FOXBOROUGH – The Chargers punted on the first possession of their game Sunday against the New England Patriots, but from there Los Angeles posted seven-straight scoring drives while pulling away and coasting to an eventual 40-7 victory that secured them a playoff spot.

Drake Maye briefly left the game for a concussion evaluation but returned and threw a long touchdown pass to Pop Douglas, one of few highlights for New England on the day. The Patriots offense struggled to sustain drives and had the game's only meaningful giveaway. Combined with the defense's inability to get off the field or force any meaningful turnovers of their own, and it was a lopsided result without many positives for the 3-13 Pats to take away.

Here's how the disappointing loss went down.

1. Maye Departs Early

Patriots rookie quarterback Drake Maye was briefly lost just three plays in the game, as he scrambled up the sideline on the offense's first third down and sustained a hard hit that dropped him to the ground. Maye walked off the field and into the blue medical tent before making his way to the team's locker room, and he was then announced as questionable to return with a head injury. It was the second time this season that Maye sustained a hard hit and had to depart, with the first coming in a 25-22 win over the Jets in Week 8.

The Chargers opened the scoring on their next possession, converting a 4^th-and-3 along the way of an 11-play, 86-yard drive. Justin Herbert laid out a perfect pass to a diving Derius Davis for a 23-yard touchdown. That came just one play after Herbert completed a 19-yard pass to Quentin Johnston on fourth down to keep the drive alive.

After the Patriots offense went three-and-out with Jacoby Brissett at quarterback, the Chargers again went on a long scoring drive, lasting 12 plays and traveling 67 yards. A good tackle by Marte Mapu delivered a third-down stop, holding the Chargers to a 27-yard field goal that made it 10-0 Los Angeles.

It was a rough start for the Pats, losing their starting quarterback and then watching the Chargers grab a 10-point lead.

2. Maye Re-Enters the Chat

Against expectations, Maye returned to the sideline in the second quarter and re-entered the game after the Chargers took their 10-0 lead. The Gillette Stadium crowd gave the rookie QB a nice ovation as he re-took the field and Maye immediately scrambled on first down and took a hit while sliding that tacked on 15 yards for an unnecessary roughness penalty, quickly taking New England to midfield.

The good vibes were short lived, as Maye turned and tried to execute a toss play but Pop Douglas couldn't handle the toss and the ball hit the ground for the second time in three possessions. This time the Chargers recovered, taking over at the New England 44. It was hard to discern what went wrong on the play, but the result was unwelcome as the Chargers would add another touchdown to their lead, making it 17-0 on a six-yard touchdown catch by Ladd McConkey.

The Chargers dominated the first half while establishing the 17-point lead, holding a 21:58 to 5:07 advantage in time of possession, while stacking 15 first downs to New England's two, both of which came via penalty.

Also among the bad news was the loss of Christian Gonzalez who suffered a concussion while trying to make a second-quarter tackle and was ruled out of the game just before halftime.

3. Maye Takes a Shot to Pop

Things were looking bleak as the Patriots got the ball back just before the two-minute warning but that's when the rookie quarterback helped deliver a spark of life. First, Maye threw an 18-yard strike to Kendrick Bourne on a crossing route, and then followed that up with a 12-yard scramble that put the Pats in Chargers territory. On the next play, Chargers defender Bud Dupree jumped offsides, handing the Patriots a free play.

Maye made the most of it, heaving the ball to the end zone with pressure in his face. Pop Douglas saw the ball in the air, pulled up and made a great adjustment to come down with the catch just inside the end zone for a quick-strike touchdown.

That cut the lead to 17-7 and turned around New England's rough start, but the Chargers stayed aggressive with their final possession of the half, going for a 4^th-and-3 and converting it in Patriots territory. It was a risky play with under 30 seconds left, but when Yannick Ngakoue took a roughing the passer penalty on the very next play it moved LA into scoring territory.

The Chargers tacked on a 38-yard field goal to take a 20-7 lead into the locker room, as the Patriots defense could not deliver a stop and build off of the momentum from Douglas' score.

4. Chargers keep piling it on

After a quick Patriots three-and-out to open the third quarter, the Chargers once again executed a long, sustained drive and capped it off with a touchdown bomb. It was a 10-play, 94-yard drive, as Herbert lofted a perfect throw to McConkey for a 40-yard touchdown that made it 27-7 Chargers midway through the third quarter and effectively sealed the win for LA.

After forcing a punt on the Chargers first possession of the game, LA scored three touchdowns and two field goals on their next five possessions, pulling away from a Patriots defense that was on their heels and getting carved up.

Two failed Patriots 4^th-down attempts set the Chargers up for 10 more points as the lead grew to 30 points.

5. Patriots are now 3-13

With the loss, the Patriots fall to 3-13 on the 2024 season while losing their sixth straight game for the second time this season. Maye's early departure set an unfortunate tone but it mattered little when the defense allowed scores on four of the Chargers five first-half possessions.

The Patriots offense was clunky on their own, contributing a momentum-killing fumble when the game was still close, but the defense couldn't get a stop or turnover to stem the tide and open the door for a realistic comeback attempt. Los Angeles kept adding to their lead every time they touched the ball and thoroughly controlled the time of possession throughout the game.

Now the Patriots have one more game against a Buffalo team that might have little to play for if they beat the Jets and lock up the AFC's second overall seed.

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