Foxborough, MA – The Patriots won their first playoff game in seven years in a 16-3 victory over the Chargers at Gillette Stadium on Sunday night to advance to the divisional round in the NFL playoffs.
Heading into the postseason, Mike Vrabel’s first season as Patriots head coach was already a success. With a 14-3 regular season, a 10-win turnaround, there’s a house money feel for the ahead of schedule Patriots. However, there’s also a sense of validation by taking out the Chargers. If the regular-season success was one step, Sunday night’s playoff win is one giant leap for New England.
As for how the game unfolded, it was the Patriots defense that carried them to victory on Sunday night. New England held the Chargers and star QB Justin Herbert to just three points, 207 total yards of offense, 1-for-13 on late downs, and 0-for-2 in the red zone. The Patriots sacked Herbert six times, forced a turnover, and covered as well as they have all season in the secondary, with defensive play-caller Zak Kuhr spinning the dial on Herbert and the Chargers.
Kuhr was thrust into a play-caller role due to health issues for DC Terrell Williams, and if we had a game ball to give, it would go to Kuhr. The Pats defense had the Chargers offense’s heads spinning, with Kuhr mixing in blitzes to generate a 36.4% pressure rate on Herbert to take over against a banged-up offensive line, the matchup within the matchup the Pats had to win. Speaking to reporters, captain Robert Spillane, who returned from a three-game absence, said Chargers players gave the Patriots kudos for their game plan.
“After the game, talking to a few of the guys on the other team, they had no clue what we were doing. And they came up and said, ‘We had no clue what you guys were in all game.’ So for him just to be able to build those packages throughout the week, our back-end players to know how to disguise the different defenses, really keeps quarterbacks guessing,” Spillane said. “Zak [Kuhr] has been great all year. He keeps the dial spinning. He keeps offenses guessing.”
Offensively, QB Drake Maye was the first to admit it wasn’t his best performance in his first career playoff game. Tonight, the Patriots deserve their flowers, but to keep winning in the postseason, they’ll need Maye and the offense to play better. Maye put the ball in harm’s way three times, giving it away twice, and the Chargers defensive front had it rolling against the Patriots offensive line. When the Patriots turn the page to the Steelers or Texans next Sunday, they’ll need to correct some of the miscues and learn from LA’s defensive game plan to keep advancing: it’s a copycat league, and the next opponent will watch this film of Maye to replicate what the Chargers did.
That said, we’ll start talking about next week soon. For now, it’s all about enjoying a huge playoff win for the Patriots. There was a lot of outside noise about a soft schedule and the Patriots being fool’s gold this season. Well, there’s nothing left to say after New England stamped their ticket to the divisional round besides we’ll see you all next Sunday.
Here are eight takeaways from the Patriots playoff victory over the Chargers on Sunday night.
1. Play of the Game: Patriots Defense Gets Rolling with Fourth-Down Stop in the Red Zone
Following their dominant performance against the Chargers, Patriots defenders said a critical red-zone stop early in the game was the turning point.
Coming into the playoffs, New England ranked 30th in red-zone defense, so it was a perceived area of weakness. However, it was a strength on Sunday night, with the Patriots defense bailing out the offense after Maye turned it over backed up on his own goal line. LA took over after a first-quarter interception at the NE 10, and the Patriots defense answered with four straight stops to force a turnover on downs, which stymied any moment the Chargers gained from creating a turnover.
