FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Chargers had their chances in their AFC wild-card game Sunday night against the New England Patriots. Their defense gave them plenty of them with an interception, a fumble recovery and a steady dose of pressure that made Drake Maye look somewhat less than a leading MVP candidate.
As time ticked down, the question was whether the Chargers’ offense would finally come to life. The game was there for the taking. Or so it seemed. All quarterback Justin Herbert had to do was reach out and grab it and make it his and settle any questions about his playoff ability.
In the end, the answer was no. There was more misery for Herbert and the Chargers, who dropped a 16-3 decision into the laps of the Patriots. New England’s defense played no small part in the Chargers’ third wild-card exit in Herbert’s otherwise remarkable tenure as their QB.
The second-seeded Patriots await the winner of Monday night’s game between the fourth-seeded Pittsburgh Steelers and the fifth-seeded Houston Texans. The Steelers handed the Patriots one of their three regular-season defeats, a 21-14 loss in Week 3. New England didn’t play Houston this season.
The Chargers’ recent playoff history has been less than stellar by any measure. Jim Harbaugh’s first season as their coach ended with a 32-12 loss to the Texans that highlighted their flaws in the trenches against a team that excelled along both the offensive and defensive lines.
Who could forget their 31-30 come-from-ahead loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars that ended their 2022 season and set in motion a change in coaches and general managers? Brandon Staley was fired as coach late in the 2023 season and Tom Telesco was let go as general manager, too.
The Chargers’ last playoff victory was a wild-card victory over the Baltimore Ravens on Jan. 6, 2019. As in the hours, days, weeks and months after their losses to the Texans and Jaguars, their next playoff victory seems almost unimaginable after their latest postseason defeat.
Holding a precarious, 9-3, lead early in the fourth quarter, Maye showed an MVP’s touch with a flawless 28-yard touchdown pass to tight end Hunter Henry. The Patriots then put the game away by clobbering a scrambling Herbert, forcing him to fumble with 8:08 remaining in the game.
It was a dark and dreary ending to a second straight 11-win season.
It didn’t start that way. In fact, at least one Charger tried to lighten the mood.
As if to say, “Cold? What cold?” Chargers safety Derwin James Jr. walked bare-chested out of the locker room and into the 35-degree night wearing a beanie, shorts and flip-flops. After the 15-degree temperatures they faced in Kansas City last month, the air at Gillette Stadium was balmy by contrast.
The Chargers then went out and chilled the Patriots, the NFL’s second-best offense during the regular season, holding them to two field goals in a tightly defended first half. The Chargers managed only one field goal despite two trips into the red zone in the first half, and they trailed, 6-3.
Daiyan Henley’s interception of a tipped Maye pass set up the Chargers at the Patriots’ 10-yard line in the first quarter. But then Herbert’s pass intended for Keenan Allen on fourth-and-goal at the 2 sailed over the well-covered wide receiver’s head and the Patriots took over on downs.
New England then drove for the first score of the game, a 23-yard field goal by Andy Borregales with 13:32 left in the half. Maye got the Patriots out of the shadow of their own end zone with a 48-yard pass play to running back Rhamondre Stevenson, his only completion of note in the half.
The Chargers countered with Cameron Dicker’s 21-yard field goal after their second trip into the red zone stalled with 6:52 left in the half. The Patriots then broke the tie with Borregales’ 35-yard field goal with two seconds remaining in the half, a score set up by Maye’s 37-yard scramble.
Borregales then extended New England’s lead to 9-3 with a 39-yard field goal with 1:34 left in the third quarter, a manageable deficit if the Chargers’ offense had been functioning properly. But heading into the fourth quarter, the Chargers were down and scuffling with the football in their hands.
More to come on this story.
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