The New England Patriots' upset defeat of the Denver Broncos on Sunday Night Football has beleaguered Patriots fans wondering what may have been, particularly given another strong defensive performance. Quarterback Bailey Zappe agrees, saying postgame that he believes the team has “one of the best, if not the best” defenses in the league, according to NESN's Zack Cox.

“There were a lot of thank you's that I was telling everyone,” Zappe told reporters after the game. “That sort of nullifies what happens. You don't want to turn the ball over, but if they don't get any points, that's a win. For us as an offense to have a defense like we do is phenomenal. To be able to do the situational things as a team that we were able to do, the defense stepped up today. It's awesome to see those guys play.”

With players —and coaches, scrambling for positions of influence on the 2024 edition of the Patriots, Zappe is also trying to establish himself as a leader.

“We preach every day that we are playing for each other. We know the playoffs aren't in the future so right now, we are playing for one another,” said Zappe. “Going into this week, we understood we had Christmas around the corner and wouldn't it be nice to celebrate Christmas with a win. That was our motivation and to be able to go out there and execute it is great.”

The Patriots were eliminated from the playoffs on December 10th, their earliest exit from playoff contention in 30 years.