Position grades from the Patriots’ playoff win over the Chargers

The New England Patriots were able to exorcise some playoff demons. After going one-and-done in each of their last two appearances, they finally earned a victory again. Beating the visiting Los Angeles Chargers with a final score of 16-3, they won their first postseason game since the 2018 season and are now on their way to a divisional round meeting with the Houston Texans.

Before our attention turns to that game, let’s tie up some loose ends from the contest that was — a process that will give us some clarity of where the team needs to improve moving forward.

Patriots position grades from NFL wild card playoffs

Quarterback: Appearing in his first playoff game at 23 and with 29 career starts under his belt, Drake Maye looked a bit more jittery than usual. Whether it was the moment or the opposing defense, he started relatively slowly and had some plays he likely would want back — including an interception and a pair of fumbles while trying to make something out of nothing. Those were some uncharacteristically negative plays for the MVP candidate, but he also showed why he is deserving of that label. Maye made hay of some openings to finish with 69 rushing yards while his touchdown pass to Hunter Henry was as good as it gets. | Grade: B+

Running back: Rhamondre Stevenson continues to be a weapon for the Patriots, becoming just the third player in franchise history on Sunday to finish a postseason game with more than 50 yards both as a receiver and a runner. The veteran accumulated a combined 128 yards on 13 touches, despite New England’s blocking not always being up to par. Fellow running back TreVeyon Henderson was less actively featured, but still added 36 yards on 10 combined carries and catches and had a key blitz pickup on Maye’s touchdown pass to Henry. | Grade: A

Wide receiver: The Chargers dared the Patriots to beat man coverage on critical downs, and it proved to be a problem. Part of it was receivers getting open on a consistent basis, part of it was drops by both Stefon Diggs and DeMario Douglas. Against the Texans next Sunday, both will have to improve. It wasn’t all bad for the wideouts, though. Kayshon Boutte once again showcased his big-play abilities en route to a 66-yard outing, while Kyle Williams had a big blog on Rhamondre Stevenson’s 48-yard catch and run that helped set up the first field goal of the day. Efton Chism was quiet, but did catch a 20-yard pass on that same field goal drive. | Grade: C+

Tight end: Hunter Henry continues to be one of the Patriots’ most reliable performers, and he managed to haul in three passes for 64 yards and a touchdown against his former team. He also continued to look good as a run blocker, something that cannot be fully said about Austin Hooper. While New England’s second tight end had some tough moments and saw a would-be touchdown sail over his head, FB/TE-hybrid Jack Westover caught his first career pass for a gain of 8 yards | Grade: B+

Offensive line: Together for the first time since early November, the Patriots’ starting looked rusty at times. While Garrett Bradbury and Mike Onwenu fared mostly well at center and right guard, and right tackle Morgan Moses was stout in pass protection against a very good edge group, the left side was an issue. Tackle Will Campbell was driven back on multiple occasions, especially early on in the game, and failed to keep Odafe Oweh off of Drake Maye on his lost fumble in the early third quarter; guard Jared Wilson had several uneven moments as well in his debut after missing back-to-back games with a concussion. Both did get better as the game went on, and one would be remiss to mention that they are still rookies, but the Patriots need them to do better — and fast given what awaits. | Grade: C

Defensive line: It took the Patriots’ defensive line a while to get going, but once it did it was game over for the Chargers. Led by seven pressures each from K’Lavon Chaisson and Cory Durden, the group disrupted Justin Herbert on 56.8% of his dropbacks and sacked him six times. On one of those takedowns, Chaisson forced a fumble that was recovered by teammate Christian Elliss; on another, Milton Williams put the nail in the coffin in the late fourth quarter. Scramble lane integrity was a bit uneven, but the outing against both the pass and the non-scramble run definitively what the team had in mind when it opened the checkbook to bring players like Williams, Chaisson and Harold Landry to town in the offseason. | Grade: A-

Linebacker: With Robert Spillane returning from a four-game absence and immediately playing 100% of snaps again, the Patriots linebacker group finally had all hands on deck again. It looked the part. Spillane, Christian Ellis and, to a lesser degree Jack Gibbens and Jahlani Tavai, were integral to New England’s pressure-heavy game plan and efforts to make Los Angeles’ offense one-dimensional. The group’s ability to come down from the second level to shut down gaps against the run and finish tackles in open space was crucial. | Grade: A

Cornerback: Before he departed with a head injury in the early fourth quarter, Christian Gonzalez played like he had a score to settle with those who opted not to vote him to the All-Pro team this year. He was outstanding, erasing whoever he was going up against. Fellow starters Carlton Davis and Marcus Jones also played a very good game, with the former bouncing back from an uneven performance in the regular season finale and the latter making some of the low-key biggest plays of the game. All in all, the group managed to severely limit the impact a good L.A. wide receiver room could have had on the game. | Grade: A

Safety: Even though he likely would have had the 10-yard catch back he gave up against tight end Oronde Gadsden on a fourth-quarter fourth down, Craig Woodson played one of the better games of his rookie season on Sunday. He finished with a team-leading nine tackles and also had a tackle for loss, while fellow starter Jaylinn Hawkins swarmed all over the secondary to help prevent the Chargers from hitting anything deep. The safety group has not always played on the same level as the cornerbacks this year, but on Sunday there was no such drop-off. | Grade: A

Special teams: Mike Vrabel praised the Patriots for a “very clean game from a special teams perspective” on Sunday night, and there is nothing more to add. Led by Andy Borregales’ three field goals, which proved to be the extent of the scoring for most of the game, New England’s kicking game operation constantly seemed like the more consistent of the two. | Grade: A

Drake Maye summed up the Patriots’ outing versus the Chargers well during his postgame presser, when he said that “[t]hey had a great defense, a great quarterback. We were the better team tonight. We made plays when we needed to.” Ultimately, that is what matters — and will continue to do so with a big challenge coming up.

How would you grade the Patriots’ performance in the playoff opener? Do you agree with our assessment? Please head down to the comment section to discuss.