Los Angeles Chargers: Three keys to defeating the New England Patriots
By Jason Reed
1. Win defensively on first and second down
We all know that the Los Angeles Chargers are looking to get pressure on Tom Brady. The Chargers are one of the best pass-rushing teams in football and 41-year-old Tom Brady has not been good at all with pressure in his face.
We did not want to dedicate an entire slide to something so obvious. Instead of just relying on the pass rush against Brady, the Chargers defense needs to play physical and really focus on winning on first and second down, regardless of the situation.
Brady’s age has affected the Patriots offense, which ranks seventh in the league in rushing play percentage (44.55 percent). With the forecast calling for at least three inches of snow, the Patriots are going to look to pound the rock to give Brady easier first downs throws for a shorter distance.
Luckily, the Chargers just came up against the best running team in the NFL and completely dominated them defensively, aside from the last quarter when the team became a little too soft on coverage.
Stopping the run early in the downs chain and making Brady have to complete third and seven passes is a recipe for disaster for the Patriots. Not only is the team not as equipped with weapons as before but Brady is going to get even more pressure on these longer downs, which as we said, will result in good things for the Chargers.
The Patriots will likely call some play action passes and check down routes to the running backs early in the downs as well. That is when the playmakers on the defense, such as Derwin James, Desmond King and Casey Hayward, must step up, close the gap and prevent and small play from breaking big.
The Patriots have only converted 33.33 percent of their third downs the last three weeks of the season. The Chargers need to capitalize on that.