New England Patriots: W2W4 Divisional Playoff Game vs Los Angeles Chargers
By Hal Bent
The New England Patriots face off against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday afternoon in the AFC Divisional Playoff round at 1:05 pm EST on CBS.
The Chargers needed to hold-off a furious comeback by Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens last Sunday to pull out a 23-17 win and advance to Gillette Stadium.
As a reward, the 12-win Chargers get to fly across the country once again and now face the 11-win Patriots in chilly Foxborough. New England had a much-needed bye week to rest up, get healthy, and prepare for their next opponent. The Patriots previously had claimed the second seed in the AFC by winning the AFC East, while the Chargers will now play back-to-back road games after losing the tie-breaker with the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West.
The two teams last met in the regular season on Oct. 29, 2017, when New England defeated the Chargers in a 21-13 win at Gillette Stadium. Quarterback Tom Brady passed for 333 yards and a touchdown, and kicker Stephen Gostkowski kicked four field goals to lead the Patriots over Los Angeles (all statistics from Pro-Football-Reference.com unless otherwise stated)..
Both teams are very different from just 15 months ago. For all the pregame analysis about that game, their 2014 matchup in Los Angeles, and the other regular season and playoff games after the 2006 and 2007 seasons, there is very truthfully very little to tie those games to the one being played today, other than the uniforms and the quarterbacks.
With that said, let’s take a look at what to watch for (W2W4) this afternoon, looking at the offense and defense of both squads: