The 2-10 New England Patriots caught fire behind quarterback Bailey Zappe to drop the Pittsburgh Steelers 21-18.

With the win, the Patriots became the second two-win team in five days to hand the Steelers (7-6) a potentially season-altering loss at home. The Steelers fell 24-10 to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

With the loss to the Patriots, the Steelers made some unfortunate history, according to Steelers Depot:

“The Steelers are now the first team over .500 in NFL history to lose consecutive games, both to teams at least 8 games under .500.”

Hunter Henry had two touchdown catches for New England. Ezekiel Elliott had 140 total yards from scrimmage and caught a TD for the NFL's worst offense.

The Patriots reached the end zone three times for the first time since October. Wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster added 90 yards receiving against the Steelers – the team he starred for earlier in his career.

But the big story was Zappe, who got off to an electric start, having thrown three touchdowns and 196 yards on 14-21 passing in the first half. Zappe got the Patriots going early with two quick strikes that puts him firmly in Tom Brady territory. Zappe was the first Patriots quarterback to throw two or more touchdowns in the first 16 minutes of a game since Tom Brady did it in 2017.

Zappe earned the start after Mac Jones was benched earlier in the week. Jones has one of the worst QBR's in the league at 36.5 and has thrown more interceptions (12) this season than touchdowns (10).

While the Steelers looked bad for the second game in a row, the Patriots – just five days out from a shutout loss to the Chargers where they failed to reach the red zone – looked far sharper this week.

Up next for the Patriots – they host the Kansas City Chiefs in a game that was flexed from the Monday night schedule to Sunday, Dec. 17.