New England Patriots studs and duds in a blowout win over the Chargers in Week 13.
In what has been an up-and-down season to this point, the New England Patriots have currently ridden an uptick in performance and looked to continue that trend in Week 13 on Sunday. Hitting the road on Sunday evening, the Patriots took on an AFC opponent on CBS while looking to continue to stay hot as of late and potentially make a push for a spot in the playoffs at the end of the year.
Winners of three of its last four games coming into the game, New England battled the Los Angeles Chargers on their home field in Los Angeles while looking to get back to the .500 mark on the season going into Week 14. At the end of the game, the Patriots were able to do just that en route to a surprising blowout victory to secure the second win in a row. New England completed stomped Los Angeles, 45-0.
In the first half, the Patriots stormed out of the gate while holding a 7-0 lead after the first quarter until exploding for 21 points in the second quarter to grab a 28-point lead going into halftime. To finish out the game, New England was able to coast to a victory while managing to outscore Los Angeles 17-0 over the final two quarters to take the road contest by 45 points.
With the win, the Patriots improved to 6-6 overall to battle back to the .500 mark and have now won four of their last five games. In the loss, Los Angeles falls to a rough record of 3-9 overall and have had its season spiral out of control quickly.
New England will return to the field in Week 14 when it remains on the road to face off against the other team in Los Angeles in the Rams on Thursday Night Football on FOX. The Chargers will get back to action in Week 14 when they remain at home and host the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday evening in Los Angeles.
With the AFC contest between the Patriots and Chargers now over with, here are some studs and duds that appeared in the game on Sunday for New England.
Stud: Special teams touchdowns
Perhaps the biggest stud that appeared in the game for the Patriots on Sunday evening was the stellar play by the special teams unit and that group finding the endzone a few different times during the game.
The stellar play by the special teams began in the first half, when Gunner Olszewski, who has become a great underdog story, returned a punt for 70 yards that put New England up 14-0 in the second quarter.
The Patriots special teams scoring continued later on in the second quarter, when Devin McCourty returned a blocked field goal 44 yards for a touchdown that put New England up 28-0.
Dud: Struggles continued in passing game
One thing that has been a common occurrence so far this season has been New England’s struggles in the passing game led by Cam Newton under center. Those struggles continued on Sunday against Los Angeles, although it didn’t matter much by the end of the contest.
Through the air, the Patriots finished with just 126 yards passing in time split between Newton and Jarrett Stidham at quarterback. Newton tallied 12 completions on 19 attempts, throwing for 69 yards and one touchdown. Stidham added two completions on three attempts, adding 61 yards and one touchdown.
The passing game continues to be an issue in New England, but at least it continues to win during those struggles.