On Sunday night, the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Chargers will meet in the wild card round of the NFL playoffs. It will be their fifth postseason meeting in a history dating back to 1963.
The previous four games have mostly gone well for New England. While they dropped the first one 51-10 with the AFL Championship on the line, they won the three subsequent matchups. The Patriots beat the Chargers 24-21 in San Diego in the 2006 playoffs, followed by wins in Foxborough in the 2008 conference
championship (21-12) and 2018 divisional round (41-28).
Let’s take a closer look at those four contests.
Patriots vs. Chargers NFL playoff history
1963 AFL Championship Game: The Boston Patriots’ second ever playoff game saw them compete for the AFL title, but the venture ended in disappointment. Entering the January 1964 game with an 8-6-1 record they stood no chance against an 11-3 Chargers team that went up 31-10 at the half. Larry Garron and Geno Cappelletti provided their team’s only points, but neither they nor quarterbacks Babe Parilli and Tom Yewcic — both of whom finishing with no touchdowns plus an interception — were able to fight back in the second half. The result was a lopsided title game that proved to be the Patriots’ last postseason appearance until 1976. | Highlights
2006 AFC divisional round: The top seed in the AFC, the 14-2 Chargers were listed as 5-point favorites entering their playoff opener against New England. Early on, they lived up to the billing, with LaDainian Tomlinson continuing his record-breaking season to help his team go up 14-3 by the late second quarter. However, unlike in 1964, the Patriots fought back. Tom Brady connected with Jabar Gaffney and Reche Caldwell for touchdowns, Troy Brown forced a crucial fumble on an interception, the defense registered three turnovers itself, and Stephen Gostkowski provided the decisive points with just over a minute to go. | Highlights
2007 AFC Championship Game: One year after the game in San Diego, the Patriots and Chargers again found themselves in a highly-contested battle. This one took place under different circumstances, though: New England was 17-0 coming in, while their opponent was dealing with injuries to quarterback Philip Rivers and running back LaDainian Tomlinson. Despite the former playing on a torn ACL and the latter being limited to only three touches, the team put up a fight. Ultimately, though, four field goals and a pair of turnovers were never going to beat the Patriots even with Tom Brady tossing three interceptions. Led by Laurence Maroney’s 122 rushing yards, New England claimed its fourth conference title in seven years. | Highlights
2018 AFC divisional round: The turnover on both sides between the last Patriots-Chargers playoff game and this one was substantial, but there were a few call-backs to 2008. Tom Brady and Philip Rivers were still leading their respective offenses, and New England’s ground game once again dominated. This time, it was Sony Michel, whose 129 yards and three touchdowns led the way. Brady also was his usual efficient self, defense and special teams registered a takeaway each, and the game was very much a wrap in the early fourth quarter. Two late L.A. touchdowns made the final score look closer than it actually was; this was a 1964-style domination. | Highlights
As noted above, Sunday’s game will mark the fifth time the Patriots will be facing the Chargers in the postseason. This will tie L.A. with four other teams — Jacksonville, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Denver — as the Patriots’ most frequent playoff opponent.
