If you weren’t in attendance for the Patriots’ first home playoff game since January 4, 2020 (Brady/Titans/Sad Trombone), you missed one hell of an atmosphere. So many of the players referenced it in the post-game and again on Monday, although none did it better than Garrett Bradbury.
“Yeah, it's the best I've seen,” he said. “The place was rocking. Running out of the tunnel for the game was the most electric I've seen it here. The fans were in it. Stands were full. We just kept saying on the sideline, like in the fourth quarter, and they're playing those AC DC songs like, this is football. This is why you play. I was trying to keep those rookies in the moment, like, "Guys, this is sick. Don't take this for granted. Let's go out and play some good football with our fans.’ It was a special night. It was fun.
“My rookie year was the only playoff win I've had. Veteran linebacker, running off the field after he won, he was like, ‘You don't understand how big of a deal this is.’ And I didn't. I was a rookie, and we just came to the league, and you win. Great. Hadn't won a playoff game since then. So now I'm the veteran relaying to these guys, ‘Listen, you don't know what we just did.’ Let's keep it going. Let's get another one. It's a big deal. You don't want to look ahead. You want to smell the roses, but you're not satisfied. It's all these kinds of different things, but at the same time, I think you can appreciate, like, what you're doing and where you're at, but to still be a little hungry for more.”
On to Musings...
THUMBS UP
2nd half Drake Maye. He was 11-of-14 (+0.23 EPA per drop-back), had a couple of key scrambles - including that 8-yarder on the game’s only TD drive (in which he escaped the grasp of a 320-pound man) - and the scoring toss to Hunter Henry was dead sexy. Dropped that ball over Derwin James’ outstretched arms from an unbalanced platform. Not a ton of guys that can make that throw. Maye can. But he also missed a wide-open Austin Hooper on a corner route, and put the ball on the turf for a second time when he needed to turtle like Yertle. That was early season/last year Maye, perhaps pressing too hard to make a play when the smart thing to do would be to protect the fooball and take the ‘L.’
This is becoming a broken record, but Rhamondre Stevenson is playing great ball. He led the Pats with 128 total yards from scrimmage (75 receiving, 53 rushing), and I will continue to say I want him to get more touches. Stevenson is making the first defender miss more often than my son fails to get the trash in the actual trash can (one of those things in infinitely more difficult than the other), and his ability to sort out where and when the Chargers defense was pressuring led to a couple of those big plays on check-downs.
“The big dogs come out in January.” If that’s the case, Milton Williams is the ‘header’ of this litter. The high-priced free agent signee had way more explosion in his lower half than the week prior, where I wondered if he’d be anything more than a B- player because of the lingering effects of the high-ankle sprain. About that...Williams had a pair of sacks, three QB pressures and helped fortify a run defense that limited the Chargers’ running backs to a paltry 2.6 YPC. He was all that and a bag of chips.
I’ve come to appreciate the hell out of this linebacker group. Robert Spillane was impactful as a blitzer and as the green dot guy, helping organize the front and the back. His instincts and intelligence were missed. Christian Elliss did an excellent job when he was assigned to spy Justin Herbert, deflecting a pass and recovering a fumble. Herbert may see him in his sleep for months. He left the locker room with the ball tucked firmly under his left arm. Meanwhile, Jack Gibbens had a couple of run stops, including one combined stop with Jahlani Tavai. Never doubt Dr. Gibby.
I felt Craig Woodson was low-key important to Sunday’s game, figuring the Chargers would try to isolate him in coverage. That’s not how this played out, in part because Herbert didn’t want to hang out in the pocket for very long. The rookie safety was a menace in the box, with a TFL and a QB pressure, and didn’t get taken advantage of in the pass game. Oh, and he had a couple of tackles on special teams.
If you want to know why I’d figure out a way to play to Christian Gonzalez’s strengths, this is a good tape to digest. He’s better than what the Chargers rolled there at wide receiver, and given the opportunity to play man, or “zone” in match coverage, he was outstanding. Keenan Allen had him on that 4th down by the goalline, but we’ll never know because Herbert's throw was high and Allen’s effort was low. Now we wait and see what the injury report looks like this week, as Gonzalez is officially in concussion protocol.
If this feels like it’s a rundown of who's who on defense, you’re right. Marcus Jones played as if he were shot out of a cannon. He had the critical 3rd down stop of the much-bigger Herbert at around the 2-yard line, timed a run blitz to perfection (even if he didn’t make the tackle), had the sack/forced fumble (recovered by Vidal), and helped erase Ladd McConkey (along with all of his other secondary friends), allowing him one catch on 20 routes run against.
“You look at Marcus Jones’ tackle on a 6-foot-[6] quarterback who’s running downhill on the 2-yard line. For him to be able to get him down on the ground, such a huge play that ultimately changes the game for us,” Spillane said. I concur, Robert. I concur.
All of the above mean that interim DC Zak Kuhr deserves to be on this list. His plan and aggressive play calling allowed the Patriots to be in attack mode all evening.
" Iwould tell you this means a lot to him,” Vrabel said post-game. “These players mean a lot to him. I think that they want to do well for Zak and for the entire staff that put a lot into it. I'm proud of Zak for not only the performance calling the game, but the preparation and what goes into it. He's earned every bit of recognition that he's getting and should get. ... Zak was able to change up some calls there at the end. I felt like that mixed the pressure in because that's what we felt like we needed.”
Thumb Down
The Patriots’ pass catchers could not find or create much space vs. an uptick in man-to-man coverage by the Chargers (29%, up from 19% during the regular season). Maye was just 1-of-7 for 7 yards against man. Meanwhile, Stefon Diggs saw a fair share of doubles and/or bracket coverage, and I would expect that to continue if opposing defensive coordinators are paying attention. Kayshon Boutte stepped up and had some moments, but Maye will need more from everyone else.
1st half Maye. The interception may have been “unfortunate” (as Vrabel termed it), but it happened. He was also off-target more often than we’ve grown accustomed to (6-of-15, including a couple of throwaways, and the lowest completion percentage in a half during his two-year career). I believe that 37-yard scramble to end the half was the moment it turned for him, almost as if to remind him, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve done this before and will do it again.’
The left side of the offensive line has seen better days. Will Campbell was responsible for five pressures, and Jared Wilson four. The Texans (Anderson/Hunter/Rankins) will challenge them every single down. They’ll need better from both, and while it’s easy to wonder if Vrabel will swap out Wilson for Ben Brown, I highly doubt it. They believe in the kid.
Austin Hooper had all kinds of issues with run blocking. The flip side is that he should have had a touchdown had Maye been more accurate on that corner route.
