New England used an aggressive defensive approach to overcome the Los Angeles Chargers, 16-3, in the Wild Card Round of the NFL Playoffs. We’ll take a closer look at what went right for the Patriots in the win.
On Sunday night, the New England Patriots beat the Los Angeles Chargers, 16-3, to advance to the Divisional Round of the 2025 NFL Playoffs.
Like each of the weekend’s other playoff matchups, the Patriots’ victory was tightly contested throughout, and the game’s result hung in the balance until late in the fourth quarter.
Let’s take a closer look at what went right for New England in the win — and what it will need to improve on to continue its postseason run through next weekend.
Applying Pressure
The Patriots came into Sunday’s contest on the heels of back-to-back outstanding defensive showings against the Jets and Dolphins to end the regular season.
But Justin Herbert is no Brady Cook or Quinn Ewers, and the Chargers presented several other challenges in both the running and passing game.
New England showed Sunday that the pressure its defense was able to apply in those games scales up to playoff competition.
What was once considered by many to be the fatal flaw of the 2025 Patriots turned out to be the reason they’re moving forward in postseason play.
The Patriots’ defense was undoubtedly the best-looking unit for either team in Sunday’s victory, and it found success using a bold strategy that broke from its season-long tendencies.
One of our keys heading into the Wild Card Round was for the Patriots’ defense to negate the effects of early-down rushing and get pressure on Herbert.
Check and check.
With an extremely limited Omarion Hampton (just two total snaps — one carry for -1 yard) rarely seeing the field in the Los Angeles backfield, New England was able to hold Kimani Vidal to just 31 rushing yards on 11 attempts.
The Chargers totalled a mere 87 rushing yards on 22 attempts in the game (4.0 yards-per-carry), with Herbert finishing as the team’s leader at 57 yards on 10 carries.
Removing Herbert’s scrambling yardage makes the totals much uglier. Chargers running backs carried the ball 12 times for 30 total yards (2.5 yards-per-carry) on the night.
New England’s rushing defense looked to return to its early-season form, and it couldn’t have picked a better time to do so than the postseason.
Helping that cause were the returns of Robert Spillane and Harold Landry, as Sunday marked the first time since November 13 that the combination of Spillane, Landry, and Milton Williams all played for the Patriots.
Down on the scoreboard and lacking efficiency in the run game, the Chargers resorted to a familiar script: lean on Justin Herbert. And just as that script went for them throughout the course of the season, Herbert paid dearly.
Applying pressure on Herbert in the pocket was a key to New England’s defensive success going into Sunday night — with a decimated offensive line that played 32 different combinations on the season, there were numerous advantages for the Patriots to exploit.
That still presented a challenge for New England, which had shown an inability to generate consistent pressure all year. The Patriots finished the regular season in the bottom third of the league in both sacks and pressure rate.
In a weakness-on-weakness battle, it was New England that claimed a decisive edge.
The Patriots accrued six sacks, 16 pressures, 11 quarterback hits, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery in the win, and they were seemingly in the backfield the entire evening.
They did so with a bold strategy: send the house.
During the regular season, Herbert ranked top 10 against the blitz by nearly every statistical and analytical measure for quarterback play, but that didn’t shy New England away from bringing heat.
The Patriots blitzed Herbert on 45.5% of his dropbacks — the highest blitz rate for any defense in the Wild Card Round, and significantly higher than their 26.6% average during the regular season.
When blitzed, Herbert went 7-for-16 (43.8%) with 69 yards (4.3 YPA), a 56.5 rating, and a -0.59 EPA-per-dropback. He faced nine pressures and was sacked three times when the Patriots blitzed.
Not only were the numbers impressive, but the confidence defensive playcaller Zak Kuhr showed — and the timing of those calls — made all the difference.
An early turning point in the game came in the first quarter. Following Drake Maye’s tipped interception, the Chargers went for a 4th-and-goal conversion attempt to take an early lead. New England blitzed and forced an errant throw from Herbert to Keenan Allen, who was blanketed by Christian Gonzalez.
The Patriots’ defensive struggles in the red zone were a key point of contention coming into the game, as they ranked 30th in the regular season, allowing touchdowns on 67.5% of opponents’ trips inside the 20-yard line. Los Angeles finished 0-for-2 in the red zone, and 2-for-13 on third- and fourth-down conversions.
Aside from their red zone excellence, Gonzalez and Marcus Jones made several key plays in coverage for New England.
Gonzalez allowed no catches on four targets in the game, while Jones was especially effective near the line of scrimmage and in the box as an additional rusher with incredible speed. He finished his postseason debut with a sack, forced fumble, and a pass defensed, becoming the first Patriots defensive back since 1999 to do so in a playoff game.
As the game wore on, the Patriots’ defensive intensity grew and suffocated the Los Angeles offense to the tune of 0 passing yards in the entirety of the third quarter.
The pressure and hits kept mounting on Herbert, and he took several big shots in the second half — including Williams’ second sack of the day that sealed the victory for New England.
Williams and K’Lavon Chaisson both finished with two sacks in the game. Chaisson also forced the fumble that was recovered by Christian Ellis and marked the Patriots’ only takeaway of the contest.
The impressive performance saw New England hold Los Angeles to its fewest points in a playoff game since 1992.
The last time the Patriots held a team to three points in the postseason was Super Bowl LIII — their last playoff victory prior to Sunday night.
