Patriots stun Broncos in Christmas Eve thriller behind 20-point 3rd quarter

Fox News Flash top sports headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.

The New England Patriots stunned the Denver Broncos on the road on Sunday in a Christmas Eve thriller that saw Chad Ryland nail the go-ahead 56-yard field goal with 2 seconds remaining in the game.

Bailey Zappe engineered a seven-play, 44-yard drive that saw the Patriots run a few running plays before Zappe fired a 27-yard pass to DeVante Parker to keep the drive alive. He then threw a pass to Mike Gesicki to give Ryland at least a shot at hitting the game-winner. He nailed it.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

New England Patriots tight end Mike Gesicki (88) celebrates his 11-yard reception for a touchdown with guard Mike Onwenu (71) during the second half of an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos, Sunday, Dec. 24, 2023, in Denver.  (AP Photo/Geneva Heffernan)

The Patriots won the game 26-23.

New England went into halftime down 7-3 in what was thought to be a dud of a football game. But New England erupted and capitalized on a handful of Broncos miscues to put 20 points on the board. Zappe had two touchdown passes in the frame – one to Elliott and the other to Gesicki.

FROM OUTKICK: LIONS PLAYERS GO CRAZY IN LOCKER ROOM AFTER CHRISTMAS EVE MIRACLE; EMINEM TAKES CREDIT ON X

Cody Davis took advantage of a Broncos fumble and recovered the loose ball in the end zone. New England was up 23-7 going into the fourth quarter.

Then, Russell Wilson and the Broncos offense woke up. Wilson threw a touchdown pass to Lucas Krull and completed the 2-point conversion to get to within eight points. Then, he followed that up with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Johnson followed by another completed 2-point