ClutchPoints
The NFL playoffs are here and only the best of the best remain with 14 teams vying for a Super Bowl. Six of those teams will have their hopes ended prematurely over Wild Card Weekend, and there are a few blockbuster matchups on the card.
On Sunday night, two of the best quarterbacks in the NFL will go head to head when Drake Maye and the New England Patriots take on Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers. The Patriots have been one of the surprises of the league this season, racing to a 14-3 record and the No. 1 seed in the AFC, while the Chargers picked up the final wild card spot at 11-6.
The Chargers had a chance to play for better seeding in Week 18, and potentially help the Patriots get the No. 1 seed in the process, but they chose to rest Herbert against the Denver Broncos and were beaten 19-3 with Trey Lance at quarterback. The biggest reason for this was obviously that Herbert has been playing with a broken left hand for more than a month now, and this was a logical spot for him to get some extra rest before the postseason.
However, there may have been a part of the Chargers that was looking ahead to the first round of the playoffs and seeing the possible opponents they could play. Had the Chargers won, they could have moved up to the No. 6 seed and played the Broncos, but it was also on the table for Los Angeles to matchup up against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Out of the top three teams in the AFC, the Patriots are by far the team that the Chargers want to see in the postseason, and that could have played into their decision to sit Herbert and some other starters in Week 18.
Here are the two main reasons why the Chargers should like their chances, even on the road, against the Patriots on Sunday.
The Chargers, as is the case with most of the teams in the playoffs this season, have their flaws on both sides of the ball. On the offense, the offensive line has held back Jim Harbaugh and company all season long. The Chargers have lost both of their star tackles, Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater, to injury this season, and have dealt with more attrition beyond that as well.
As a result, Herbert has been under siege whenever he has dropped back to pass so far this season. He has been pressured on 43.3% of his dropbacks according to Next Gen Stats, the highest number in the league by a wide margin. Only Jacoby Brissett of the Arizona Cardinals also sits above 40% among qualified passers this season.
The good news for the Chargers in this matchup is that the Patriots don’t get after the quarterback particularly well, especially compared to the other teams at the top of the AFC like...
