FOXBOROUGH, Ma – In a playoff battle between two of the best young quarterbacks in the NFL, it was the Patriots and Chargers defenses that carried the play for much of Sunday’s Wild Card clash. Drake Maye and the Patriots finally broke through with the game’s first touchdown in the fourth quarter, and it was enough to help them seal the playoff win, 16-3.
New England led 6-3 at halftime and extended that lead to 9-3 in the fourth quarter, with both teams struggling to convert trips in the red zone into touchdowns. The Patriots defense was all over Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, sacking him five times while holding him to just 159 yards passing.
Maye had two fumbles (one lost) and a deflected interception, but made up for it by making plays with his feet (66 rushing yards) and delivering a 28-yard touchdown strike to Hunter Henry. Rhamondre Stevenson was outstanding, rushing for 53 yards, while leading the team with 75 receiving yards.
Here’s how the playoff tilt went down!
1. Defense Makes Early Goal Line Stand
After the two teams felt each other out on their first possessions of the game by trading punts, the first key moment came after an excellent punt by the Chargers pinned New England inside their own 10-yard line. Drake Maye’s pass on second down was deflected and intercepted, with the Chargers taking over at New England’s 10.
But the Patriots defense held strong, tackling Herbert short of the goal line on the first three downs, then forcing an incompletion from the two-yard line on fourth down when Robert Spillane, playing for the first time since before the bye week, came with unblocked pressure that led to an incompletion.
It was an outstanding goal-line stand by the defense with their backs against the wall, and it kept the score at 0-0 midway through the first quarter. The Patriots defense had ranked 31st in the red zone during the regular season but delivered a playoff stop.
Maye and the offense took over on their own two-yard line and immediately got a big play from Rhamondre Stevenson as Maye hit him with a short dumpoff pass that Stevenson burst up field with, taking it 48 yards all the way out to midfield. Just like that, the Pats offense was in business.
But the Chargers continued to make the Patriots earn every yard. The Pats tried a double pass on a 3rd-and-4, but Efton Chism III missed Maye with the second throw. Undeterred, Josh McDaniels called another passing play on fourth down and Maye hit Kyle Williams along the sideline for a key conversion. After Maye took a sack, he bounced back, hitting Chism for a 20-yard gain that set up New England at the Los Angeles 11-yard line.
But like the Patriots defense before them, the Chargers defense would get a red zone stop inside their own 10-yard line, with the Patriots electing to settle for a 23-yard Andy Borregales field goal. That made it 3-0 Patriots early in the second quarter.
The Chargers answered with a field goal drive of their own, good from 21 yards after the Patriots pitched their second red zone stop of the game. The drive lasted 11 plays and went 69 yards but the Patriots held the Chargers running game in check. Still, Herbert found open receivers when he had time, with a 20-yard pass to Ladd McConkey being the biggest play of the drive. Omarion Hampton looked limited early on, while Kimani Vidal was unable to find much space on his initial carries of the game.
4. Pats Take Halftime Lead
The defense struggle continued in the second quarter. The Patriots would pick up just one first down on their next possession, as the stout Chargers defense spun the dial and made yards tough to come by. New England punted back to L.A., with Bryce Baringer dropping a beauty at the Charger 8-yard line. Both teams were forced to battle from deep within their own territory.
The Chargers got out of their own end, but the stout Patriots defense forced their second punt of the game and prevented any more points at the end of the first half. After a short punt by L.A., Maye ripped off a 37-yard scramble to set up a 35-yard field goal by Borregales that capped off the first half and made it 6-3 Patriots as the two teams went to the locker room.
5. Defensive Struggle Extends Into Third Quarter
New England carried some momentum into the second half, forcing a three-and-out by the Chargers offense on their opening possession of the second half and it appeared the offense would use that early stop to help them extend their three-point lead as they put together a drive across midfield. Rhamondre Stevenson delivered a third-down conversion with a 17-yard catch and run, but the drive hit a roadblock when the pressure collapsed around Maye, knocking the ball out of his hands for the second Patriots turnover of the game.
The Chargers took back over at their own 23 as the defensive struggle stretched well into the third quarter. A 22-yard pass interference penalty on Carlton Davis would help get the Chargers out near midfield, but once again the Patriots defense got a third-down stop by forcing an incompletion.
6. Pats Add Another Three
The next Patriots possession began at their own 15-yard line with just over five minutes to go in the third quarter. After Maye took a sack on first down and then faced a 3rd-and-13, but Hunter Henry found a soft spot and picked up a new first down. Then, Maye hit Kayshon Boutte down the sideline for 39 yards and once again the Pats were knocking on the door in Chargers territory. But once again, they’d have to settle for a field goal, as Maye missed Austin Hooper in the end zone with an overthrow and then Pop Douglas couldn’t hold on to a third-down pass.
New England took a 9-3 lead into the start of the fourth quarter.
