NFL Week 14 Game Recap: New England Patriots 21, Pittsburgh Steelers 18

Fans in Foxboro breathed a sigh of relief on Thursday night, as the New England Patriots looked like a very different outfit from the one that put up just 13 points over their previous three games.

Quarterback Bailey Zappe finished 19-of-28 for 240 yards, three touchdowns and one interception, leading his team to a 21-18 victory over the Kenny Pickett-less Pittsburgh Steelers to snap New England's five-game losing streak.

The Patriots improve to 3-10 and finally seem to be set at the quarterback position (at least for now). The Steelers drop to 7-6 and into the bubble of the AFC playoff picture.

Offensive spotlight: Patriots quarterback Bailey Zappe acquitted himself well, recording an 80.8% adjusted completion percentage and averaging 8.6 yards per pass attempt on Thursday night.

His one turnover-worthy play ended up getting picked off — at a pivotal point in the game, too — but he also produced two big-time throws.

Defensive spotlight: T.J. Watt won't stand out on the stat sheet for this one. In fact, he managed just two pressures across 24 pass-rush snaps, according to PFF's first-run analysis. However, he won six other pass-rush snaps that didn't result in pressure because of how quickly Zappe got the ball out.

Rookie spotlight: Joey Porter Jr. has performed admirably since earning the full-time starting role at outside cornerback for the Steelers. He was targeted four times tonight, and while he allowed two catches for 28 yards and two first downs, he also forced incompletions on the other two passes.

Box Score

Passing

Rushing

Receiving