Let’s face it, for the New England Patriots to beat Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay with Bailey Zappe at quarterback would have been one heckuva Lambeau Leap.

But hey, it almost happened.

Yet close is only good in horseshoes, and, well, you know.

Yes, they get an ‘A’ for effort, but the results are really all that matter.

“But I thought we really competed well,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said after the tough 27-24 overtime loss at Lambeau Field on Sunday. “A lot of gus competed well. Obviously, we just came up a little bit short. In the end, Aaron got us on too many things.”

And as a result, your New England Patriots are off to a 1-3 start at the near quarter pole. They have a big stretch of winnable games ahead, but boy, a win yesterday would have been a star on their helmets.

Once you saw veteran QB Brian Hoyer get leveled in the first half, you knew that was it. Thanks to the Dolphins’ complete mishandling of Tua Tagovailoa, the NFL obviously won’t put any QB that takes a hit back on the field. Hoyer trotted off and did not return.

Enter Bailey Zappe. Zappe managed the game, but also made some plays. He looked better than he did in the preseason, saying Sunday “was a dream come true.” Of course, it would’ve been an even better dream had the Patriots won.

Unfortunately, the fact the Patriots were down to Plan B Zappe – Belichick wouldn’t reveal who Plan C was – ended up costing them in the end. They were ultra conservative in their one overtime possession, just when it looked like they’d get the field position they’d need for a Nick Folk game-winning kick.

It’s too bad. Now the pressure is on, and it could have been a nice Cinderella story.

“Yeah, of course losing the game is always the worst thing,” Zappe said. “Everybody will look back and look at the things we could have done differently.”

Now the Patriots have to focus on the task ahead. With the Lions, Browns and Bears their next three opponents, two of them at home, they could be 4-3 in the blink of an eye. At the very least they’ll need to go 3-1 over their next four, with Indy being the fourth game.

“We’re just not coming out with the ‘Dub’ (W),” Patriots linebacker Matt Judon said. “So we’ve got to do something better. That starts with everybody. … Everybody’s got to play better in order to win. One play away, and that kind of hurts. … We’re going to work our butts off to get to where we want to be, and where we want to be is on the other side of the win column.”

Fasten your seat belts because it’s going to be an interesting week with the speculation anew on Mac Jones’ ankle, etc.

Remember when Belichick would hug his own quarterback instead of the other team’s?

It better happen again someday soon.

Tom King can be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on twitter @Telegraph _TomK.