Protecting the football is paramount. The Chargers must eliminate turnovers to overcome the Patriots' meticulous, mistake-free approach and secure a monumental victory.
The New England Patriots (14-3) play host to the Los Angeles Chargers (11-6) to kick off the postseason for the Chargers. The matchup is daunting given how strong the Patriots have been all season.
A hallmark of former head coach Bill Belichick's Patriots was the phrase, "Do your job." With that came relentless pursuit of perfection and maniacal attention to detail. Those Patriots simply did not beat themselves very often and neither does the current New England squad.
Former Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel was once on those teams. Now Vrabel is New England's head coach carrying on Belichick's legacy of excellence in doing the boring things well.
The Chargers' task against the Patriots is the same as that famous moniker that Belichick's teams lived by: "Do your job." With that goal ahead, the task entails that the Chargers do everything in their power not to beat themselves.
Russell Baxter of Sports Illustrated detailed the keys to the game for the Chargers in addition to other interesting facts about the matchup. For Baxter, one objective might rank higher than any other in the game. He writes that protecting the football has to be what Los Angeles is prioritizing heading into the matchup.
Baxter shared the following.
"A season after finishing with only nine turnovers in 17 regular-season contests, the Chargers gave up the football 21 times this season. Of course, 15 of those miscues (13 interceptions, 2 lost fumbles) were via Herbert, who was also sacked 54 times and wound up running for a career-high 498 yards and two TDs. He must be careful with the ball.
Vrabel’s team finished second in the league with 490 points and a plus-170 scoring differential. Coordinator Josh McDaniels’ offense produced 53 touchdowns and the club turned over the ball just 16 times. In 2024, the 4-13 Patriots scored 289 points (30th in the NFL), totaled 29 offensive touchdowns and gave up the football 23 times."
Undoubtedly for the Chargers to achieve their goals they will have small margin for error. With that, the team's careless protection of the football needs to go away in the postseason.
The Patriots do not give much for free. If Los Angeles wins over the 14-3 Pats, the victory will most certainly be earned.
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert has a tremendous opportunity to re-write narratives about his NFL career to this point. He will look to start by playing a near error-free game against the Patriots on Sunday night.