After seven weeks of football, the Patriots needed to get over the hump and beat a good team to stay in the playoff hunt. The game did not start well because the Chargers marched down the field for 75 yards and a touchdown on the opening drive. Then after a Damien Harris touchdown tied the game, the Chargers surged ahead 14-7 after a 75 yard run by Justin Jackson and a 5-yard TD catch by Keenan Allen. The Patriots’ defense slowly made the adjustments and figured out how to slow down the Chargers’ offense. At halftime, the score was 14-13 because of two Patriot field goals in the second quarter. The teams traded field goals after the half but the turning point in the game was Adrian Phillip’s incredible pick-six interception. The game was put to bed when Mac Jones led the offense down the field with a fantastic six-minute drive for a field goal and a 10-point lead. Despite a late touchdown, the game was over on an onside kick recovery, and the Patriots were finally back to .500. These are my five takeaways from the matchup.
1. Adrian Phillip gets his revenge and stars the show-when a player goes against a former team, usually, they give their best effort and leave a mark on the contest. Adrian Phillips certainly accomplished his mission. The former Charger had two big interceptions off Justin Herbert. The first interception was off a tipped catch attempt by Austin Ekeler but the second was an instinctive diving catch and then the scamper into the end zone. Yes, Phillips’ jolted his former team and propelled his current to a big win.
2. Pass rush rises up-the Patriots could not generate a pass rush against Dak Prescott and the Cowboys. The pass rush turned up in this game and made life uncomfortable for Justin Herbert. The guy with the red sleeve, Matt Judon, once again delivered for his team. He had four solo tackles and 1.5 sacks. Christian Barmore shared a sack with Judon while Lawrence Guy recorded another. If the Patriots’ defense can keep this up, then this team may go to the next level.
3. Mac Jones outduels Justin Herbert-both quarterbacks ended with around the same numbers. Herbert completed 18 of 35 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns. On the other hand, Jones completed 18 of 35 passes for 218 yards and 0 touchdowns. The key difference in the game is that Jones had 0 interceptions while Herbert had two interceptions. Jones seemed rattled by the pass rush in the first half but he took care of the ball and led the team on that clock-killing final drive. The fact that he did not way play well and still won the game should boost his confidence.
4. The run game was another key to the win-The Chargers outrushed the Patriots 163-141. However, the Chargers had that big run play of 75 runs. If we remove that play from the total, it would be 19 carries for 58 yards. Entering the game, the Chargers struggled to stop the run and failed to get a stop in the pivotal 4th quarter drive. The run game also enabled Mac Jones to feel comfortable and to be effective down the stretch. The Patriots also out-possessed the Chargers 35:24 to 24:36 because of the run game.
5. Red Zone conversion-if there was something to nitpick, the Patriots struggled in this game in the red zone. The Patriots only converted 1 of their four chances in the red zone. They threw the ball too much in the red zone instead of running the ball. If they had scored one or two more touchdowns from those red zone attempts, then it could have been a more comfortable victory.
After this big win at Sofi stadium, the 4-4 Patriots head south next week to take on the 4-4 Carolina Panthers.
