LA Chargers schedule: 3 opponents that are better to face early in 2021
By Jason Reed
2. New England Patriots
The 45-0 loss against the New England Patriots last season was embarrassing and alone could have been reason enough to fire Anthony Lynn. The Patriots were not much more talented than the Chargers last season, if at all, and the team was simply far-outcoached.
Nothing was worse than Lynn leaving Justin Herbert in a 45-0 blowout to only see Herbert get lit up by the Patriots defense. If something terrible would have happened to Herbert in that game then Lynn would have gone down as the most hated head coach in team history.
There are two reasons why the Chargers would benefit from getting the Patriots early. First is the quarterback situation. The Bolts would either get to face Cam Newton, who was not very good last season, or would get to face Mac Jones with very few NFL reps under his belt.
Imagine Joey Bosa pressuring Mac Jones. Jones would crumble and would really struggle to read Brandon Staley’s defense.
The other reason is that it would give Bill Belichick less to gameplan for. The Chargers are implementing an entirely new system with a new coaching staff that is far different from last season.
The fewer games before the Chargers play the Patriots the less Belichick will know what he is coming up against. That is key in this matchup because as we saw last year, the coaching difference is what won the game.