As a Bills fan, Zappe scares me

[farn]

Someone is back sniffing hair again.

He hiked straight up out of the Grand Canyon.

Heehee.

 

[Triumph]

Hopefully Zappe scares Mac.

I like what I see so far, but Zap needs to clean up his game. Delay of game and the fumble. Intentional grounding.

Zap is not afraid to throw darts into tight windows.

 

[Simpelton]

I like what I see so far, but Zap needs to clean up his game. Delay of game and the fumble. Intentional grounding.

Zap is not afraid to throw darts into tight windows.

I care more about attitude than I care about lack of polish right now. You can teach polish. Harder to teach attitude.

 

[Wozzy]

This team has been really good outside of QB… now Zappe is really good. AFC teams should be concerned, if not scared.

 

[Pats2000]

So in a conference with Mahomes, Herbert, Burrow and Jackson... Buffalo fans are "scared" of Zappe??? I'd say in reality on a scale of 1 (least scared) to 10 (most scared), Buffalo fans would rate Zappe at 0. This isn't a knock on Zappe either. He's an overdrafted 4th round rookie quarterback who wasn't on anyone's radar as a starter in 2022. To his credit he's been fine and hasn't made any major mistakes in his unexpected playing time. However, he was heavily managed by the coaching staff in a loss and he had to do next to nothing in a blow out win. He's also benefitted from a dominant running game that has averaged 170 yards over the last two games.

Zappe's efficiency has been nice but he's averaging 143 passing yards and 1 TD per game. If he gets the chance, let's see what he looks like playing from behind or in a shootout before we start labelling him as scary. Right now, he isn't scaring anyone, if for no other reason then we haven't seen enough of him yet. Which ideally won't even be the case. Mac Jones is the franchise quarterback and nothing has happened to change that. Once Jones is 100% again he's the starter. To this point I think Zappe has shown he's probably a capable backup, which is an improvement on my initial projection, but he hasn't yet proven he's going to be a capable starter.

How do you feel after watching today's game?

 

[venecol]

If we want to get out of the cellar, we need to have our best players on the field. I'm not liking looking up at the Jete.

 

[venecol]

 

[venecol]

There are people across the NFL nervously pacing & talking about the implications of Belichick lucking out on another generational late round QB pick. They should be scared.

 

[crawhammer]

How do you feel after watching today's game?

Is Zappe the starting quarterback for the Patriots moving forward? Because seemingly Jones will be ready by next Monday night. Is that where PatsFans.com is at?... dump Jones for Zappe already? And I'm not necessarily disagreeing with this position, but that's me, I don't think much of Jones, I'm just surprised to see it coming from the collective forum.

Zappe looked legit yesterday. The offense looks much better with him in there so at this point I wouldn't rock the boat... ride it out and see where his ceiling may be... I think we have a pretty good idea that Jones' ceiling is limited.

All that said, I still don't think teams are "afraid" of Zappe or the Patriots. We've seen this before, last season in fact, they can get hot against subpar competition. I suppose Zappe could ultimately make a difference against better competition but that's not really coming until week 12 when I would suspect Zappe's already been back on the sideline for several weeks.

The original comment was "as a Bills fan, Zappe scares me." This is absurd considering Josh Allen is setting a new standard for an elite quarterback. With either Zappe or Jones, it would be beyond shocking if the Patriots overtake the Bills anytime soon in the division.

 

[ashley]

All that said, I still don't think teams are "afraid" of Zappe or the Patriots. We've seen this before, last season in fact, they can get hot against subpar competition. I suppose Zappe could ultimately make a difference against better competition but that's not really coming until week 12 when I would suspect Zappe's already been back on the sideline for several weeks.

You said last week the Patriots need to beat the teams that we "should beat" and compared us to Tampa Bay in that we needed to beat Cleveland and Tampa needed to beat Pitt. The last two weeks, we've done that. I want you to get on that bus with me as it starts rolling, rolling, rolling!!!!

