Getty New England Patriots QB Tom Brady
The New England Patriots have waited and watched how the AFC’s final wild-card matchup in the 2019 NFL Playoffs finished on Sunday afternoon. With the Los Angeles Chargers on the road facing off with the Baltimore Ravens, it was set to decide the full AFC playoff picture. And with that game now wrapped up, we know what lies ahead.
On Saturday, the No. 6 seed Indianapolis Colts went to Houston and defeated the third-seed Texans to advance. In turn, this meant the Colts were immediately heading to face the AFC’s top team in the Kansas City Chiefs due to the reseeding structure of the playoffs. A battle of Andrew Luck against Patrick Mahomes is locked in on one side, but let’s break down the Patriots schedule.
Although it wasn’t considered a surprise to see the Chargers take down the Ravens in Sunday’s matchup, the way they did so was eye-opening. And it means New England will welcome Philip Rivers and the Chargers to town.
Patriots Set For Chargers Matchup
The Patriots surely had their eye on the score of the Chargers vs. Ravens matchup, as the sooner they knew the outcome, the quicker Tom Brady and company could get to work. The Chargers jumped out early against the Ravens and held rookie quarterback Lamar Jackson in check almost completely through the first three quarters.
Although a matchup with either team would have been tough, even with the game in Foxborough, the Patriots haven’t faced these two opponents in 2018. With that said, the Chargers finished the year with a 12-4 record and only missed out on the AFC’s No. 1 seed due to a tiebreaker with the Chiefs.
A Chargers vs. Patriots divisional round playoff matchup will pit two of the top scoring teams in the NFL against each other. New England finished the regular season ranked No. 4 with 27.3 points per game while Los Angeles was tied for No. 6 at 26.8 points.
Patriots Date & Time of Divisional Round Game
Even prior to Sunday’s wild-card matchup between the four and five seeds in the AFC, the Patriots knew what time they’d play the following week. As NFL.com revealed, New England drew the Sunday, January 13 game with a 1:05 p.m. EST kickoff on CBS. This marks the first game on the second day of the divisional playoff round, as the late-afternoon game features the New Orleans Saints at home.
The Chargers will have an interesting stretch of travel in the coming week, as they now head back from Baltimore to the West Coast. From there, they’ll fly back across the country to face the Patriots, unless the team opts to go take a different approach to their scheduling.
Whoever advances from the Chargers-Patriots divisional game will square off with the Colts and Chiefs winner. That game will be played on Saturday, January 12 at 4:35 p.m. EST on NBC, so both New England and Los Angeles will kick off their game knowing what their potential matchup would look like.
From there, the AFC Championship Game is held the following weekend (Sunday, January 20) at 6:40 p.m. EST on CBS.
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