Danny Jaillet, Patriots WireWed, January 14, 2026 at 3:07 AM UTC·2 min readNorth Carolina coach Bill Belichick reacted to the New England Patriots' win over the Los Angeles Chargers during a recent appearance on Sirius XM's Let's Go podcast with Jim Gray.
The Patriots defeated the Chargers by a 16-3 score on a night when the defense was stifling. Many overlooked the unit heading into the matchup, and they managed to hold the Justin Herbert-led Chargers offense to 207 total yards. Herbert was sacked six times in the game.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Patriots had their struggles against Los Angeles' defense, but second-year quarterback Drake Maye made the plays he needed to make to ensure his team came out with a victory.
“Once the Patriots played from ahead, and I’d say in the second half, Josh (McDaniels) really got the offense on track; they were more consistent moving the ball," said Belichick, as transcribed by ESPN's Mike Reiss. "Then defensively, the Patriots played from ahead and played well with their pass rush- put a lot of pressure on (Justin) Herbert. Which is an issue the Chargers have had since the rash of injuries this season.”
Belichick obviously has a unique perspective when it comes to the Patriots considering his former player, Mike Vrabel, is now the head coach, and his former longtime offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels, is back with the team.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThey passed the first test against the Chargers. We'll see if they can do the same on Sunday against the Houston Texans.
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This article originally appeared on Patriots Wire: Bill Belichick reacts to Patriots' wild-card playoff win over Chargers
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