The New England Patriots advanced to the second round of the NFL Playoffs after a thorough 16-3 beating of the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday night.

New England was the AFC’s highest seed to see action on wild-card weekend, so you’d think the national media would finally show the respect the 14-3 Patriots deserved.

You would be wrong.

After head coach Mike Vrabel’s defense held the Chargers to just 87 yards on the ground and made kicker Cameron Dicker’s first-half field goal the only points of the game for Los Angeles, ESPN analyst Peter Schrager wanted to give defensive play...

The New England Patriots are beginning their preparations for their upcoming divisional round matchup against the Houston Texans. Across the league, though, there’s been quite a bit of chaos caused by a wild head coaching carousel.

One of the more surprising moves saw the Baltimore Ravens fire their longtime head coach, John Harbaugh. Now that he’s gone, the Ravens have to work on identifying a new coach to come in and lead their team.

Baltimore is unsurprisingly casting a wide net in its search, but one guy who has quickly emerged as a frontrunner is [Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian...

The Buffalo Bills defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday in the AFC wild-card round but lost wide receiver Gabe Davis to a torn ACL during the contest.

Buffalo placed the 26-year-old deep threat on injured reserve Monday, among other roster moves.

The Bills are hoping to get veteran wideout Curtis Samuel back from an elbow injury in time for the team’s AFC Divisional Round game against the Denver Broncos, but added a former New England Patriots wide receiver to their practice squad on Monday to help with their pass-catching depth.

“We have made the following roster moves: – Placed WR...

The Los Angeles Chargers fired offensive coordinator Greg Roman on Tuesday, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Roman’s unit scored just six points during Sunday’s wild-card loss to the New England Patriots, making it back-to-back playoff games in which they fell well below the standard that they set in the regular season — as they scored just 12 points against the Houston Texans in 2024.

The Chargers averaged 23.6 points per game in 2024 and 21.6 points per game in 2025.

Los Angeles also parted ways with offensive line coach Mike Devlin.

Roman has been the only offensive coordinator to serve...

DeMeco Ryans isn’t concerned about the Foxboro Faithful, it seems.

“Every place is difficult in the playoffs,” the Houston Texans head coach told reporters after Houston advanced past the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night, per the team.

“This was a really cool environment (in Pittsburgh). I’m proud of our guys for focusing on what really matters — and it’s not the environment. It’s about executing and playing good football.”

Ryans might not have meant it as a slight, but it’s fair to think Patriots fans at Gillette Stadium on Sunday will take note. And perhaps do their best to make...

Chances are you won’t be able to guess the Patriots’ highest-graded offensive player from their AFC Wild Card win over the Chargers.

It wasn’t running back Rhamondre Stevenson, who totaled 128 yards of offense on 13 touches. It wasn’t quarterback Drake Maye, who performed admirably in the second half with a clutch touchdown to Hunter Henry sealing New England’s victory.

So, who was it? It was rookie left tackle Will Campbell, who earned a 75.6 offensive grade on Pro Football Focus. That’s not to say PFF grades should be taken as gospel, but it nevertheless indicates Campbell performed better than...

The Houston Texans’ vaunted defense came as advertised during their AFC wild-card round victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night.

Houston’s second-ranked unit (17.4 points allowed per game during the regular season) limited the Steelers to 175 yards of offense, sacked Aaron Rodgers four times and scored two defensive touchdowns in the fourth quarter to ice the 30-6 win.

Second-year safety Calen Bullock had the final touchdown of the night, picking off Rodgers and returning the interception 50 yards for six points.

With MVP candidate Drake Maye and the New England Patriots on deck in the AFC Divisional Round,...

TEAM TALK

• Evan Lazar shares his initial analysis of the Patriots hosting the Texans in the Divisional Round at Gillette Stadium, Sunday at 3 pm. ‘Houston blew open the game in the fourth quarter to earn a 30-6 win over the Steelers on Monday night.’
• Evan Lazar’s After Further Review: How the defense shut down Justin Herbert; Drake Maye breakdown and quick-hit film notes from Pats-Chargers. “Josh McDaniels vs. Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter was as good as it gets from two elite schemers.”
• Roster Moves: Released: RB D’Ernest Johnson from 53-man roster and T Sebastian Gutierrez...

The Texans defeated the Steelers in the AFC Wild Card Round, but Houston might’ve suffered a key loss in the contest, as well.

Texans star wide receiver Nico Collins exited Monday night’s game after he suffered a concussion late in the third quarter. Collins was ruled out shortly after entering the blue medical tent.

Houston head coach DeMeco Ryans didn’t have an extensive update after the game, telling reporters: “We’ll see how the week goes.”

It’s the second documented concussion of the season for Collins, who also suffered one in Week 7 before he missed Houston’s game in Week 8....

The New England Patriots’ win over the Los Angeles Chargers in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs came at a cost. In the early fourth quarter of the 16-3 victory, Pro Bowl cornerback Christian Gonzalez left the game after sustaining a head injury.

On Monday, head coach Mike Vrabel confirmed that Gonzalez had been placed in the NFL’s concussion protocol.

“How long that lasts I don’t know, but when you don’t return to the game — when they don’t let you go back in the game that would put you in the protocol,” Vrabel said. “So, wherever that goes,...

In his first career playoff start, Drake Maye walked out of Gillette Stadium with his first playoff win with a 16-3 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.

While New England’s defense mostly led the way in a low-scoring game, Maye made his usual splash plays when his team needed it the most against a highly-ranked Chargers’ defense.

In the back-and-forth battle, both sides threw curveballs at each other with different play calls and personnel groups. Against Maye, who ended the year as the top ranked passer vs. zone coverage, the Chargers opted for more man-to-man defense than usual with a...

The New England Patriots were able to exorcise some playoff demons. After going one-and-done in each of their last two appearances, they finally earned a victory again. Beating the visiting Los Angeles Chargers with a final score of 16-3, they won their first postseason game since the 2018 season and are now on their way to a divisional round meeting with the Houston Texans.

Before our attention turns to that game, let’s tie up some loose ends from the contest that was — a process that will give us some clarity of where the team needs to improve moving forward....