The New England Patriots picked up a 16-3 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday night, meaning they have to turn their attention to their upcoming divisional round matchup. Right off the bat, all eyes are fixated on star cornerback Christian Gonzalez’s injury status.

Gonzalez enjoyed a standout performance against the Chargers, as he did not allow a single reception when he was the closest defender in coverage, while also racking up a pair of batted passes. However, he was forced out of the game early with a head injury.

Anytime a player is ruled out of a game...

The New England Patriots allowed six years to pass between playoff victories at Gillette Stadium.

83 months. 365 weeks. 2,555 days.

It’s safe to say that the layoff between their divisional round victory over the San Diego Chargers on Jan. 13, 2019 and their wild-card victory over the Los Angeles Chargers on Jan. 11, 2026 was long enough to provide some extra juice to the home crowd — which was appreciated by those taking part in the contest.

“I thought it was amazing,” New England head coach Mike Vrabel said on Monday. “I think it starts with our willingness to...

New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez is in concussion protocol, head coach Mike Vrabel said Monday morning.

“How long that lasts I don’t know, but when you don’t return to the game — when they don’t let you go back in the game that would put you in the protocol,” Vrabel said. “So wherever that goes, that goes.”

Gonzalez appeared to sustain the injury after recording a pass breakup in the fourth quarter of the Patriots’ wild card win. He eventually took a visit to the blue medical tent before departing to the locker room where he was then ruled...

The New England Patriots punched their ticket for the divisional round of the 2025 NFL Playoffs on Sunday night when they handed the Los Angeles Chargers a 16-3 defeat. While it wasn’t a pretty game, New England earned quite a bit of praise for its performance, with notorious Patriots hater Nick Wright even praising the team.

Entering this game, many folks expected the Pats and Chargers to engage in a shootout. Instead, both teams struggled to put points on the board, with N.E.’s defense eventually taking over the contest in the second half.

After dominating on offense for much of...

It wasn’t pretty, but the New England Patriots grinded out a 16-3 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday night in their wild-card matchup. After dominating on offense all season long, the Pats proved they can win gritty, low-scoring contests, too.

New England will now begin preparing for its upcoming divisional round matchup, where it will face off against the winner of the Pittsburgh Steelers/Houston Texans game on Monday night. Before we turn our attention to that contest, though, let’s pick out four studs and four duds from the Patriots’ biggest win of the season.

Studs

Milton Williams...

Ahead of this year’s training camp, New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel explained that he was looking at his team’s performances in three distinct categories. There is the good, the bad, and, as he called it, the s—t that gets you beat.

The Patriots 16-3 win over the Los Angeles Chargers in Sunday’s wild card playoff round featured a mix off all three. So, if the coach wants to look at his team through those categories, who are we to disagree? Let’s break down the postseason opener in exactly that manner.

The good: Defensive performance

The Patriots defense...

Mike Vrabel and the Patriots found a new way to win against the Chargers, a suffocating defensive effort propelling New England to a 16-3 victory at Gillette Stadium on Sunday night.

Vrabel had a galvanizing message in the Patriots locker room after the victory.

“I can’t tell you how proud I am to sit here and be your coach,” Vrabel said. “You guys have worked so hard for this opportunity. We’re going to enjoy it. We said all along, ‘You gotta be willing to spill some blood’ and ‘The big dogs come out in January.'”

Vrabel gave a specific nod...

A major question mark awaits the Patriots after passing their first-round test.

Will star cornerback Christian Gonzalez, who suffered a head injury late in the fourth quarter of New England’s 16-3 win over the Chargers, be ready for the divisional round?

Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel weighed in on Gonzalez’s injury when he appeared on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” on Monday morning.

“Yeah, I did talk to him (Sunday night),” Vrabel said. “So we’ll go through whatever the steps are that would require him to pass through whatever he needs to do. Without having seen him today, I can’t...

Not even a double-digit playoff win is enough to sell everyone on the New England Patriots.

Mike Vrabel’s team entered the postseason facing questions galore about their ability to handle tougher opponents. The Patriots responded by dominating Justin Herbert in a 16-3 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday night.

Dan Graziano didn’t view the Wild Card Round triumph as validation for the Patriots. Instead, the ESPN insider doubled down on the idea that the AFC East champions “still haven’t beaten anybody good.”

“Oh sure, they won. Which is all that matters at this point,” Graziano wrote. “But their...

For Robert Spillane, one of the biggest moments in the New England Patriots’ wild card playoff win over the Los Angeles Chargers came midway through the first quarter.

Backed up after a Drake Maye interception, the team’s defense successfully kept the Chargers offense out of the end zone on back-to-back plays. On third down from the 3-yard line, however, Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert found an opening. Taking off through the left-side A-gap against a three-man rush, he had only one player between him and the first touchdown of the game.

That player was Marcus Jones, who is giving up 10...

The New England Patriots are moving on after picking up a wild-card victory over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.

New England scratched and clawed to slowly build its lead throughout what ultimately became a 16-3 victory at Gillette Stadium, setting up a playoff matchup with either the four-seed Pittsburgh Steelers or five-seed Houston Texans.

I’ve got your takeaways:

KUHR’S CURVEBALL

Zak Kuhr deserves his flowers.

Kuhr, who has just six seasons of coaching experience on the defensive side of the football, has been tasked with filling in for defensive coordinator Terrell Williams since Sept. 10.

It’s been an...

The New England Patriots advanced to the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs after taking down the Los Angeles Chargers 16-3 on Sunday night.

The Patriots’ defense played great on Sunday, helping pave the way to another home playoff game. Their defense caught the attention of Maxx Crosby, who shouted out K’Lavon Chaisson on X during the game.

Chaisson had a monster game for the Patriots. He recorded three total tackles and had two sacks. He has proven to be a great addition to the Patriots. This season, he had 7 1/2 sacks in 16 games.

He also had 10...