A few early thoughts on next Sunday’s Patriots-Chargers divisional playoff contest at Gillette Stadium:
1. On the surface, this looks like it has the potential to be a really fun game with a lot of above-the-marquee type of talent: Tom Brady vs. Philip Rivers, Stephon Gilmore vs. Keenan Allen, Joey Bosa vs. Trent Brown and Bill Belichick vs. Anthony Lynn. But one of the wild cards in this one is going to be Melvin Gordon’s health. The Chargers back has been dealing with a knee issue for much of the season, and he was dinged up in the win over the Ravens. If he’s at something close to 100 percent, he brings an added dynamic option to that Los Angeles offense. If he can’t go, I’m not sure there’s a more dramatic drop-off (at least when you’re talking about skill position guys) from one spot to the next. This story from The Ringer is a good one when it comes to explaining Gordon’s importance.
5. One of the things that should be talked about more than it will be this week is the New England special teams advantage. Setting aside the fact Michael Badgley connected on five field goals against the Ravens, the Chargers have always been a bit of an adventure on special teams. They’ve had seven kickers the past two seasons, and had issues in punt coverage. Baltimore blocked a punt against them on Sunday, and overall, L.A. was 25th in Football Outsiders' special teams DVOA. (By way of comparison, New England was 16th in the same category.) It’s been a struggle for them as of late, but while the Patriots have had issues at times this year, it sets up to be an advantage for New England heading into the game.
