of 26-23.

In his fourth start of the year, Zappe completed 76 percent of his passes for 256 yards and two touchdowns. Despite New England averaging just 2.8 yards per rush as a team, the former fourth-round pick helped keep the offense afloat with a tremendous game against Denver's secondary. Zappe recorded the second appearance of his career with multiple touchdown passes without throwing an interception.

The Patriots offense was especially dominant in the third quarter. New England scored 20 points in the quarter to open up a 23-7 lead after previously scoring 26 total points in the third throughout the entire season, per the broadcast.

Although the Broncos stormed back to tie the game at 23, Zappe led the Patriots down the field with roughly a minute remaining to set up kicker Chad Ryland for the game-winning field goal.

NFL fans were pleasantly surprised by Zappe's multiple clutch throws on New England's final drive as well as his performance as a whole.

He outplayed Russell Wilson, who threw for 238 yards and two touchdowns of his own. Wilson was sacked five times, with three credited to defensive tackle Christian Barmore. Barmore recorded all of his sacks in the third quarter, helping the Patriots build up their large second-half lead.

While New England has already been eliminated from playoff contention, it's still impressive to defeat an opponent in the AFC postseason picture.