Patriots’ Defense Carries New England Back to AFC Championship Game

You can make a strong case that New England quarterback Drake Maye deserves to be selected as the NFL’s Most Valuable Player this season, but if the Patriots expect to represent the AFC in Super Bowl LX, they’ll likely need more from their offense.

The Patriots have won two playoff games this year, and the team’s defense has been largely responsible for both wins.

After recording six sacks during a 16-3 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers in the AFC wild-card round, the New England defense came up with five turnovers in Sunday’s 28-16 triumph over Houston in the divisional round.

The Patriots intercepted four C.J. Stroud passes, and cornerback Marcus Jones returned one of the interceptions 26 yards for a touchdown. The turnovers were atypical for Houston, which turned the ball over 12 times during its 17 regular-season games.

The Patriots were 3 of 14 on third down and were limited to 248 yards of offense — 155 through three quarters — against the Texans. Those are not numbers you’d expect from an offense that benefitted from five turnovers, even though Houston has one of the NFL’s stingiest defenses.

Ball security was also an issue for New England. Maye fumbled the ball four times (he lost two) and had a pass intercepted. He completed 16-of-27 passes for 179 yards and three touchdowns. His 32-yard TD pass to Kayshon Boutte helped the Patriots take a 28-16 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Maye also fumbled twice and was intercepted once in New England’s playoff victory over Los Angeles.

“Props to our defense,” Maye said following Sunday’s win. “Played a hell of a game. We’ve got to protect the football better, but we made enough plays to win it.

“They bring it every week. It’s fun to watch. And we could help them out some more, but just proud of the guys. Enjoy this one, and we’re back on the road.”

The Patriots held the Texans to one touchdown in four trips to the red zone. Los Angeles failed to find the end zone in either of its red-zone trips during the wild-card round.

“We talk about not going in the blender,” New England coach Mike Vrabel said. “And I think it’s hard. They put pressure on us, and we know we’ve got to take care of the ball. That’s what it’s going to take in the playoffs. You have to take care of the ball and turn it over.”

Next up for second-seeded New England (16-3) is a matchup with top-seeded Denver (15-3) in Sunday’s AFC Championship Game. The Broncos will be at home, but will be without starting quarterback Bo Nix, who suffered a broken bone in his left ankle during Saturday’s 33-30 overtime win against Buffalo.

New England is 0-4 in postseason games played in Denver. The Patriots are unbeaten on the road this season, however.

“Everybody is helping us win,” Vrabel said. “I’m excited for these guys, but they’re also — they’re not satisfied, and I can tell that. And it wasn’t pretty. Defense kept us in there, and when we needed it our offense was able to come through late in the game there to give us a two-touchdown lead.

“We know we have to go on the road to the No. 1 seed in the AFC and it’s not going to be easy, but we’ll come out and be ready to go.”