New England Patriots to host Los Angeles Chargers in NFL playoffs Sunday night
The New England Patriots will face the Los Angeles Chargers in the first round of the NFL playoffs next weekend.
They'll play at 8 p.m. Sunday, January 11, at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. The game will be broadcast on NBC and streamed on Peacock.
The Patriots, the AFC East champions, head into the playoffs as the number 2 seed. They pulled away from the Miami Dolphins to close out the season on Sunday, with a 38-10 win.
The Chargers will head to Foxboro as the number 7 seed in the AFC. Los Angeles went 11-6 this season and finished second in the AFC West behind the Denver Broncos. The Chargers ended their season Sunday playing their backups and lost to the Broncos.
With the win, Denver earned the number one seed and a bye thanks to a tiebreaker over the Patriots.
Patriots vs. Chargers
The Patriots and Chargers did not play each other during the regular season.
Things were quite different the last time they faced each other.
Los Angeles came to Gillette Stadium on December 28, 2024 and left with a 40-7 win. The win improved the Chargers to 10-6 on the year, while the Patriots dropped to 3-13.
Drake Maye was 12 for 22 with a touchdown on the day, and rushed for 32 yards. Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert found the end zone three times and passed for 281 yards.
A week later, the Patriots won their season finale behind backup quarterback Joe Milton. After the game, first-year head coach Jerod Mayo was fired, setting the stage for the hiring of Mike Vrabel that has quickly turned the franchise around.
This year's matchup will be a showdown between two of the elite quarterbacks in the league as Maye has turned into an MVP candidate. The Chargers have looked like a Super Bowl contender at times under head coach Jim Harbaugh, but have also been slowed by injuries and problems with their offensive line.
After sitting out Week 18, Herbert ended the regular season with 3,277 yards, 26 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Herbert underwent surgery on his non-throwing hand in early December, but did not miss any time.
What is the NFL playoff schedule?
In addition to the Patriots game, the NFL announced its complete playoff schedule Sunday night.
On Saturday, the Los Angeles Rams will travel to play the Carolina Panthers at 4:30 p.m. on FOX. The Green Bay Packers will be in Chicago to play the Bears Saturday night at 8 p.m. on Amazon Prime.
Then on Sunday, there are three games set to kick off. The Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars begin the action at 1 p.m. on CBS. The San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles play the 4:30 p.m. game on FOX, followed by Patriots and Chargers to close out the the weekend action.
The opening round finale comes on ESPN, with the Houston Texans and Pittsburgh Steelers playing on Monday Night Football at 8 p.m.