Khalil Mack took advantage of the football gloubi-boulga offered at Gillette Stadium to add two sacks to his season total and lead his team to victory.
New England Patriots (5-7) – Los Angeles Chargers (2-10): 0-6
There are matches, dear readers of DNA of Sports, for which it is particularly difficult to write a summary. See instead: punt, punt, fumble, punt, punt, punt, punt, field goal, punt, punt, punt, field goal. Thirty minutes of football, six points from Cameron Dicker's foot and nothing else. Blame it on some good defensive performances you might think. Nope. Not a sack, nor an interception. Just a nice mess and Rhamondre Stevenson's unfortunate injury to boot…
Justin Herbert dropped by his receivers
From the first two quarters we could simply remember that, for his first start of the season, Bailey Zappe (13/25, 141 yards) did not really make Mac Jones and all his flaws forget. And that the Patriots retro jersey is one of the finest the NFL has to offer.
Justin Herbert (22/37, 212 yards), even below his standards, remains a fabulous player. Enough to find an unexpected solution on the third attempt… But Quentin Johnston (5 receptions, 52 yards) still hasn't put the soaps away.
Quentin Johnston drops a perfect throw from Justin Herbert. Brutal pic.twitter.com/8BCYwwSa3e
— Ben Brown 🌻 (@BenBrownPL) December 3, 2023
Khalil Mack omnipresent
In this footballing infamy, Khalil Mack (5 tackles, 2 sacks) however stood out in the second half, with two sacks, bringing his total to 15 for the season. As for the Patriots, Bailey Zappe's rare (only) flash of genius, a 39-yard pass to Tyquan Thornton, was followed by four failures to gain 10 additional yards. When nothing goes right…
This part does not deserve many more words, let's finish together with the list of series from the last 30 minutes of play: punt, punt, punt, punt, punt, downs, punt, downs, punt, punt. Chargers victory, curtain.