It was a historically great performance from New England’s defense, becoming the first team since the 1985 Chicago Bears to allow no touchdowns, record six sacks, allow under 100 rushing yards, and under 150 net passing yards.
Opportunistic Offense
The Patriots’ offense looked disjointed for a vast majority of the evening, but it did enough in the second half to come away with the win.
Like Herbert, Maye was pressured and thrown off his spot throughout, and he relied on his legs to extend plays and keep the defense off balance.
Both quarterbacks finished as their team’s leading rusher, and both were sacked five-plus times.
The first half was one New England would especially like to soon forget. Maye finished the opening stanza 6-of-15 with 95 passing yards, no touchdowns, one interception, and one fumble.
His 40.0% completion percentage to open the game marked the lowest of his career, and it was a stark contrast from the franchise-record 72.0% mark he set during the regular season.
New England showed signs of life offensively prior to the halftime break, with Maye scrambling for 37 yards (the team’s longest postseason rush by a quarterback ever) to set up an Andy Borregales field goal for the lead.
The second half brought changes in approach — and results — for the Patriots.
In the first half, New England was content to spread the field with three wide receivers in 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end) on the majority of its plays. That seemingly played right into the Chargers’ hands, as they ran their typical dime package and stifled the Patriots’ offense.
Following the break, the Patriots returned to heavier personnel packages that led to success in the latter stages of the regular season, employing a majority of 22 personnel (two running backs, two tight ends), 13 personnel (one running back, three tight ends), and jumbo, with Thayer Munford as a tackle-eligible.
The Chargers acquiesced, flipping their defensive personnel to more base in response to the heavier bodies on the field for the Patriots.
In the days leading up to the game, we noted the advantages New England may find running that package against lighter bodies. McDaniels held onto it for the second half, and the turnaround for the offense was evident.
Maye largely returned to form, finishing the game 11-of-14 with 173 passing yards, one touchdown, and a 142.0 passer rating in half number two. He was 7-of-8 with 105 yards and the touchdown pass against the Chargers' base personnel.
Both Maye’s touchdown pass to Hunter Henry and the 42-yard strike to Kayshon Boutte came from 22 personnel.
Rhamondre Stevenson was the spark for a struggling Patriots offensive attack in the game, leading the backfield in snaps (40) and the team in scrimmage yards with 128 scrimmage yards (53 rushing, 75 receiving) on 13 touches. He joined Dion Lewis (January 13, 2018 vs. Tennessee) and Aaron Hernandez (January 14, 2012 vs. Denver) as the only Patriots players with 50 rushing and receiving yards in a postseason game.
Of course, a 16-point showing by a usually explosive Patriots offense doesn’t come without areas of improvement — and that blame is shared all around.
Maye wasn’t as accurate as we’ve been accustomed to this year, as evidenced by the overthrow of Austin Hooper in the red zone. The red zone offense as a whole didn’t show much improvement — New England entered the game ranked 17th in the league (57.1%), and went 0-for-3 on the evening.
There were three drops in the game, credited to Stefon Diggs, DeMario Douglas, and Hunter Henry.
Maye’s connection — or lack thereof — with Diggs was also a surprise. During the regular season, Maye and Diggs converted on a league-best 83.3% of targets; Diggs finished Sunday catching just two of his five targets for 16 yards.
If the regular season was any indication of future success, that trend will likely be snapped next weekend.
Pass blocking was also an obvious concern all evening. Maye was sacked five times, fumbled twice, had the tipped interception, and was pressured on numerous occasions.
With all of that said, there are encouraging signs moving forward.
Rookie left tackle Will Campbell was the Patriots’ highest-graded offensive player of the game, with a 75.6 PFF rating on Sunday.
The young left side of the line appeared to struggle with stunts and twists from the Chargers’ defensive line — especially from Odafe Oweh and Tuli Tuipulotu — but Campbell’s grade would suggest that Jared Wilson, who was playing his first game since returning from concussion protocol, was at fault for several of those miscommunications. Wilson exited Sunday with a 58.2 PFF grade.
Regardless of grades, Maye will need better protection in the coming week(s) if the Patriots hope to keep their offense on the field and ahead of the sticks in the postseason.
That becomes more difficult next week with impressive pass rushes for both Pittsburgh and Houston.
Looking Ahead
In a game that was far from the Patriots’ most impressive performance of the season, they showed resilience in overcoming adversity to emerge victorious.
That’s a team’s most important job in the playoffs, and the young New England squad found a way to get it done. It’s not always pretty, and a win is a win — especially in January.
Even with ups-and-downs, the Patriots' win was the only game of Wild Card Weekend that did not have a fourth quarter lead change, nor was decided by one possession or less.
Throughout the course of the night, New England’s biggest strength was a complementary brand of football that had become a staple of its performances over inferior opponents to close out the regular season.
At the very least, the Patriots proved Sunday evening that their identity holds up well against playoff competition.
They’ll have a lot to clean up during the upcoming week of practice, but they’re still alive in the dance.
The Patriots will take on the winner of Monday night’s Steelers-Texans game in the Divisional Round of the postseason.
Either way, they’re set to face another aggressive defense that will continue to look for cracks in the ascending offense’s arsenal.
Maye and the Patriots have shown an outstanding ability to bounce back from their rare off nights this season, and they’ll have to do so again if New England has aspirations beyond this upcoming weekend.
We’ll be previewing the Patriots’ Divisional Round matchup in the coming days on Patriots Roundtable and the Patriots Roundtable Podcast.
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