This was the second-consecutive win by Bill Belichick’s club and are now firmly in the hunt for a playoff spot as they look forward to the second half of the regular season.
Then, Phillips’ ability to come up in the clutch shined again in the fourth quarter when he was able to jump in front of a Herbert pass to the right side of the field, come up with the catch, and return it 26 yards for the touchdown.
Given that Damien Harris ran for a 1-yard score earlier in the game from the goal-line, it was curious why they didn’t go back to the well.
McDaniels put the offense in the shotgun formation and elected to win a draw with Brandon Bolden, who was eventually stopped behind the line of scrimmage for a loss.
According to Pro Football Focus Judon finished with 10 total pressures, which helped move Herbert off his spot and complete just 51.4% of his passes in the game.
In this game he let up a late touchdown to Josh Palmer as the Chargers pass-catcher was able to leap over Mills in the end zone to make the catch.
In Week 8, he was finding success pressuring the quarterback even as he needed to fight through double teams at times.
Herron came in to relieve Wynn who was seemingly dealing with an injury, and committed a holding penalty that took away what would have been a 28-yard touchdown run by Damien Harris.
Harris was also solid in pass protecting and came up with a strong block in blitz pickup on Joey Bosa which allowed Mac Jones to complete a 33-yard pass to Hunter Henry.
Bourne has been one of the more clutch wide receivers on the Patriots roster this season and a go-to weapon for Mac Jones, but you can’t put the ball on the ground.