Patriots

Jim Harbaugh listed descriptions of his players as he looked back on the injury-filled route to the postseason the Chargers took to facing the New England Patriots in the AFC wild-card round on Sunday.

Harbaugh, heading into his second postseason as Chargers head coach, coined his team as gladiators, warriors and competitors — grappling the attention off the reporter’s question about what he’d learned from the regular-season strife and onto his roster.

“They’re mighty men,” Harbaugh said Wednesday afternoon.

Harbaugh continued: “It just reconfirms everything that I’ve always thought and want for our team is: ‘Competitors welcome.’ Competitors and playmakers, and we’ve got them. … That bodes really well for our team.”

There’s no doubt who the mightiest of the bunch may be for the Chargers (11-6) in 2025.

Justin Herbert’s 16-game stretch — playing the final five of which with a fractured left hand before sitting out last week — has turned heads with his 3,727 passing yards and 26 passing touchdowns despite playing behind a fractured offensive line because of injuries to starting tackles Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt.

“He’s had a tremendous season — very MVP caliber in every way,” Harbaugh said. “He’s either leading us to victory — willing us to victory. He’s doing anything and everything he can for this team, and does it at the level only reserved for the very best in the game to do.”

Herbert has lined up behind the most offensive line combinations in the NFL this season (25), while the Chargers are tied for the second-most sacks allowed per game (3.5) across the regular season.

Hit after hit — for which he’s taken the most in the NFL — Herbert rose to his feet. The 27-year-old will try to avoid another hit, in the form of defeat, on Sunday while still in search for his first-career playoff victory.

It’s been nearly a full year since last year’s wild-card defeat to the Houston Texans when Herbert turned in arguably the worst performance of his career, including a career-high four interceptions as the Chargers fell 32-12.

“A lot of teams aren’t playing this week,” said Herbert who took snaps behind center during the midweek for the first time since fracturing his hand during Week 13. “So for us to be able to have a chance, it’s all we can ask for.”

The Patriots (14-3) have their own signal-caller who has created traction across the league for his sophomore-season improvement. Drake Maye has tossed 4,394 passing yards, 31 touchdowns and just eight interceptions, a marked advancement from a season ago where the North Carolina alumnus struggled as the Patriots finished with a 4-13 record overall.

In came Mike Vrabel for former New England coach Jerod Mayo, and the odds shifted in the Patriots’ and Maye’s favor. Herbert said the Patriots are “hardly ever out of position,” adding that Maye’s week-by-week statistics are something that has led the Chargers quarterback to build respect for his foe.

“It’s a sign of players that play by the rules and listen to great coaches,” Herbert said. “[The Patriots] play together and they communicate really well and they’re a really good defense.”

On the availability front, running back Omarion Hampton (ankle) did not practice Wednesday and worked off to the side with a trainer during the media-watching period.

Harbaugh said that his rookie running back — who missed part of the season because of a left ankle fracture suffered in Week 5 — was “doing everything he can to get back in there” ahead of Sunday’s postseason clash.

DENVER — Third time’s the charm?

Twice in club history, the Chargers lost playoff games at New England. It was the AFC championship game in the 2007 season and a divisional game in 2018.

That’s little more than a trivia answer, though, as the two teams are entirely different now. This matchup features two outstanding coaches in Jim Harbaugh and New England’s Mike Vrabel, and two elite quarterbacks in Justin Herbert and Drake Maye.

The Patriots haven’t seen many elite quarterbacks this season, instead beating a ho-hum collection of passers that includes Cam Ward, Spencer Rattler, Dillon Gabriel and 40-year-old Joe Flacco. New England did beat Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, and Buffalo star and reigning NFL MVP Josh Allen, knocking off the Bills in Week 5 before blowing a 21-0 lead to them in Week 15.

Of course, you play who’s on your schedule in the NFL, so you don’t pick the quarterbacks you face. And the Patriots have routinely gotten the job done. It’s just that Herbert could present a significant challenge.

