The New England Patriots may have gotten their best possible first-round playoff matchup in the Los Angeles Chargers, but it still shouldn’t be a cakewalk by any means for Drake Maye & Co.
The Chargers had one of the league’s best defenses this season, allowing just 179.9 passing yards (fifth-fewest in NFL) and 105.4 rushing yards (eighth-fewest) per game. Their pass defense is predicated on taking away the big play, meaning Maye might have to settle for checkdowns and handoffs to his running backs in Sunday’s Wild Card Round matchup.
NBC Sports Boston’s Patriots insider Tom E. Curran believes the second-year quarterback is up for the task. On the latest edition of Quick Slants, Curran touched on why he likes Maye’s chances against L.A.
“This isn’t the best defense Drake Maye is going to deal with this season. Nobody was better than the Browns this year, and when the Patriots saw them in late October, New England won 32 to 13,” Curran said.
“How did Maye do that day? 18-for-24, efficient as hell, 282 (yards), three touchdowns and a pick, but there were six sacks in that game. Maye did a great job of managing, even though they had those six sacks. Myles Garrett got to them a few times on his way to a record, but the Chargers don’t have Myles Garrett. They’re going to get to Maye a little bit, and they’ll force some issues.
“The bigger issue that (Drake Maye) will deal with is Derwin James, who’s a safety who could be a pain in the posterior. He’s a key piece of that defense that plays a lot of quarter coverage. … They’re going to move up and down a little bit, help on the underneath stuff, but it’s going to give, by and large, a lot of room for Drake Maye to operate underneath, and it’s going to take away the big play, which is what Drake Maye was wary of.”
The good news for Maye? New England’s run game has been outstanding, so he shouldn’t feel the need to force plays through the air. Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson have been one of the NFL’s best RB tandems for the last several weeks, including the regular-season finale when they combined for five touchdowns in a rout of the Miami Dolphins.
With that success in the run game, plus Maye playing at an MVP level, Pats fans should feel confident heading into Sunday night’s showdown at Gillette Stadium. It’s worth noting, however, that the Chargers are one of the best teams New England has matched up against all season. The Buffalo Bills (one win, one loss) and Pittsburgh Steelers (loss) are the only playoff teams the Patriots faced, as they had one of the league’s easiest regular-season schedules.
Maye will look to put an end to the “easy schedule” discourse with another MVP-caliber performance in primetime. Kickoff for the Sunday Night Football matchup is set for 8 p.m. ET on NBC.