New England Patriots - NESN.com
One group of NFL personnel conveyed confidence in the New England Patriots beginning the playoffs with a first-round win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Athletic’s Jeff Howe polled NFL coaches and executives to pick the winner of each wild-card game. All 10 predicted a Patriots victory, joining the Los Angeles Rams as the only unanimous selections.
One anonymous head coach declared that the Patriots are “too good at the line of scrimmage.”
“If there was any doubt about whether the Patriots are back, this panel put that to rest,” Howe wrote. “Opposing coaches and executives have long admired coach Mike Vrabel’s leadership, and they’re continuing to revel in quarterback Drake Maye’s development into an MVP frontrunner.”
Howe nevertheless kept the door open for a Chargers upset by noting New England’s weak strength of schedule. The Patriots went 2-2 against playoff teams, including a win over the 8-9 Carolina Panthers.
Despite backing the Patriots, one executive praised Justin Herbert for playing through a broken hand without star tackles Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt.
“The Chargers have done more with injuries than any team should be able to do,” an executive said. “I don’t know how Justin Herbert is still alive with that offensive line. It’s impressive how many games they’ve won just by being a sound football team, tough and resilient.”
However, that same executive doesn’t see Jim Harbaugh’s squad overcoming the Patriots on Sunday night at Gillette Stadium.
“The way Drake is playing and that defense and being home,” the executive said, “that’s going to be a hard thing for the Chargers to do.”
