Cam Newton, Patriots Poised to Make Late-Season Run After Win vs. Chargers

After losing five of their first seven games (a stretch that included a four-game losing streak), the New England Patriots have gotten their season back on course. Could that mean they'll be heading to the playoffs for the 12th straight year?

On Sunday, they beat the Los Angeles Chargers 45-0 at SoFi Stadium, earning their fourth win in their past five games to improve to 6-6. It was a dominant performance from start to finish, as the Pats took an early lead and never allowed the Chargers to get into the game.

New England quarterback Cam Newton passed for 69 yards and a touchdown and ran for 48 yards and two scores. The Patriots also made big plays on defense and special teams to notch their first shutout victory since Week 7 of the 2019 season.

Here are three takeaways from New England's win on Sunday.

Pats Back in Playoff Picture, Poised to Make Late Push

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Never count out the Patriots when they have head coach Bill Belichick at the helm.

The 68-year-old has guided them to the playoffs in 17 of his 20 seasons, including 16 of the past 17. Even without longtime quarterback Tom Brady, it's possible he is going to get New England back to the postseason this year.

The Patriots are currently outside of a playoff spot, but they're in the thick of the AFC wild-card race. The Las Vegas Raiders are 7-5 and sitting in the seventh and final postseason spot in the conference, while the Baltimore Ravens are 6-5 heading into their Tuesday night game against the Dallas Cowboys. No team behind the Pats has more than four wins.

New England's final four regular-season games are against the Los Angeles Rams (8-4), Miami Dolphins (8-4), Buffalo Bills (8-3) and New York Jets (0-12). Although the next three games are against quality opponents, the Patriots have momentum and may be playing the best they have all year coming out of the big win over the Chargers.

"It was a complementary game. We played at a good level for 60 minutes and had more consistency than we’ve probably had in most other games. Just really proud of how the team competed," Belichick said, according to Shalise Manza Young of Yahoo Sports. "Our guys really stepped up."

The Pats will need some help to get into the postseason, and they're likely going to have to win some tough games. But they're much closer to a playoff spot now than when they were 2-5, so it's certainly realistic they could get in.

Big Special Teams Plays Set the Tone of the Game

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The Patriots only had a 7-0 lead after the first quarter, but it didn't take long for them to build on that. And they did so on the strength of two big special teams plays that showed exactly how this game was going to go.

Less than a minute into the second quarter, New England took a 14-0 lead on a 70-yard punt return touchdown by Gunner Olszewski. It was the first touchdown of the 24-year-old's two-year NFL career, and it was the Pats' first punt return score since 2014.

After the Patriots took a 21-0 lead on a 2-yard touchdown run by Newton with 51 seconds to go before halftime, the Chargers got into position for Michael Badgley to attempt a 58-yard field goal, but it was blocked by Cody Davis. Devin McCourty recovered the ball and returned it 44 yards for a touchdown to push New England's advantage to 28-0.

"It was the right way we wanted to start the game. We hit most of our goals during the game," Newton said, per Joe Reedy of the Associated Press. "We were set up by great defense and special teams performances and wanted to maximize it throughout the entire game."

If Los Angeles could have put points on the board before halftime, perhaps it could have had some momentum for the rest of the game. Instead, New England ensured that didn't happen and kept control the entire way.

This Defense Can Be Nearly as Good as Last Season

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In 2019, the Patriots' defense was the best in the NFL, ranking first in the league in both yards allowed per game (275.9) and points allowed per game (14.1). The unit hasn't been quite as effective this season, entering Sunday's game ranked 16th and 12th in those categories, respectively.

But the Pats' defense may also be better than it had shown at times earlier in the season, and Sunday's performance helped prove that. New England held Los Angeles to 258 total yards and forced a pair of turnovers with interceptions by cornerback J.C. Jackson and defensive end Chase Winovich.

The Chargers' 11 possessions ended with two missed field goals (one of which was blocked), four punts, two interceptions and three turnovers on downs.

New England's defense has mostly shown encouraging progress over the past few weeks, as it has held three of its past four opponents to 17 or fewer points. It also shut down a talented Arizona Cardinals offense in Week 12, so it has momentum entering the final stretch of the regular season.

When the Patriots' defense plays this well, the team is tough to beat. So, a key to whether or not it reaches the postseason could be if it can keep performing this well on the defensive side of the ball.