That said, Herbert has yet to win a playoff game in six seasons, and he has been hit more than any quarterback in the league (witness his broken left hand).

The Patriots figure to lean heavily on their solid running attack to play ball-control in the frigid cold and make it three-for-three against their AFC foes from the opposite corner of the country.

Matthew Stafford remains among the frontrunners for the NFL most valuable player award, though his status took a hit after a three-interception performance in a defeat by the Atlanta Falcons.

On Sunday, the Rams’ veteran quarterback gets a final shot at making his case when he plays against the Arizona Cardinals at SoFi Stadium.

“Listen, I’m not too worried about it,” Stafford said when asked whether MVP talk enters his mind.

The balloting is in the hands of others.

“People are going to vote how they want to vote,” he said. “They’re going to say what they want to say.”

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The Rams look to end their two-game losing skid and head into the wild-card playoffs with a win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday at SoFi Stadium.

So Stafford is focused on helping the Rams return to their winning ways.

“I’m just trying to put as good of a season together as I possibly can,” he said.

Stafford, 37, has enjoyed one of the best seasons of his 17-year career.

He has passed for a career-best and league-leading 42 touchdowns, with eight interceptions, while leading the Rams to an 11-5 record and third-place finish in the NFC West, the NFL’s toughest division this season.

His main competition seemingly is New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye. The second-year pro has passed for 30 touchdowns, with eight interceptions, while leading the Patriots to a 13-3 record and the AFC East title.

The NFL MVP award is voted on by a panel of 50 journalists who regularly cover the NFL, and the panel is assembled by the Associated Press. Los Angeles Times reporters do not participate in voting for awards.

Maye will start Sunday when the Patriots play the Miami Dolphins. If the Patriots win and the Denver Broncos lose to the Chargers, the Patriots will earn the AFC’s No. 1 seed and a first-round playoff bye.

The Rams entered the weekend as the No. 6 seed in the NFC. With the San Francisco 49ers’ loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday, the Rams will move up to No. 5 with a win over the Cardinals.

The Rams and Stafford were on a roll, and held the No. 1 seed in the NFC, until they lost 38-37 in overtime to the eventual NFC West champion Seahawks on Dec. 18 in Seattle. Stafford played well in that defeat, passing for 457 yards and three touchdowns.

But last Monday against the Falcons, Stafford had one interception returned for a touchdown and two more that also cost the Rams in a 27-24 defeat.

Stafford ranks among the top 10 in several NFL career passing categories. But he ranks this season’s statistical performance among his best.

“It’s up there with some of the better ones I’ve played,” he said. “The cool thing about that is I have such a great group around me. … I have great teammates. I try to do my best to get the best out of those guys and help them succeed and help those guys have great seasons and great games as best as I can.”

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford takes the field before a win over the Detroit Lions on Dec. 14.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

Coach Sean McVay said Stafford was a coach on the field.

“Do you elevate the people you’re around and the situations you’re a part of? He certainly does that,” McVay said. “And I think that’s been reflected from guys having their best years around him. He deserves a ton of credit for that.”

During seven of his 12 seasons with the Detroit Lions, Stafford combined with Hall of Fame receiver Calvin Johnson. In 2021, after being traded to the Rams, he helped Cooper Kupp capture the so-called triple crown of receiving: Kupp led the NFL in catches, yards receiving and touchdown catches.

Two years ago, Rams receiver Puka Nacua burst onto the scene with a record-setting rookie season, and this season he is tied for the league lead with 119 catches. Veteran Davante Adams, who is in his first season with the Rams, leads the NFL with 14 touchdown catches.

“Every single time I go play, I feel like I try to help our guys and our coaches and everybody, put everybody in the best position to succeed,” Stafford said.

Stafford, who sat out all of training camp because of a back issue, was never a scrambler in the mold of Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen. But he continues to make plays out of the pocket and utilizes multiple arm angles to deliver passes.

