Four Ups, Four Downs from Patriots' victory over Broncos

Chad Ryland speaks after game-winning kick in Denver 01:11

BOSTON -- Well, that was a wild one. A bad start. A third-quarter surge. A fourth-quarter collapse. And then ... an unlikely kick that splits the uprights.

There's never been a 26-23 victory exactly like that one.

It certainly was an entertaining football game, even if it wasn't a perfect one for the Patriots. Here are the Four Ups and Four Downs from the dramatic victory.

FOUR UPS

Chad Ryland

Nobody's ever gone from "definitely in the Downs" to "leading the Ups" the way Chad Ryland did on Sunday night. But an absolutely perfect 56-yard field goal (nearly) at the buzzer will have that effect.

Ryland did badly miss a 47-yarder earlier in the game, and he did miss a PAT as well. So he's got some kicking issues that continue to plague him. 

But if anything could fix that, it would be a 56-yarder to win a game on Christmas Eve.

Christian Barmore

The third-year defensive tackle was a monster. Just a monster. He had three sacks in the third quarter, with two coming on third down and one of those coming at the Denver 3-yard line. He also drew a holding penalty in the fourth quarter. He was an absolute force. and he had another quarterback hit. And he had eight total tackles. And a forced fumble on one of his sacks.

Monster.

Kickoff Unit

Any time the kickoff team scores a touchdown, that unit makes the Ups. That's a rule.

On this one, Marte Mapu punched the ball out of Marvin Mims Jr.'s grasp, and Cody Davis was the man on the spot to scoop and score a touchdown to deliver the second leg of a one-two blow in the third quarter.

DeVante Parker

He didn't lead the Patriots in receptions -- that honor went to Ezekiel Elliott. And he didn't lead the team in receiving yards -- that was Demario Douglas. And he didn't catch a touchdown -- those were caught by Elliott and Mike Gesicki.

But DeVante Parker had arguably the two biggest catches of the game. The first was a 30-yard reception up the left sideline in the third quarter, when he won a one-on-one battle with Patrick Surtain. That one helped set up Gesicki's touchdown, which gave New England a 16-7 lead.

The second one came in the final minute of the game. Bailey Zappe gave him another chance on a deep shot up the left sideline, and Parker turned his shoulders away from tight coverage to make the catch for a 27-yard gain. The Patriots gained just 9 yards after that to set up Ryland's winning kick.

Bonus Up: Bailey Zappe

It was maybe Bailey Zappe's best game as a pro. That's despite an ugly start (which you'll see in the Downs). He was comfortable in stepping around pressure, and he delivered the perfect touch for Gesicki's touchdown. He completed 75.8 percent fo his passes, averaging 7.8 yards per attempt, and he didn't throw any picks. In a road environment on a national broadcast, Zappe likely earned himself quite a bit of attention as he tries to establish his place in the NFL.

FOUR DOWNS

Bailey Zappe's first play

The entire reason the Bailey Zappe became the Patriots' starting quarterback was because Mac Jones turned the ball over too much. Well, Zappe started this game with a turnover when he took too long to recognize that D.J. Jones was rushing at him at full speed.

It didn't lead directly to points, as the Broncos failed to score on fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line. But it set the Patriots back in the field position game, and erased their first possession before it could even begin.

As we know, Zappe made up for it with the rest of his performance. But that is a brutal way to start a football game.

Punt coverage unit

Matthew Slater, dealing with a hamstring injury, missed his first game since 2017. It didn't take long for his absence to be obvious, as the Broncos' first punt return of the night went for 52 yards.

Toward the end of the game, Chris Board was penalized for going out of bounds on his own, negating a 76-yard monster punt by Bryce Baringer. That ended up costing the Patriots 19 yards of field position.

It was an up-and-down day for special teams, with the missed kicks and the punt coverage issues kind of being canceled out by the touchdown by the kickoff team and the 56-yard game-winner.

Atonio Mafi, James Ferentz

The rookie guard has had a really rough season, and that continued in this one. He was flagged three times for holding (one was declined, one might have been incorrectly called on him instead of Vederian Lowe).

But he was playing because James Ferentz started and got absolutely run over on the Patriots' first play of the game, leading to the Zappe turnover.

First-quarter offense, Fourth-quarter offense (before game-winning drive)

The Patriots started the game horribly on offense. Their first drive was one play for a loss of 16 yards and a fumble. Their second drive went three yards on three plays. And their third drive went nine yards on three plays. Fumble, punt, punt.

The Broncos were able to stage an impressive comeback in the fourth quarter ... largely because the Patriots just didn't possess the ball.

After the 20-point outburst in the third quarter, the Patriots' drives in the fourth quarter looked like this:

Three plays, 4 yards, punt
Three plays, 8 yards, punt
Three plays, minus-1 yards, punt

On the three drives, they had the ball for just 4:51 total, allowing Denver to mount that comeback. Some better football could have prevented the need for the clutch kick at the end ... but hey, where's the fun in that?

Sean Payton might have helped the Patriots out by calling timeouts at the end of regulation following two runs by the New England offense. The Patriots seemed content to play for overtime, given how ineffective the offense had been. But with the clock stopped for third down with 47 seconds left to play, Zappe took a shot to Parker, changing the quarter and winning the game.

Bonus Down: Draft position

A lot of football fans in New England were happy to see the Patriots play competitively but might have been -- secretly or outwardly -- rooting for that effort to come in a loss. That's of course due to the impact that every game has on draft positioning.

And with a fourth win, the Patriots dropped to the fourth overall pick in the draft. They'll probably lose next week in Buffalo, but they might win in Week 18 against the Jets. A lot can and will change between now and then, but obviously, anybody hoping for as many losses as possible came away a bit disappointed from this one. (Nobody in a Patriots uniform or on the coaching staff was or is hoping for such a thing, though.)