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Kris Rhim, ESPN
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — In Week 14 of last season, the Los Angeles Chargers were surrounded by fans in their home stadium chanting for the firing of then-coach Brandon Staley amid a disappointing season.
A little over a year later, the Chargers saw what that felt like from the other side.
As Los Angeles steamrolled the New England Patriots 40-7 on Saturday to clinch a playoff spot, the small contingent of New England fans left in the stadium began to chant “Fire Mayo,” referring to Patriots coach Jerod Mayo. It was just the second time New England had lost by 30 or more points at home this century.
Saturday’s win was the Chargers’ best performance of the season and perhaps the clearest example of just how much this team has changed in a year under coach Jim Harbaugh.
“It feels good to be playing meaningful football,” safety Derwin James said. “I remember being on my couch last year just wishing and wondering, ‘Man, like, what I need to do differently to be able to make sure I don’t get the same feeling this year, man?’ And I’m just happy, proud of the guys that put forth the effort to help us get here.”
James had one of his best games of the season, sacking Patriots quarterback Drake Maye twice to bring his season total to a career-best 5.5. The defense shut down a New England offense that had scored 21 points on one of the NFL’s best teams last week in the Buffalo Bills. The Patriots’ only touchdown this week came in the second quarter when Maye connected with receiver DeMario Douglas for a 36-yard score.
The Chargers’ defense pressured Maye throughout the day, sacking him four times and pressuring him on 11 of his 31 dropbacks (35%).
“Our team played one of our best games defensively,” Harbaugh said.
The Chargers were close to perfect on offense, punting just twice and scoring a season high in points. Justin Herbert finished 26-for-38 with 281 passing yards and three touchdowns before being pulled along with all the starters early in the fourth quarter. Herbert also passed Peyton Manning for the most passing yards in a player’s first five seasons in the NFL.
Herbert’s favorite target Saturday was rookie Ladd McConkey, who caught eight passes for 94 yards and a touchdown. McConkey’s big day helped him break the Chargers’ single-season rookie receptions and receiving yards records held by Keenan Allen.
It was one of the best games of McConkey’s career, coming against the team the Chargers traded up with to select him in the draft with the 34th pick. McConkey had more receiving yards Saturday than the two receivers the Patriots selected with the picks they got in the draft-day deal, Ja’Lynn Polk (87 yards) and Javon Baker (0).
“No extra motivation, nothing like that,” McConkey said. “When I got drafted, I was excited to get drafted. … I’m right where I’m supposed to be. So it’s a cool moment.”
Last season, the Chargers didn’t look like a team a year away from playoff contention, winning just five games and losing many of their best players. However, the team expected a significant turnaround once it hired Harbaugh, who was many of the players’ first choice for the job.
“It was guys praying and hoping for Jim to be our head coach,” linebacker Daiyan Henley said of players’ mindsets during the team’s coaching search.
“We saw Jim as a winner. Even though he was in college, he was a winner in college. We also knew his history with the 49ers. He’s a winner everywhere he’s been, and we just wanted that mentality and here he is. And exactly what we thought he was is exactly who he is.”
Aside from a loud embrace between Harbaugh and general manager Joe Hortiz, the celebrations were somewhat muted in the locker room. Multiple Chargers said they were looking forward to getting the team’s 11th win next week and making a deep playoff push.
“I’ve got to have a chance to win a Super Bowl, and that’s what we’re going to do now,” running back J.K. Dobbins said.
“We don’t care what seed we is. We don’t care where we got to go,” James said. “We know we want to finish all our games. Eleven wins sounds better than 10 wins. And it don’t matter what seed we is. We know for our ultimate goal we gotta go through everybody, so, man, we ready.”
The Chargers will play the Las Vegas Raiders to finish their season next week. With a win over the Raiders and a Steelers loss, the Chargers can move up to the No. 5 seed in the AFC.