New England failed to score in the second half of its 21-18 win in Week 14.

After getting shutout in his first start of the season, New England Patriots quarterback Bailey Zappe came out red-hot in his Thursday night start against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Zappe tossed three touchdown passes in the first-half as he looked to be in full control en route to taking a 21-10 lead into halftime.

The second half was a different story, however. New England failed to put up any points as Zappe was not able to build off his strong first half. That was highlighted by a bad third-quarter interception, which contributed to the Patriots dropping back to pass just nine times in the second half.

“I think we started off fast,” Zappe explained Wednesday. “We always talk about starting fast as far as an offense, getting ahead early. We were able to do that. The first half and the second half there were some things that I missed as far as reads and throws. You look at the interception, that’s something that I can prevent very easily. Just checking it down to Zeke instead of forcing it.

“There’s always good and bad, and there’s things that I can look back on and hopefully fix this week and go on to the Chiefs game.”

Beyond the interception, missing reads also left potential big plays on the field for the Patriots. One came in which Zappe appeared to lock onto Tyquan Thornton running down the left sideline and missing an open Pharaoh Brown running free across the second level.

Pittsburgh’s defense also helped contribute to New England’s poor second half, as they made some notable defensive adjustments. After Zappe stood tall against a heavy amount of pressure early on, the Steelers opted to blitz less and add more bodies to coverage in the backend.

Despite facing less pressure, Zappe highlighted his “antsy” work in the pocket as the biggest cause for the drop in play.

“I think it kind of falls on me. I was missing a few throws,” Zappe said of his second half. “I wasn’t sitting in the pocket as much as I was in the first half. I was kind of getting antsy. Those are things that I want to fix throughout this week, pocket drills before and after practice and just trying to clean some of those things up. It’s nothing that — they’re a great defense — but it’s things that for us, that we can fix moving into this week.”

While Zappe has been strong against the blitz, improving his play in the pocket will be a must this week for the second-year quarterback as he gets set to face a Kansas City Chiefs defense — led by coordinator Steve Spagnuolo — that is not afraid to heat up opposing QBs.

“Just watching a lot of film, understanding what they like to do,” Zappe said. “They do a lot of things. I think a lot of it just comes down to the communication between me and [David Andrews] and the offensive line, trying to get all on the same page. As long as we’re on the same page, everything will hopefully go well.

“You’re just trying to believe in the offensive line that they’re going to pick up the pressures, whatever they bring, and just being able to stand back there confidently and just take care of the football and throw the open guys and let them make plays.”