FOXBOROUGH – The last time the Patriots won a postseason game, there was only one touchdown in the game, it was the Patriots that scored it, it was against a team based in Los Angeles, and it was in the fourth quarter when it was scored.
Locked in a 3-3 tie with the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII, Sony Michel scored on a two-yard run to put the Patriots up 10-3 about halfway through the fourth quarter. The Patriots went on to win, 13-3 for their sixth and most recent title.
Fast forward to six years later. Locked in a 9-3 rockfight with the Los Angeles Chargers, the brand new version of the New England Patriots rode the shoulders of their young quarterback, Drake Maye to victory. Maye hit former Charger tight end Hunter Henry with a 28-yard scoring pass to make it 16-3. That’s how things finished, as the Patriots moved on to the Divisional round with the first postseason win in Maye’s still burgeoning NFL career. The Patriots showed a national audience on Sunday night at Gillette Stadium that they are much more than a good team that beats up on the underbelly of the NFL.
It was a win in what turned out to be a taut defensive struggle, with the Patriot defense outplaying the vaunted Charger defense. When Jim Harbaugh left Michigan to come to Los Angeles, he took defensive coordinator Jesse Minter with him. All week long, much was made of the Charger defense, and their two superstars, Khalil Mack and Derwin James.
All game long, Mack’s name was never called. The only time you heard James’ name mentioned was when Henry beat him for the only touchdown of the game.
This was not a game where Maye put up stellar passing numbers. This was a game where Maye did the best he could with the passing attack, overcame two turnovers, and instead let his feet do the talking for him. Maye, in effect, acted a lot like Justin Herbert and turned out to be the Patriots’ leading rusher with 66 rushing yards.
Maye himself gave major props to the defense, as he knows more than anyone they had the most to say about the Patriot victory. The defense had Herbert on the run all night long, as they sacked Herbert six times, and held the Charger quarterback to 57 yards (he also led his team in rushing).
The defense made their biggest statement early. On their second offensive possession, the Patriots had the ball at their own eight-yard line. Maye tried to hit Henry over the middle on second down, but James tipped the ball and Daiyan Henley picked it off. The Chargers had first and goal at the Patriot 10.
What should have been a certain score for the Chargers never materialized. Herbert ran the ball three times, and it was fourth down and goal at the 2. Herbert was flushed out of the pocket and rolled right. He saw Keenan Allen in the end zone, but Christian Gonzalez knocked the ball away and the Patriots took over on downs.
While this play did not directly decide the game, the play more or less set the tone for the rest of the evening. The Chargers make a potentially game-defining interception, and instead the Patriots come up with a game-defining four-and-out/goal line stand. This is why Maye chose to praise the defense first and foremost.
Another thing that helped the Patriot defense was that all the hosses, minus Khyiris Tonga, were back. You didn’t hear the names Robert Spillane and Harold Landry as much as you heard the names Milton Williams, K’Lavon Chaisson, Craig Woodson, Christian Elliss or Jack Gibbens, but having them in there allowed the defense to operate at full power. Herbert spent most of the night running for his life, never getting into a passing rhythm. Of course, you could say that the Charger defense did much the same thing to Maye, but Maye was able to make a few more plays than Herbert and did account for the game’s only touchdown.
Maye finished 17 of 29 passing for 268 yards, one tuddie, and one pick. His rating was 86.6. For comparison purposes only, in 2001, Tom Brady’s first postseason game of his career yielded a passer rating of 70.6 (in a raging blizzard). In his first Super Bowl in the same season, his rating was 86.2. So, you may conclude that Maye did pretty well in his first postseason game other than the two turnovers (he had a strip sack along with the interception).
Other than Maye, Rhamondre Stevenson had 53 rushing yards. Stevenson also had 75 receiving yards to lead the team, and 128 all-purpose yards. Kayshon Boutte and Henry combined for 130 receiving yards. It further adds to the majesty of the Patriot postseason win in that most of the yardage came from Maye rushing and Stevenson receiving.
Meanwhile, Herbert finished 19 of 31 passing for 159 yards and a rating of 74.5. Herbert is now 0-3 in the postseason in his career. Ladd McConkey, whom the Patriots passed on for Ja’Lynn Polk two years ago, led the Bolts with 32 receiving yards.
The Patriots will have to wait a day before they know who they play next week. With Buffalo’s win over Jacksonville and the Charger loss, Buffalo will play at Denver next weekend. The Patriots will host the winner of Monday night’s Houston-Pittsburgh game. The Steelers are a home dog to the Texans, who have a stronger defense than the Chargers.
The Patriots can now say that their easy schedule team won a postseason game. They took a strong defensive team and beat them in the strength versus strength game. If they have to face Houston next week, the Patriots know that they can win a rockfight. And Maye should be safe and secure in the knowledge that he doesn’t have to shoulder the entire burden to win in the postseason.
Meanwhile, all of Patriot Nation should be elated at what they saw. Against a tough team, the Patriots beat them up and won by the biggest margin of the weekend so far (13 points; all the other games were three or four point wins). So many fans who may have been spoiled over the first two decades of this century have been humbled a bit over the last six years, which may make them appreciate this playoff win just a little bit more.
But as soon as they know who is next, that’s who the Patriots are on to. Simple as that.
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Covering Boston Sports since 1997. Native of Worcester, Mass. Attended UMass and Univ of Michigan. Lives in California. Just recently retired after 40 years of public school teaching. Podcasts on YouTube at @thepic4139
