On Sunday afternoon, the New England Patriots stomped the Los Angeles Chargers 45-0, which officially eliminated L.A. from the postseason.
The Chargers looked completely inept on both sides of the ball against the Patriots. Quarterback Justin Herbert threw the ball 53 times, but only completed 26 passes for 209 yards. Additionally, neither of the Chargers running backs could get much going either.
Furthermore, the Chargers defense let the team down as well. They only hit Pats quarterback Cam Newton twice, and only earned one sack on the day.
The performance is one to forget as Los Angeles falls to 3-9 and is already out of the playoff picture. In contrast, New England has kept their playoff hopes alive with the win. They now sit at 6-6 after a slow start to the season.
“The Los Angeles Chargers have been eliminated from playoff contention,” Sunday Night Football‘s Twitter account posted, adding a large red “ELIMINATED” stamp over a picture of Herbert.
Fans were disappointed in the outcome of the game, to say the least. Most expected the Chargers to at least put up a better fight. Some even began questioning head coach Anthony Lynn’s job security.
New England Patriots’ QB Cam Newton ‘Isn’t Apologizing’ for Poor Play
Once again, the Patriots won even though their starting quarterback didn’t put up the most impressive statistics. That said, Newton did contribute three touchdowns to the game, which led the offense to a dominant victory.
On Sunday, Newton only threw 12 completions out of 19 passes with one touchdown. Newton also added 48 rushing yards and two more touchdowns on the ground. However, the most important statistic is his team added another tally in their win column.
Likewise, last weekend New England played a similar game against the Arizona Cardinals. Newton had a measly 23.6 passer rating on the day, but he led the team to another victory nonetheless.
Following the game, Newton spoke with WEEI Radio during his weekly interview with the Boston sports radio station. He acknowledged his poor performance, but the 2015 NFL MVP says the team leaving the field with a win mattered more.
“I’ll be the first person to say I didn’t play my best game yesterday,” Newton explained. “But let’s be totally clear: I don’t play this game for statistic benefits. I don’t play this game for any type of individual accolades. I play this game to win. I’m not going to apologize for winning. I don’t care how we won and I would take a win in most cases this year rather than having the three and four hundred yards passing. In my opinion, did I do enough to win in those games? Who cares? I am not going to go back and turn the page and what transpired yesterday was just a result of a great team win that I am not going to feel sorry for. It is what it is.”
New England will stay in Los Angeles this week to face the city’s other team the L.A. Rams on Thursday night.
