Coming into the game with just one win on the road all season – and that was a last-second comeback to beat the still-winless Jets in New York – the Patriots (6-6) rolled into L.A. on Sunday and put forth their most dominating performance of the season with the 45-0 victory over the overmatched Chargers (3-9).
New England controlled the game from start to finish, driving 75 yards to a Cam Newton touchdown on the first possession of the SoCal afternoon. Bill Belichick’s team also got a pair of first-half touchdowns on special teams on the way to the 28-0 halftime lead.
The win pushed the Patriots to .500 on the season and kept New England’s fledgling playoff hopes alive in the AFC.
New England will spend the next few days in L.A. and working out at UCLA in advance of Thursday night’s battle with the Rams, also at SoFi Stadium.
Before turning the page to the short week and the Super Bowl LIII rematch with the Rams, here are some of the personnel highs and lows from the impressive, dominant win over the Chargers:
Thumbs up
Josh McDaniels – Some speculated that McDaniels was auditioning for a potential head coaching job interview with the Chargers on Sunday. If that was true, L.A.’s ownership had to have liked what it saw. New England’s opening drive was dominant and creative. The 75-yard march included a well-timed screen, a Wildcat snap with Newton in motion and a well-executed option play. McDaniels said a couple weeks ago that he knows what New England is and isn’t on offense at this point. He proved that with an impressive game plan and day of play-calling on the way to a dominant win in L.A.
Cam Newton – Newton had a pair of first-half short rushing touchdowns, his 10th and 11th of the season. He extended his NFL record with his third season with more than 10 rushing TDs in his career. Overall he ran the ball as well as he has in weeks, finishing with 14 carries for 48 yards. He didn’t have to do much in the passing game, though he did throw his fifth touchdown pass of the season while completing 12 passes on 19 attempts for just 69 yards.
Offensive line – While Chargers rookie Justin Herbert was under pressure all day, New England’s big men controlled the line of scrimmage for their own quarterback and running backs. They paved the way for an offense that ran the ball 27 times in the first half on the way to a total of 41 rushes for 167 yards in the victory. The line allowed Newton to have his solid day, as well giving Damien Harris room to rush for 80 yards on his 16 attempts.
Pass rush – Herbert has been an incredibly impressive rookie passer. Sunday, though, he never got comfortable thanks in large part to the best performance of the season by New England’s pass rush. Deatrich Wise had a first-half sack. Lawrence Guy had a sack in the third quarter. Adam Butler added one in the final few minutes. Both Chase Winovich (2 QB hits) and Josh Uche (2 QB hits) got into Herbert’s face regularly. John Simon, Anfernee Jennings and others all took their turns making a run at Herbert, who finished with a season-low 44.5 passer rating.
Special teams/Gunner Olszewski – A week ago, Olszewski got screwed out of a punt return by an unfortunate at best illegal block penalty. The second-time was a charm for the second-year player as he took advantage of the Chargers putrid special teams unit for a well-blocked 70-yard punt return score in the second quarter. The third phase added another big play when Cody Davis blocked the Chargers’ 58-yard field goal attempt with three seconds left in the second quarter. Devin McCourty returned the loose ball 44 yards for the second special teams touchdown of the quarter. Olszewski added another 61-yard punt return in the fourth quarter, his 145 punt return yards in the game the second most in team history. (The receiver also notched his first career touchdown reception, a 38-yard catch from Jarrett Stidham in the fourth quarter.) Overall it was a big day for coordinator Cam Achord’s crew of playmakers on special teams.
Thumbs down
None – This was as complete and well-rounded a performance as the Patriots have had all season. Sure they got plenty of help from the Chargers and L.A.’s overmatched, inept coaching staff but just about everyone with a Patriots logo on did their job pretty impressively Sunday afternoon at the beautiful SoFi Stadium.
