LA Chargers fans got what they wanted. Everything lined up perfectly for the Bolts to be the No. 7 seed in the AFC, setting the team up for a showdown against the New England Patriots in the AFC Wild Card Round.
The Patriots undoubtedly had an impressive season with the likely MVP under center. However, New England's extremely easy strength of schedule and one win over a winning team have them firmly on fraud watch. It's not going to be easy in the slightest, but this is the best team the Chargers could have played in the first round.
Los Angeles is a dangerous team, and the Patriots know it. Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel gave his first thoughts on the Bolts and it sounded like a glowing review for a Best Picture-winning film. Vrabel's clearly a fan.
"This is a big, physical football team. Big linemen. They have a big defensive lineman who plays fullback. The defense – play a very good style of football, make it hard on you, bunch of different mixed quarters coverages," Vrabel said. (h/t ESPN's Mike Reiss via The Greg Hill Show).
"The quarterback is as good any anybody, can scramble, is tough, can make the throws. Good, big receivers. It will be a big challenge to get going on these guys and learn who they are and try to put a plan together."
Mike Vrabel lauds the Chargers ahead of AFC Wild Card Round showdown
Vrabel is a football guy's football guy and he knows a tough-nosed team when he sees one. The Patriots' head coach knows exactly what his team is up against and knows that beating the Chargers is no small feat.
Vrabel, who nearly got the Chargers job two years ago before the team hired Jim Harbaugh, didn't stop there. He also went on about how the Bolts are built for the playoffs, something that hasn't always been the case for a warm-weather franchise.
“I think they have a specific style. Their style is built for the postseason. They play good defense. They’re physical. They don’t beat themselves," Vrabel said.
Vrabel is saying everything Chargers fans already knew about their team. That's why, despite the laundry list of injuries and the horrific offensive line play, the Chargers managed to win 11 games on the season and set up this Wild Card round matchup against the Pats.
Ironically enough, it will be the same trenches that Vrabel is lauding that will likely decide this game. As great as Drake Maye has been this season, he's a second-year quarterback playing his first-ever NFL Playoff game.
Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter has put the best quarterbacks in the league in a blender throughout his two-year tenure in Los Angeles. The moment is already huge for Maye, who has a nightmare matchup ahead of him against a defensive coordinator who won't make it easy.
That's not to say Maye will be terrible in this game, but he's not going to win it by himself. The Pats will have to rely on their running game, which plays directly into the hard-nosed style of football the Chargers want to play.
It may not be pretty, but this game will come down to which team can be tougher at the point of attack. Mike Vrabel and Jim Harbaugh wouldn't have it any other way.