The New England Patriots sacked Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert six times as they advanced in the AFC playoffs with a 16-3 victory on Sunday night in a Wild-Card Weekend game.
New England scored the game’s only touchdown on a 28-yard pass from quarterback Drake Maye to tight end Hunter Henry to take a 13-point lead with 9:45 to play.
The Chargers’ remaining two possessions ended in sacks.
On a second-down snap at the Patriots 42-yard line, outside linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson had a strip-sack of Herbert, with New England recovering the football with 8:08 to play.
On fourth-and-9 at the Patriots 34, defensive tackle Milton Williams sacked Herbert with 1:55 remaining.
New England held Los Angeles to 207 yards and one conversion on 10 third-down snaps. The Chargers started their second possession on the Patriots 10-yard line after an interception but were stopped on downs.
Maye completed 17-of-29 passes for 268 yards with one touchdown and one interception and ran 10 times for 66 yards. The Chargers sacked Maye five times.
Herbert completed 19-of-31 passes for 159 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions and ran for 57 yards on 10 carries.
While the Los Angeles defense had five quarterback hits, the New England defense registered 11.
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Eleven players from Alabama high schools and colleges got on the field during the Los Angeles-New England game at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts:
Christian Barmore (Alabama) started at defensive tackle for the Patriots. Barmore made three tackles.
Bradley Bozeman (Handley, Alabama) started at center for the Chargers.
Carlton Davis (Auburn) started at cornerback for the Patriots. Davis made three tackles and recorded one quarterback hit.
Patriots tight end CJ Dippre (Alabama) was designated as a game-day inactive.
Chargers defensive tackle Justin Eboigbe (Alabama) did not record any stats.
Da’Shawn Hand (Alabama) started at defensive tackle for the Chargers. Hand made one tackle and recovered a fumble by New England quarterback Drake Maye at the Los Angeles 23-yard line with 7:06 left in the third quarter.
Chargers long snapper Josh Harris (Auburn) handled the snaps for five punts and one field goal.
Chargers running back Najee Harris (Alabama) is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.
Patriots linebacker Anfernee Jennings (Dadeville, Alabama) made two tackles and recorded one sack. Jennings had two sacks during the regular season.
Marcus Jones (Enterprise, Troy) started at slot corner for the Patriots. Jones made six tackles, recorded one sack, broke up one pass, forced one fumble (which Los Angeles recovered) and returned two punts for 2 yards.
Chargers wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith (Auburn) is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.
Chargers cornerback Jordan Oladokun (Samford) is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.
Patriots safety Dell Pettus (Sparkman, Troy) made two tackles on defense and one on special teams.
Chargers punter JK Scott (Alabama) averaged 42.2 yards on five punts, with a 37.8-yard net. Scott had a 44-yard punt returned for no gain at the New England 8-yard line, a 33-yarder returned 2 yards to the New England 46, a 46-yarder out of bounds at the New England 19, a 34-yarder out of bounds at the New England 15 and a 54-yarder for a touchback.
Kimani Vidal (Troy) started at running back for the Chargers. Vidal ran for 31 yards on 11 carries and caught two passes for 20 yards. He also recovered a fumble by quarterback Justin Herbert and turned it into a 13-yard gain.
Patriots wide receiver Jeremiah Webb (South Alabama) was designated as a game-day inactive. New England had elevated Webb from its practice squad to make him eligible to play with wide receiver Kayshon Boutte nursing a hamstring injury, but Boutte played on Sunday.
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New England won the AFC East title and earned the No. 2 seed in the AFC field with a 14-3 regular-season record. The Patriots will play the winner of Monday night’s Houston Texans-Pittsburgh Steelers game in the second round on Sunday. The time has not been set.
At 11-6, Los Angeles was a wild-card qualifier.