I think all we can do is continue to improve. Are we there yet, absolutely not, but I like our young talent and think we're right there in the playoff talk.

 

[Triumph]

Is Zappe the starting quarterback for the Patriots moving forward? Because seemingly Jones will be ready by next Monday night. Is that where PatsFans.com is at?... dump Jones for Zappe already? And I'm not necessarily disagreeing with this position, but that's me, I don't think much of Jones, I'm just surprised to see it coming from the collective forum.

Zappe looked legit yesterday. The offense looks much better with him in there so at this point I wouldn't rock the boat... ride it out and see where his ceiling may be... I think we have a pretty good idea that Jones' ceiling is limited.

All that said, I still don't think teams are "afraid" of Zappe or the Patriots. We've seen this before, last season in fact, they can get hot against subpar competition. I suppose Zappe could ultimately make a difference against better competition but that's not really coming until week 12 when I would suspect Zappe's already been back on the sideline for several weeks.

The original comment was "as a Bills fan, Zappe scares me." This is absurd considering Josh Allen is setting a new standard for an elite quarterback. With either Zappe or Jones, it would be beyond shocking if the Patriots overtake the Bills anytime soon in the division.

It's much easier and less controversial to sit Zappe. If you sit Mac you're destroying any vote of confidence left.

Mac vs the Bears and I have a bad feeling how Mac will do. The Bears defense is pretty good. Their offense is 5hit.

 

[crawhammer]

You said last week the Patriots need to beat the teams that we "should beat" and compared us to Tampa Bay in that we needed to beat Cleveland and Tampa needed to beat Pitt. The last two weeks, we've done that. I want you to get on that bus with me as it starts rolling, rolling, rolling!!!!

I think all we can do is continue to improve. Are we there yet, absolutely not, but I like our young talent and think we're right there in the playoff talk.

I'm killing the Bucs in the Brady forum... that performance yesterday was an inexcusable embarrassment.

The key for the Patriots, not unlike most teams, is the quarterback. Who are you rolling with? I'm sticking with Zappe because at this point I think he'll give us a better chance against the better competition. And I agree, there's no reason to think the Patriots shouldn't be considered a playoff contender... perhaps where we separate is I think the division is not in play... Allen and Buffalo are just too good.

 

[crawhammer]

It's much easier and less controversial to sit Zappe. If you sit Mac you're destroying any vote of confidence left.

Mac vs the Bears and I have a bad feeling how Mac will do. The Bears defense is pretty good. Their offense is 5hit.

Fields sucks. Their offense is all round putrid. Their defense can't stop the run at all so Stevenson will destroy them. Patriots are winning this game 40-3 with Gilbert at quarterback..

I'm not worried about Mac's confidence. He wasn't playing well before his injury and his replacement is playing at a high level and the team's winning. Sorry, I want to the guy who gives me the best chance of beating the better competition... right now that's Zappe.

 

[ashley]

I'm killing the Bucs in the Brady forum... that performance yesterday was an inexcusable embarrassment.

The key for the Patriots, not unlike most teams, is the quarterback. Who are you rolling with? I'm sticking with Zappe because at this point I think he'll give us a better chance against the better competition. And I agree, there's no reason to think the Patriots shouldn't be considered a playoff contender... perhaps where we separate is I think the division is not in play... Allen and Buffalo are just too good.

I'd still like to see Zappe against a better defense. The offense looks much better the last two weeks, no denying it, but is it the competition, is it the new playbook, would Mac look just as good if not better with this simplified play calling?

It seems like Buffalo is on a different level than anyone in the league at this point. Allen looks insane. You never know how they'll look when we play them and what the weather conditions will be like or injuries, but yeah, I agree with your point, they are very impressive and are going to be a handful to deal with, especially in Buffalo.

