The New England Patriots found their way back into the win column on Thursday, upsetting the Pittsburgh Steelers 21-18 in Week 14 to improve to 3-10 on the season.

Now that we've had a few days to digest and remember what a win looks like in New England, here are the four biggest Patriots heroes from Week 14's win.

Ezekiel Elliott

Ezekiel Elliott with Bill Belichick standing next to him with quote bubble "What a pro"

The veteran Pro Bowler still has it in him to be a workhorse running back, huh?

Elliott played all but five snaps in Thursday's game, which is truly a remarkable number for a pair of reasons. Obviously, one of them is that Elliott has been splitting halfback duties over the last few years, sharing carries with Tony Pollard during the end of his Dallas Cowboys tenure and now playing second fiddle to Rhamondre Stevenson.

But the more mind-blowing thing is that Elliott played 91.2 percent of the Patriots' offensive snaps on Thursday, which is the second-most for a running back in Bill Belichick's 24 seasons with the team.

Furthermore, Elliott was effective. He posted 140 total yards of offense and helped open up the scoring, proving to be everything the Patriots needed out of the backfield with Stevenson out. Sure, Elliott didn't have the most efficient night running the ball, picking 68 yards on 3.1 yards per carry. But the Patriots' run blocking wasn't too stellar as he had to force a few missed tackles in order to get the ball moving for New England.

Hunter Henry

What a way to celebrate your birthday.

The Patriots tight end recorded three receptions for 40 yards. But more importantly, he had two touchdown grabs, and both were impressive.

Henry's first touchdown grab came on a floater in the back of the end zone, leaping up over a Steelers defender to haul in the reception and give the Patriots an early 14-3 lead. Not long after, Henry made his second touchdown grab by beating the zone coverage Pittsburgh put in front of him, shedding off a corner before diving past a safety to bring in Bailey Zappe's deep ball for six.

Henry's had some weird ups and downs during his time in New England, proving to be a good signing in 2021 but kind of disappeared last season. This year we've seen both sides of that happen, so it was good to see that Henry could be a true red zone threat again on Thursday.

Jonathan Jones

The Patriots' veteran corner arguably played his best game of the season in Thursday night's win.

Jones held his opposing receivers in check all night, allowing five receptions on six targets for just 24 yards, via Pro Football Focus. He was on George Pickens for much of the night, and played a role in the young standout receiver's notable outbursts on the sideline (although Mitch Trubisky certainly helped).

The one incompletion Jones helped force came on the biggest defensive play of the game as well. With the Steelers going for it on fourth-and-2 late, Jones blanketed Diontae Johnson, forcing Trbuisky's ball to the receiver to hit the turf and fall incomplete.

Bailey Zappe

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How could he not have been a hero?

The Patriots' second-year quarterback offered up something that they hadn't seen in a game in two months: competency and confidence. Zappe looked cool, calm and collected in the pocket for much of the night, completing 19 of 28 passes for 240 yards and three touchdowns.

Some of Zappe's passes just looked aesthetically nice as well, such as his 37-yard pass deep down the field to JuJu Smith-Schuster to open up the game. His second touchdown pass to Henry was also really well thrown, dropping a ball to the tight end in a spot where the safety couldn't get as they successfully beat zone coverage.

Zappe did hit some turbulence in the second half, throwing a bad interception as he targeted Smith-Schuster and nearly threw a woeful pick along the sideline in a non-existent window. But for someone who's had a rocky year as a backup, it's certainly hard to complain about Zappe's performance considering the play they've gotten at quarterback for much of the year.

It's hard to proclaim Zappe as a quarterback of the future or anything like that following Thursday's game. However, he's certainly earned the right to be the Patriots' starting quarterback for the remainder of the year. Maybe he can play himself onto the roster for next season in that time?