Patriots Advance with 16–3 Win Over Chargers Behind Dominant Defensive Performance
Drake Maye gets most of the attention—and understandably so. He has a golden arm, poise in the pocket, and the rare ability to play quarterback while still being an athlete. What may be most refreshing, though, is his instinct to deflect credit. After Sunday’s win, he made sure every offensive lineman he could find joined him for his postgame interview.
But football is a team sport. It is eleven-on-eleven. Even the best player can only impact a game so far. When one player falls short, someone else has to make up the difference. Championship teams are the ones capable of doing that consistently.
Sunday’s Patriots–Chargers game was a perfect example.
I’ve seen no shortage of social media commentary roasting Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert after the loss. Some analysts went as far as questioning whether he has the “it” factor or suggesting the Chargers should already be thinking about moving on.
Give me a break!
Herbert was pressured on 30 of his 46 drop backs and sacked six times. For large portions of the season, Herbert played without starting offensive tackles, Joe Alt, Austin Deculus, and Rashawn Slater, among other offensive linemen. The offensive line is widely regarded as the worst in the NFL.
His starting running back, Omarion Hampton, missed most of the year and was healthy enough to carry the ball just once in this game. His receiving group ranks in the bottom half of the league.
The result was Herbert being asked to do almost everything. Against NFL-caliber athletes, that’s a losing formula—unless your name happens to be Josh Allen.
On the flip side – and that is what we are concerned with here – Maye has lifted the Patriots at times during the season, carrying them through injuries to key contributors like Milton Williams, Robert Spillane, and Rhamondre Stevenson. But this was not one of those games—and that’s exactly why the performance was so encouraging.
Maye was solid, but far from his best. He completed 17 of 29 passes and threw an early interception that easily could have swung momentum. Instead, the rest of the team picked him up while he settled his emotions.
Look around the playoff field and flaws are everywhere. Some teams lean heavily on defense while their offenses sputter. Others are quarterback-dependent to an unhealthy degree. A few are talented but unproven in January. What the Patriots showed Sunday is that they can win without their quarterback playing at his peak—and that balance is a recipe for success in the postseason.
And yes—I can’t believe I’m writing this after the last four seasons—but the Patriots, along with the Rams, may be the most complete team left standing.
Despite Maye’s so-so stat line, New England dominated the Chargers, 16–3. On a weekend where every other wild-card game came down to the final two minutes, a two-score win qualifies as a blowout. For all the criticism about the Patriots benefiting from the “easiest schedule in NFL history,” the Chargers entered the game at 11–6, even resting starters in a loss in their regular-season finale against the Denver Broncos.
There was speculation and theories floating around that the Chargers, actually, wanted to lose against Denver because they wanted to play the Patriots – they viewed that as their most favorable match-up. How did that work out for them?
On a weekend where the Rams squeaked out a victory against the Carolina Panthers, the Patriots dominant performance against Herbert and the Chargers is as legit a win as you will see. It buoys confidence that this team is for real, and that the future is now.
This team is not in rebuild mode, folks. Rebuild mode may have been Weeks 1-3 when the Patriots went 1-2, including a loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.
Drake Maye took a back seat to the defense and Rhamondre Stevenson in this one. And that has to scare the rest of the league.
The early moments of the game were worrisome. The Patriots gained just 14 yards on their opening drive. On the second play of the next possession, Maye had a pass deflected at the line and intercepted at the New England 10-yard line.
It looked like the Patriots were about to go down 7-0 pretty quick. After three runs by Justin Herbert managed to get the ball down to the New England 3-yard line, Chargers' head coach Jim Harbaugh decided to forgo the easy three points. On fourth-and-goal, Justin Herbert fired incomplete to Keenan Allen.
Disaster averted.
Still pinned deep, questions lingered about whether this young Patriots team would melt under the burning hot playoff spotlight. That’s when Stevenson delivered the play that settled everything down—a short dump-off over the middle that he turned into a 50-yard gain to midfield.
From there, the Patriots took a deep breath and relaxed.
Stevenson added three more carries on the drive. Efton Chism III chipped in with a 20-yard reception to move the ball into field-goal range. A key fourth-and-four conversion along the sideline by rookie Kyle Williams kept the drive alive.
Those sequences explained exactly why this team has a real chance to win it all.
They get contributions from everyone. They respond to adversity. They pick each other up. That mentality—instilled by the coaching staff—has been missing around these parts for a long time. For too long, negative plays have snowballed out of control.
A lingering concern for me all year has been the kicker. But rookie Andy Borregales delivered Sunday, drilling three field goals cleanly through the uprights.
The Patriots now await the winner of Monday night’s Steelers–Texans matchup, with next Sunday’s divisional game slated for either 3:30 or 6:00. Whoever advances will have a short week to prepare. New England may welcome the extra day for Christian Gonzalez, who exited late with a head injury.
The Gonzalez injury is huge. The Patriots were 1–2 in the first three games without Gonzalez. They are 14–1 when he plays.
Let's all take a second to soak this in, folks. I even made the announcement at the football viewing party I was at:
The Patriots are one game away from the AFC Championship Game. They are two games away from the Super Bowl.
Do you want to invite me to your next Patriots' viewing party. As you can see, I am a ball of laughs!
