Follow along with our picks for every pro football game all season long in MassLive’s “Pro Football U Pick ‘Em Challenge” sponsored by MGM Springfield. You can test your football knowledge against our experts and win weekly and season-long prizes. You can still sign up and join the fun.
MassLive sports columnist Karen Guregian makes the postseason pick:
The Patriots (14-3), the AFC's No. 2 seed, drew the LA Chargers (11-6), the No. 7 seed in this Wildcard round matchup.
The two teams met last season in Foxborough. The Chargers blew out the Patriots, 40-7.
With a new coach, a revamped coaching staff, a roster that underwent a facelift, and a quarterback that's blossomed into an MVP candidate Year 2, the Patriots are a far different team than the one that got smoked by the Chargers last season.
They've become contenders much quicker than expected. Does that mean they'll be one-and-done after facing a more experienced and more proven Chargers team? The way they played all year, the way they've bought into Mike Vrabel and his coaching staff, I think not.
The Chargers are a good team. They're well-coached by Jim Harbaugh, and have a talented quarterback in Justin Herbert. Their defense is one of the best - if not the best - the Patriots have faced this year.
But they're traveling across the country to the Northeast. They're a dome team having to play in the cold. The cases of dome teams winning playoff games outside in the dead of winter are few and far between.
So I'm going with Vrabel, Maye and the Patriots in this one.
Final score prediction: Patriots 24, Chargers 20
