FOXBOROUGH — The Patriots overcame their "nap" in the second quarter on Sunday to dispatch the Dolphins to finish off a very impressive 14-3 regular season to earn the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs. They will face the No. 7 Los Angeles Chargers at 8 p.m. Sunday.
Before we get into an early look with the Chargers, a few things that stood out in the 38-10 win over Miami:
• I thought Milton Williams and Will Campbell looked great in their returns. Credit to the training and strength staff of the Patriots because those guys looked healthy and ready to go in playing plenty of snaps. Williams had two impactful plays against the run, and started an eventual sack for Elijah Ponder. I thought Williams really freed things up for others up front, especially Christian Barmore, who had his best game in a while (3 pressures). K'Lavon Chaisson (5 pressures), Anferee Jennings and Elijah Ponder (4 each) benefited from Williams looking good.
• Campbell moved well, while wearing a brace on his right knee. He did well on double teams and getting to the second level in the run game. He had his trademark late shoves down the field. His feet appeared light in pass protection. Really good for both players to play into the second half to prime them for the playoffs.
• The Patriots' offense had 10 explosive plays (5 rush, 5 pass) and just one negative play. The Dolphins had 5 explosive plays and 10 negative plays.
• Amazing that Rhamondre Stevenson had 131 yards on just seven carries. He's on a heater right now, and I expect they are priming him for a more featured role in the postseason. TreVeyon Henderson continues to make some progress. His home run threat continues to be very real, and they'll continue to prime that pump.
• Drake Maye got a little big-play hungry in the second quarter, but otherwise played very efficiently and made good decisions, never putting the ball in harm's way. And, ho hum, he had another +14.9 completion percentage above expected.
• Kind of surprised DeMario Douglas had half the team's third down targets (three), but I do think overall they were trying not tax the starters too much and give other players some work.
• Patriots played man coverage 23%, and blitzed 46%. Will they suddenly play more man in the postseason? It would be a surprise, but they have that club in the bag.
We'll have more, obviously, after we break down the film.
Now, some early thoughts on the Chargers after watching some of their Week 17 loss to the Texans.
DEFENSIVE STATS TO KNOW (ALL FROM WEEKS 14-17)
- 4th in points per drive 1.53
- 21st in man coverage percentage 23.8%
- 4th in defensive passer rating 63.4
- 10th in pressure rate 36.7
- 30th in blitz percentage 16.3
- 8th in two safety coverage shell, 48.8%
- 4th in dime rate 22.2%, 28th in base 18.5%
- 1st in defensive rush success rate, and are 6th in explosive rush rate
- 8th in red zone success rate
- 1st in interceptions per attempt 6.0%
- 1st in red zone defense 25%, and goal-to-go defense 33.3%
- 5th in time of possession
So, yeah, defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, who is expected to be a hot head coach candidate this offseason, is doing a good job. It's a tough defense that's well coordinated. They are big up front and on the edges, fast at the second and third levels.
OFFENSIVE STATS TO KNOW (ALL FROM WEEKS 14-17)