Nearly every lever Mike Vrabel has pulled has worked out in the Patriots' turnaround season, a lot like during the best of times.

The New England Patriots are moving on in the NFL playoffs as their defense was dominant in a 16-3 win over the Los Angeles Chargers in the wild-card round at Gillette Stadium.

The victory marked the first postseason win for New England post-Tom Brady and their first since winning Super Bowl LIII against the Los Angeles Rams to conclude the 2018 season. The Patriots will host the winner of Monday's matchup between the fifth-seeded Houston Texans and the fourth-seeded Pittsburgh Steelers in the divisional round.

New England's coach isn't afraid to mix it up, or even spill some blood, as his team's improbable season continues.

Drake Maye threw a touchdown pass to Hunter Henry in the fourth quarter, and New England’s defense roughed up Justin Herbert as the Patriots beat the Los Angeles Chargers 16-3 in an AFC wild-card playoff game.

FOXBORO, Mass. — The NFL's epic weekend of action came to a close on Sunday night as the Patriots took care of business over the Chargers, 16–3, to advance to the divisional round of the AFC playoffs.

The team’s 16-3 wild card loss to the New England Patriots followed the most predictable script. Whereas the team’s defense played one of its best games of the season against a Drake Maye-led offense, giving up only one touchdown and registering two takeaways, the offense crumbled in large part because of the blocking up front.

Anfernee Jennings, who faced persistent trade rumors throughout 2025, called remaining with the Patriots "a blessing" after helping secure the team's first playoffs victory since 2018.

A pair of AFC powerhouses closed out the Sunday triple-header of wild-card games. The Patriots stymied Justin Herbert and L.A. Here's how it happened:

Drake Maye leads the Patriots against Justin Herbert and the Chargers at Gillette Stadium, with kickoff set for 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC.

Though it wasn’t a perfect night for the first-rounder or the offense, Will Campbell was glad to get a win in the Wild Card round.