Pats Pulpit
The New England Patriots successfully defended their home turf in the wild card round of the NFL playoffs. Hosting the Los Angeles Chargers at Gillette Stadium, they celebrated a 16-3 victory to keep their season alive and advance to the divisional round.
Here is a Patriots-centric view at some of the key moments of the game.
The Patriots offense did not get off to the greatest start. After a punt on their first series, the second possession did not get any better: on the series’ second play, a Drake Maye pass intended for Austin Hooper was tipped into the air and intercepted to give L.A. the ball at the New England 10-yard line.
Despite setting up shop in prime field position, the Chargers came away with no points on their ensuing possession. The Patriots’ much-maligned red zone defense, after all, was able to deliver a crucial stop.
Defensive play caller Zak Kuhr brought some timely all-out pressure against the Chargers’ offensive line, forcing quarterback Justin Herbert to bail quickly and ultimately throw incomplete.
The Patriots took advantage of the momentum swing provided by the fourth-down stop, driving down the field to score the game’s first points. Before doing so, however, they made some big plays. The first was a 48-yard connection from Drake Maye to Rhamondre Stevenson.
After the catch-and-run set up the Patriots in Chargers territory, the drive came close to stalling. However, Maye first hit Kyle Williams to move the chains on 4th-and-4 before a big 20-yard pass play to fellow rookie Efton Chism.
Andy Borregales kept the series with a 23-yard field goal to give the Patriots a 3-0 lead.
With the Patriots passing offense struggling to generate a consistent output in the first half against the Chargers, Drake Maye decided to take matters into his own hands. On the final drive of the second quarter, the second-year QB took off scrambling for a gain of 37 yards.
Maye’ run allowed the Patriots to kick another field goal and take a 6-3 lead into the locker room at the half.
The Patriots offense started building some momentum in the second half, and on its first possession marched right into the L.A. red zone. However, with Will Campbell struggling to hold off Odafe Oweh, Drake Maye was strip-sacked on a 2nd-and-10.
Luckily for New England, its defense kept the foot on the gas and for the second time in the game prevented their opponent from turning a takeaway into points.
Wide receiver Kayshon Boutte was questionable to play in Sunday’s game because of a hamstring injury, but the third-year receiver was cleared before the contest. The Patriots offense benefitted from his presence, and he made two of the biggest plays of the night.
The first of Boutte’s big catches set the Patriots up for a field goal...