“I still play with all the same feel and pocket movement and all that stuff that I used to,” he said. “It probably just doesn’t look the same.”

A few weeks ago, Stafford appeared on his way to his first NFL MVP award.

Now he is aiming to bounce back from his performance against the Falcons and help the Rams enter the playoffs with momentum.

“I would love to play perfect in every game, but I’m not a robot and it happens,” he said. “I’m proud of our team and I’m looking forward to another opportunity.”

DENVER — Sometimes, the punching bag punches back.

That was the case Sunday as the Chargers, playing their backups, put up an impressive fight against the division-rival Denver Broncos, vying for the top seed in the AFC.

The Broncos won, 19-3, but both teams were smothering on defense while failing to establish anything close to an offensive rhythm.

The seventh-seeded Chargers (11-6) will play a wild-card game at second-seeded New England (14-3), which rolled over Miami, 38-10, in Sunday’s finale.

Denver (14-3) gets a week off and home-field advantage throughout the postseason. The other AFC playoff matchups feature No. 6 Buffalo (12-5) at No. 3 Jacksonville (13-4) and No. 5 Houston (12-5) at the winner of Sunday night’s game between Pittsburgh and Baltimore.

Sunday’s game was far more competitive than the rollicking crowd at Empower Field might have suspected, with the second-string Chargers defense battling them at every turn.

On an unseasonably warm afternoon, the Broncos were disturbingly cold.

The Chargers rested 14 of their starters, including quarterback Justin Herbert, who has played his way into the Most Valuable Player conversation. But they couldn’t generate much offense with backup Trey Lance at the helm.

Lance completed 20 of 44 passes for 136 yards with an interception. He led all rushers with 69 yards, however, and in the waning moments had his team in position to score the game’s only offensive touchdown.

The outcome was never really in doubt because Denver’s defense didn’t budge. But the Broncos offense never got in sync.

Chargers tight end Oronde Gadsden II catches a pass against Denver Broncos safety P.J. Locke during the first half Sunday.

(David Zalubowski / Associated Press)

Denver failed to score a touchdown on offense — their lone such score came on a pick-six — and got four field goals from Wil Lutz.

It was the lowest-scoring game for the Broncos since a 10-7 win over Las Vegas in Week 11.

The matchup was the Chargers’ Next Man Up versus a down Bo Nix, who threw for 141 yards with a lackluster 78.4 passer rating.

Each quarterback was sacked four times.

Denver came into the game with the NFL’s second-ranked defense, behind Houston, with a club-record 64 sacks already in the books. The Broncos wore throwback uniforms from 1977 — blue helmets, orange jerseys, white pants — and their defense swarmed like those “Orange Crush” days of yesteryear.

Granted, it’s now a 17-game season, but the Broncos got to 14 victories for the first time since 1998, the final season of Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway.

But these Chargers are no pushovers. They were looking to go undefeated in AFC West games, and got to 5-0 with an array of understudies, particularly along the offensive line.

This game was only huge for one Chargers regular: receiver Keenan Allen, who needed six receptions and nine yards to hit contract bonuses totaling $1 million. He achieved both.

Besides Herbert, members of the Chargers offense who didn’t play included receivers Ladd McConkey and Quentin Johnston, and the entire starting line.

On defense, the Chargers sat starters Derwin James, Khalil Mack, Daiyan Henley and Elijah Molden.

Denver running back RJ Harvey is tackled by Chargers defenders during the second half Sunday.

(C. Morgan Engel / Getty Images)

Basically, they had no business being in this game, and the score was 10-3 at halftime. The Broncos rolled up 81 yards on their opening drive… and a total of 32 yards the rest of the half.

With so much at stake for his team, Broncos coach Sean Payton was determined to keep precision football the focus. That included an extra padded practice in the week leading up to the game, and no crowd-distracting games on the videoboard. He wanted the crowd to be as loud and zeroed-in as possible.

At once, the Broncos were uncompromising — they were determined to win — and unconvincing.