2020 has brought all of us many unexpected (and mostly terrible things) but I can confidently say that I never saw a 45-0 Patriots victory transpiring in this worst year in modern human history. Enter New England (6-6 overall, 2-4 on the road) who are playing their best football of the season as they won for the fourth time in the last five games by going into SoFi Stadium and completely embarrassing the Chargers (3-9 overall, 2-4 at home). Just how bad was it for the home team? Well it goes down as the worst (by point-margin) defeat in franchise history. Head coach Anthony Lynn was already on the hot seat before this steaming dump of a performance and this turned out to be so ugly, that would anybody be the least bit surprised to hear that he's been fired tomorrow or later on this week?
It figured to at least be a relatively close game that LA would inevitably cough up at the end (their trademark if you will under Lynn is losing one-score games) but rookie quarterback sensation Justin Herbert (26-of-53 for 209 yards, 2 INTs) had by far his worst game as a pro that should cool down his Rookie of the Year campaign just a bit. On a related note, I have no idea why he played the entire contest when he represents both the present and the future of that perennial losing team. Patriots rookie wide receiver/human emoji Gunner Olszewski had never scored an NFL touchdown so obviously he found the end zone not once but twice on the day thanks to a 70-yard punt return in the second quarter and a 38-yard catch-and-run from Jarrett Stidham (!!!) deep into garbage time in the fourth quarter.
Patriots quarterback Cam Newton (12-of-19 for 69 yards, TD; 48 yards rushing, 2 TDs) did not have to do all that much besides a pair of short touchdown runs (1-yard and 2-yards) and a five-yard touchdown pass to everyone's favorite bust wide receiver N'Keal Harry in the third quarter. Down 21-0 on the last play of the first half, Lynn chose to go for a 58-yard field goal attempt that immediately backfired in the worst possible way as something called Cody Davis on the Pats blocked it and safety Devin McCourty returned it 44 yards for a touchdown. Haha unbelievable, this felt like the good old days of New England sucking the life out of an overmatched opponent in hilarious fashion.
Olszewski ironically had a punt return for a touchdown called back last week vs. Arizona so it was nice to see him get rewarded right away after that tough break. Patriots defensive end Chase Winovich made a beautiful diving interception (his 1st in the NFL) while cornerback J.C. Jackson also picked off an errant throw by Herbert for his NFL-best seventh pick of the season. Normally, I could care less about the Pro Bowl (the stupidest All-Star game in pro sports) but with that said, Jackson has to be a Pro Bowler this season, who could have believed he would do this? The Patriots are staying in California since they have a very quick turnaround as they visit the Rams (8-4 overall, 4-1 at home) on Thursday night (8:20, Fox). LA's real team beat Arizona (6-6) 38-28 this afternoon and Seattle (8-4) shockingly lost to the Giants (5-7) so the Rams are now in first-place in the NFC West-the best division in the NFL.
Thursday Night Football is usually trash but at least this matchup is extra intriguing because these teams last met in the Super Bowl two years ago (won 13-3 by Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and the Pats). Rams head coach Sean McVay and his mercurial quarterback Jared Goff are having a good season after they were both a mess last year (can you say Super Bowl hangover?). New England's defense has really stepped up lately so it will be interesting to see if McVay can find a way to solve whatever Belichick decides to throw at them this time. They still probably have to win out and finish 10-6 to have a realistic shot at the playoffs since the teams ahead of them in the AFC don't seem to be losing much but regardless of that, the Patriots deserve serious credit for giving us a season after all hope looked lost multiple times following brutal losses to Denver, San Francisco and Houston.
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