New England Patriots - NESN.com
Behind MVP candidate Drake Maye and Coach of the Year contender Mike Vrabel, the New England Patriots are favored to beat the Los Angeles Chargers in their AFC wild-card game on Sunday night.
Many, including Bill Belichick, believe that the Chargers are one of the weakest of the five other AFC wild-card competitors and it’s a good matchup for the Patriots to advance.
NFL.com’s editors made their wild-card round picks on Thursday, with four of the five taking New England at home.
Gennaro Filice picked Pro Bowl quarterback Justin Herbert to lead Los Angeles to an upset.
“Because New England lacks the edge rush to exploit Los Angeles’ fully exposed Achilles’ heel. The Chargers have suffered devastating carnage at offensive tackle this season, subjecting Justin Herbert to weekly beatings and a career-high 54 sacks taken. It’s the thing that keeps me from buying the Bolts as true Super Bowl contenders: Eventually, my thinking goes, they’ll run into some QB hunters who’ll rock Herbert and wreck an elimination game,” he wrote. “I still suspect that ultimately will be the case, with prolific pass-rushing teams like Denver and Houston lurking in the AFC field. But in Round 1, L.A. draws New England, which finished the regular season tied for 22nd in sacks.”
Filice said that he doesn’t believe the Patriots defense will be able to stop Herbert as much as they need to, while the Chargers’ unit could have success against Maye.
“I’m just not sure this defense — which has been dealing with additional injuries to key figures like LB Robert Spillane — has the horses to terrorize Herbert,” he wrote. “On the other hand, the Chargers’ D appears pretty well-equipped to keep a lid on Drake Maye. The second-year pro has been wildly efficient as a deep passer, but Jesse Minter’s unit typically limits downfield gains. All in all, I just don’t love this matchup for the resurgent Pats. Mike Vrabel did a brilliant job in Year 1, turning a 4-13 bottom-feeder into a 14-3 division champ, but I think the magical ride comes to a screeching halt on Sunday night.”
Despite going 14-3 and earning the No. 2 seed in the AFC, there have been some Patriots skeptics ahead of the playoffs.
This will be Herbert’s third time in the postseason in the last four years, while Maye, through no fault of his own at just 23 years old, will be making his playoff debut.
Sunday night will be New England’s first postseason contest in four years and the Patriots’ first home playoff game in six years.
