All these close games are over. Here comes the slaughter! For those who will slaughter the weak, we salute you!
Patriots -3.5 (-105)
OVER 45.5
Patriots -3.5 (-105)
OVER 45.5
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If there was any doubt about whether the Patriots are back, this panel put that to rest. Opposing coaches and executives have long admired coach Mike Vrabel’s leadership, and they’re continuing to revel in quarterback Drake Maye’s development into an MVP frontrunner.
“Too good at the line of scrimmage,” a coach said of the Patriots.
It’s fair to be skeptical of the Patriots’ resume. Their .391 strength of schedule was the easiest in the league by a wide margin, as the Dallas Cowboys (.438) and Denver Broncos (.422) were the only other teams whose opponents had a collective winning percentage below .450.
The Patriots were also 2-2 against playoff teams, including an 0-1 mark since Week 6. During their only test in the last three months, they blew a 21-0 lead at home to the Bills.
Conversely, the Chargers were 3-3 against playoff teams, though they rested their stars in the Week 18 loss to the Broncos. The Chargers’ potential undoing has been obvious for quite a while, as stud tackles Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater are long gone with season-ending injuries.
“The Chargers have done more with injuries than any team should be able to do,” a second executive said. “I don’t know how Justin Herbert is still alive with that offensive line. It’s impressive how many games they’ve won just by being a sound football team, tough and resilient.”
Herbert deserves MVP consideration with his steadying hand amid the madness. His overall stats were down, but he played the position with a ton of authority — all while getting sacked 54 times, one shy of the league high.
Maye, who might’ve rallied to leapfrog Stafford for the MVP, led the league with a 72.0 completion percentage and 113.5 passer rating, and he ranked fourth with 4,394 passing yards and third with 31 touchdowns.
“The way Drake is playing and that defense and being home,” the second executive said, “that’s going to be a hard thing for the Chargers to do.”
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