The Los Angeles Chargers suffered a heartbreak on Sunday, losing by 16-3 to the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. However, it looks like they were more confused with the Patriots’ defense rather than getting overwhelmed by it. To put the Chargers at ease, NE’s HC Mike Vrabel came up with the perfect answer after the game.

As Patriots LB Robert Spillane shared after the game, multiple Chargers players came up to him, revealing their total confusion over New England’s defensive schemes.

He said, “After the game, talking to a few of the guys on their team, they had no clue what we were doing. They came up and said that. ‘We had no clue what you guys were in all game.'”

To put the Chargers at ease, Mike Vrabel, the Patriots’ head coach, had the perfect response after the game.

“Sometimes we don’t know what coverage we’re running, so that’s a good thing,” said Mike Vrabel jokingly on 93.7 FM WEEI Boston, via Phil Perry on X. He said this after learning that Chargers players had admitted their inability to solve New England’s defensive strategy.

Vrabel said it after learning that the Chargers player approached Robert Spillane after the game, asking what they were doing defensively.

It is a valid question. What was the Patriots’ defense doing? They sacked Justin Herbert six times, with a loss of 55 yards, and allowed only 207 yards in the game. Their coverages were on point. Even the secondary defense joined in the pressure, limiting the Chargers to only a field goal in 60 minutes. Even their running game was limited to only 87 yards. The HC had an answer for what the players were doing.

Vrabel credited the success to mixing in pressure and disguised coverages, stating, “They did try to mix in the pressure… when we did pressure, I felt like it was impactful.”

Surprisingly, Vrabel made no changes to his defense, yet the entire unit performed exceptionally. The entire unit forced turnovers and made the Chargers’ offense get to second and third downs. K’Lavon Chaisson had two sacks and one forced fumble. Milton Williams also had two sacks. It is not every day that two players from the same franchise score two sacks in the same game. Despite being sidelined for a long time with a high ankle sprain, Williams performed as well as he ever has.

While that ought to answer the Chargers‘ question about the Patriots’ defense, the latter’s offense also faced a similar kind of situation. It led to quarterback Drake Maye launching a self-criticism.

Drake Maye criticises his underwhelming performances

Drake Maye has been one of the top contenders for the NFL MVP of the 2025 season. But the picture might have been slightly changed after the NFL Wild Card round. Many believe that Stafford may have taken the lead after his performance against the Panthers. Maye had the chance to take the lead again, but his underwhelming performance against the Chargers was not enough. Following the game, the quarterback has no one to blame but himself.

“I didn’t throw very well tonight. You know, need to be better, but we did what we had to do, and that’s what it takes in the playoffs,” Maye said at his postgame press conference.

When asked about how he feels about not throwing the ball well, the quarterback replied, “Just gotta be better, whether it’s accuracy or ball placement or little things or making decisions faster. Held on to the ball a little bit tonight, so finally got one in the endzone, but I missed Hoop and some other guys. It wasn’t my best tonight, but that’s why you have teammates, and those guys picked me up.”

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No. 10 completed 17-of-29 passes for 268 passing yards and one touchdown. He also threw an interception. This is the second time this season that Maye’s pass completion percentage is less than 60%, the first being against the Buccaneers. He also rushed for 66 yards while carrying the ball 10 times. To make things worse for him, he was also sacked five times. Surprisingly, he has already been sacked 52 times this season, with at least one more game to go.

While all these stats definitely speak against him, they do not narrate the entire story. Compared to Justin Herbert’s 19 of 31 passes for 159 yards and getting sacked six times, Maye had a better game. Also, his connection with Hunter Henry in the fourth quarter for a touchdown pass further increased the score gap. The Patriots‘ defense did the rest.

Maybe criticizing himself just shows his elitist mentality. A win is not enough to make him happy. He wants to be in his best shape and contribute to the team’s win, especially since it’s the playoff season. The Patriots will either face the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Houston Texans on Monday Night Football. Whoever faces them will need to be careful. Not only is the Patriots’ defense in top form, but their quarterback is also hyped up to drop an amazing performance.