New England Patriots - NESN.com
The New England Patriots picked up a 16-3 win over the Los Angeles Chargers in their wild-card round matchup last weekend, and in a surprise development, it was the defense that led the way for head coach Mike Vrabel‘s team. Perhaps the biggest game from this group belonged to K’Lavon Chaisson.
The former first-round pick picked up two of New England’s six sacks in this one, with the latter resulting in a fumble that the Pats were able to recover. To see Chaisson’s breakout campaign continue into the postseason is a very encouraging sign for the Patriots.
All season long, Vrabel has found a way to get the best out of every one of his players, and that may not be more evident than it is with his work with Chaisson. Heck, just moments before Chaisson’s aforementioned forced fumble, a new mic’d up clip showed Vrabel motivating the talented pass rusher to make a big play.
“Think about those last couple of rushes from the Miami game,” Vrabel said to Chaisson in a clip shared to the Patriots’ official X account. “Balls to the wall. Whatever that was, do that.”
Chaisson enjoyed easily the best season of his career in 2025, as he racked up 31 tackles, a career-high 7.5 sacks, two pass deflections, two fumbles forced, and the first touchdown of his career. With free agency looming, he’s going to get paid this offseason.
Free agency hopefully won’t be something that Chaisson or the Patriots have to worry about for a while, though. The team will look to book its spot in the AFC Championship Game when it squares off against the Houston Texans at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday afternoon.