 

[VJCPatriot]

Is Zappe the starting quarterback for the Patriots moving forward? Because seemingly Jones will be ready by next Monday night. Is that where PatsFans.com is at?... dump Jones for Zappe already? And I'm not necessarily disagreeing with this position, but that's me, I don't think much of Jones, I'm just surprised to see it coming from the collective forum.

Zappe looked legit yesterday. The offense looks much better with him in there so at this point I wouldn't rock the boat... ride it out and see where his ceiling may be... I think we have a pretty good idea that Jones' ceiling is limited.

All that said, I still don't think teams are "afraid" of Zappe or the Patriots. We've seen this before, last season in fact, they can get hot against subpar competition. I suppose Zappe could ultimately make a difference against better competition but that's not really coming until week 12 when I would suspect Zappe's already been back on the sideline for several weeks.

The original comment was "as a Bills fan, Zappe scares me." This is absurd considering Josh Allen is setting a new standard for an elite quarterback. With either Zappe or Jones, it would be beyond shocking if the Patriots overtake the Bills anytime soon in the division.

Of course Zappe is no Josh Allen. That's a silly notion. He bears no physical resemblance to the Bills' stud QB. Zappe is 6'1 215 with a 4.88 40 while Allen is a monster at 6'5 237 and a 4.75 40.

But the way this offense has been constructed in the past, the defense doesn't need to be 'scared' of Zappe for him to perform well.

As long as he continues to do what he did against the Browns - distribute to the 'open' man instead of locking in on 1 or 2 targets, he should be able to run the offense effectively.

I feel like in his 2nd season, Mac Jones was guilty of 'locking in' 1 target too often and then forcing the ball, resulting in his 5 INTs. That shows a regression rather than a progression.

Right now the most sensible course of action is to ride out the 'hot arm' which is Zappe. See how far he can take you. If he gets blown out against good teams, that's when you put back in Mac Jones, once Mac is fully recovered. There's no reason to risk Jones' health when Zappe has shown himself capable of winning games for the Patriots.

Bring on the QB controversy! That means we can get a good draft pick for one of these guys, whether it's Jones or Zappe, during the offseason.

 

[crawhammer]

Bring on the QB controversy! That means we can get a good draft pick for one of these guys, whether it's Jones or Zappe, during the offseason.

There's a lot of season left so we'll see what happens but right now there's no reason to consider trading Zappe. Worst care scenario he's good insurance at your most important position in case Jones fizzles out completely or sustains further injuries. Zappe is also dirt cheap and under the team's control. Again, depending on how the season unfolds, I suppose you could consider trading Jones because even though he presumably loses his starting job in New England he did show some promise in his rookie season so you could capitalize on that while it still has relevance.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

There are people across the NFL nervously pacing & talking about the implications of Belichick lucking out on another generational late round QB pick. They should be scared.

But was drafting Brady or Zappe 'luck'?

Or the result of years of hard work, detail-oriented attention and initiative?

 

[40yrpatsfan]

I would sit Mac 1 more week, which will give him 5 full weeks from the injury. We're beating Chicago even if Zappe comes down to earth.

Let Mac get ready to face the Jets in New York, that's going to be a wild place and I'm not sure Bailey is ready for that yet.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

I would sit Mac 1 more week, which will give him 5 full weeks from the injury. We're beating Chicago even if Zappe comes down to earth.

Let Mac get ready to face the Jets in New York, that's going to be a wild place and I'm not sure Bailey is ready for that yet.

Come on, man.

Zappe was fine in Green Bay.

He'll be fine in NY & Buffalo.

KC is tough for anyone; if we have to play there I'm not worried.

Everyone, indeed, comes down to Earth at some point.


I'll be okay with him doing it a year from now.


We still need Jones - no matter what happens.


When exactly he gets back on the field, I don't know.


But, based on past experience, I trust Belichick.

 

[venecol]

But was drafting Brady or Zappe 'luck'?

Or the result of years of hard work, detail-oriented attention and initiative?

I'm just repeating what everyone across the NFL are nervously saying. They're scared as they should be.