The Patriots’ 16-3 victory over the Chargers in the Wild Card round is a bigger deal than just winning New England’s first playoff game in seven years; Mike Vrabel’s team survived and advanced through a style of play totally unlike what got them 14 wins through the regular season, and that should spark serious optimism for this postseason run.
The gritty brand of ball they played most of the game against L.A. wasn’t as fun as watching Drake Maye drop dimes to Stefon Diggs and Kyle Williams, but it got the job done against a wrecking crew of a defense.
Because it’s one thing to slice and dice the Jets and Dolphins in late December, but it’s a horse of a different color when a team can overcome two turnovers from a young quarterback who carried a team through the entire regular season.
Maye struggled during long stretches of the game. Through the first three quarters of the game, he sailed passes and only looked in rhythm when he targeted Rhamondre Stevenson - the big bodied back built for trench warfare. Speaking of trenches, the Chargers’ pass rush made New England pay for fielding two rookies on their second-year quarterback’s blind side for the first time since they faced Myles Garrett and the Browns.
To his credit, Maye scrambled, (for 69 yards), stood back and took a beating, (he sustained five sacks), and – most importantly – stepped up and found tight end Hunter Henry in stride for a 28-yard touchdown pass to kick off the fourth quarter.
“The throw to Hunter, when we needed him, was elite,” Vrabel said postgame.
(Again, scoring in the fourth quarter wasn't exactly been the 2025 Patriots’ calling card during the regular season.)
But truly, most of the credit has to go to Vrabel and Zak Kuhr’s defense, who gave up just 3 points. Rather than fold like a cheap beach chair as the offense struggled on other side, they wreaked havoc on Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert and played some of the best coverage they have all year. While Maye was held to an uncharacteristic 95 passing yards in the first half, Herbert was even worse off with 93. Milton Williams and Christian Barmore joined forces for an honestly questionable pressure and sack on Herbert midway through the second quarter, and Marcus Jones was everywhere. They refused to pay the piper both times Maye gave up the ball – leaving the Chargers with zero points to show for those efforts. They held L.A. to 1-10 on third down conversions and 0% in the red zone, bucking another trend of a weakness that haunted them for most of the regular season.
"Everbody's doing their job, man. I don't think there's a secret sauce I can tell you guys," cornerback Carlton Davis said at his locker, when asked about the red zone performance. "You see these guys were locked in and we were all on one page. We talk about how significant these games are, especially in the red zone. So, kudos to us."
"Credit to our defense for just hanging in there," Henry said after the win.
Too many times this year, the Patriots looked like a team who could only perform as well as their quarterback, raising legitimate concerns about their versatility and run game.
Then there’s the talk of the quality of opponents. Everyone’s heard about New England’s easy regular season schedule.
So, a win like this one begs the question, if the Patriots can do this against a very good quarterback and head coach on the other side, and an even better defense – while Maye has a down day – what team from the AFC can really get in their way?
If the Patriots had lost, it would have been fair to categorize it as one bad night, because the offense was that off-kilter. And by the way, Josh McDaniels doesn’t get off scot-free here. What was that cute little play call with Efton Chism III at quarterback?
But, while it would have looked like a big step forward for a franchise previously sitting at rock-bottom, they would have looked a tier below other recent turnaround success stories around the league.
Instead, they showed how they can roll with the punches and adjust. Maye will have a better day in this postseason. But now, everyone knows they can win like this, too.
"We're relentless. We're going to fight together," Stevenson said postgame.