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Sunday night's Wild Card game between the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Chargers wasn't pretty. A battle of flawed offensive lines ensured New England's first home playoff game since Tom Brady was in town would be decided by defensive effort.
Mostly, that meant the Patriots slicing through Los Angeles' depleted offensive line to beat the brakes off poor, unprotected Justin Herbert. The Pro Bowl quarterback was sacked six times on 37 dropbacks and hit 11 more. Without time to throw, the Chargers' downfield passing game was non-existent. Herbert didn't complete a single pass that traveled more than 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. New England escaped with a 16-3 win.
This was the result of a team effort, but the biggest play of the game was Milton Williams' bulldozing fourth-down sack that erased any chance of a Los Angeles rally. It was a crushing, brutal play:
Williams, however, had a little friendly violence left over for his head coach.
The aggressive affection left Vrabel smiling through a split lip as he added his first playoff win as a coach since the Tennessee Titans' shocking 2020 run to the AFC title game.
The former All-Pro linebacker wasn't slowed by a little blood. He still celebrated with his team on the field, then waited for each player in the tunnel as they walked back to the locker room. With the win, the Patriots advanced to host either the Pittsburgh Steelers or Houston Texans in the Divisional Round next weekend.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Milton Williams celebrated game-sealing sack by making Mike Vrabel bleed
Continue reading...
Mostly, that meant the Patriots slicing through Los Angeles' depleted offensive line to beat the brakes off poor, unprotected Justin Herbert. The Pro Bowl quarterback was sacked six times on 37 dropbacks and hit 11 more. Without time to throw, the Chargers' downfield passing game was non-existent. Herbert didn't complete a single pass that traveled more than 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. New England escaped with a 16-3 win.
This was the result of a team effort, but the biggest play of the game was Milton Williams' bulldozing fourth-down sack that erased any chance of a Los Angeles rally. It was a crushing, brutal play:
Williams, however, had a little friendly violence left over for his head coach.
The aggressive affection left Vrabel smiling through a split lip as he added his first playoff win as a coach since the Tennessee Titans' shocking 2020 run to the AFC title game.
The former All-Pro linebacker wasn't slowed by a little blood. He still celebrated with his team on the field, then waited for each player in the tunnel as they walked back to the locker room. With the win, the Patriots advanced to host either the Pittsburgh Steelers or Houston Texans in the Divisional Round next weekend.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Milton Williams celebrated game-sealing sack by making Mike Vrabel bleed
Continue reading...
