It’s official.
The Patriots will host the Chargers within the Wild Card spherical of the playoffs subsequent Sunday at 8 p.m. inside Gillette Stadium.
The Patriots clinched the No. 2 seed within the AFC bracket with Sunday’s 38-10 win over Miami, whereas a backup-laden Chargers group dropped to the seventh seed after a 19-3 loss at Denver.
The Patriots (14-3) will play at residence for your entire AFC playoffs except they meet the Broncos within the AFC Championship Recreation. That is their first journey to the postseason in 4 years, and subsequent weekend will characteristic their first residence playoff sport since Jan. 2020.
The Chargers (11-6) are led by Professional Bowl quarterback Justin Hebert, who accomplished 66.4% of his passes for 3,727 yards, 26 touchdowns and 13 interceptions this yr regardless of a lingering hand damage and poor go safety. Getting into Sunday, when Herbert sat in favor of backup Trey Lance, Los Angeles ranked seventeenth in factors scored and seventh in factors allowed. The Chargers are making their second straight postseason run beneath second-year head coach Jim Harbaugh, who has one profession Tremendous Bowl look from his tenure as the top coach in San Francisco.
The Pats and Chargers didn’t play within the common season. Their final assembly got here on Dec. 28, 2024, when Los Angeles slammed the Pats 40-7 in a sport that sealed the destiny of then head coach Jerod Mayo. Patriots quarterback Drake Maye went 12-of-22 for 117 yards and a landing, whereas taking 4 sacks and dashing for 32 yards.
If the Patriots win subsequent weekend, they’ll host the highest-seeded group remaining within the divisional spherical, which may imply fellow division winners Jacksonville or Baltimore/Pittsburgh, pending the end result of Sunday evening’s sport.
