The New England Patriots are back in the playoffs for the first time since the 2021-2022 NFL season. In his first year as Patriots head coach, Mike Vrabel has lifted the Patriots from one of the worst teams in the league over the past two seasons to the No. 2 seed in the AFC following a 14-3 regular season record. Heading into the Wild Card round, the Patriots will host the No. 7 seed Los Angeles Chargers.
After an 11-6 season, the Chargers enter the playoffs on a three-game winning streak, including a win over the No.1 seed Denver Broncos. New England's defense will have a lot to deal with facing this Chargers offense. Starting quarterback Justin Herbert finished ninth in the league for total passing yards, with 3,727, spreading the ball out with four different targets recording 600 or more receiving yards. On the ground, the Chargers had two runningbacks break 500 rushing yards in Kimani Vidal and rookie Omarion Hampton.
While the Chargers' offense can put up numbers, they do have one big concern. For New England to win this game, they will need to take advantage of it.
Patriots' D-Line Must Be Ready to Play Against Los Angeles
For as good as the Chargers' offense has been this season, their offensive line has been one of the worst in the NFL. Down both starting tackles in Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater, the line struggled in pass protection, allowing 60 sacks on the season, tied for the second most in the NFL. Given the poor play, the Patriots' defensive line needs to show up.
New England's best path to victory is for the defensive line to overwhelm Herbert and the protection in front of him, forcing the QB into mistakes. For this to happen, the Patriots will need their best game from the defensive line, which has registered 35 sacks on the year, putting them in the bottom half of the league.
The Patriots' pass rush will be seeing a boost for the game, with Milton Williams returning from injury in the Week 18 win over the Miami Dolphins. Williams had been the best player on the defensive line, so getting him back should help the struggling unit.
One player on the defensive line to keep an eye on is K'Lavon Chaisson. In his first season with the Patriots, Chaisson has recorded 7.5 sacks, the second most on the team, behind Harold Landry, who finished with 8.5. This postseason run could be important for Chaisson and his future in New England, as he is set to be a free agent after the season.
This game will be a tough one for the Patriots, but if they get a strong game out of the defensive line, they should be in a good position to win. On the other side of the ball, it will be interesting to see Patriots quarterback Drake Maye handle his first postseason game, following a strong sophomore campaign.
If both units are clicking, New England should find itself in a great spot to emerge from Wild Card weekend with a win.