With a New England Patriots game on tap for Sunday afternoon against the Los Angeles Chargers, all eyes will be on a matchup between a New England team that's on the rise with a recent dominant stretch, and a dynamic Los Angeles team that's loaded with talent, but was just beaten down badly in their last game. Figuring outcomes beforehand of dynamic matchups like these is almost impossible, but, nonetheless, we've got some bold predictions for Patriots-Chargers.
The Patriots are well behind the Buffalo Bills for first place in the AFC East, but a Wild Card spot is well within sight, as they've improved to 3-4 after getting off to a slow start this season. Their most recent win came was a 54-13 drubbing of the New York Jets, which was just an all-around slaughter on both sides of the ball. New England showed dominance on the ground, through the air, and with a fearsome defense.
The Chargers will be a much more difficult task for Mac Jones, Damien Harris, and Bill Belichick's defense. They took a big loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 6, but are 4-2 on the year with wins against heavyweights like the Browns and Chiefs.
Who will walk away victorious in this clash of styles? Here are 4 bold predictions for the Patriots and Chargers in Week 8.
New England Patriots Week 8 Predictions
4. Damien Harris will have not one, not two, but three touchdowns
Harris has sliced and diced for over 100 yards on less than 20 carries in each of the last two games, proving how dominant this Pats running game can be. He's the most talented runner the Patriots have had in years, and he's finally been healthy enough to showcase it. The Chargers, as we saw when the Ravens gashed them for 3 touchdowns and over 5 yards per carry, are vulnerable to the run. Harris is New England's best weapon on the goal line, and he's going to have a field day this Sunday.
3. Jakobi Meyers finally finds the end zone
This has got to be some sort of practical joke. Meyers has still yet to find the end zone this season, making it now 36 career games played, with 0 receiving touchdowns for him. However, his rapport with Mac Jones has been excellent (4+ catches, 44+ yards in each of the last 5 games), and Jones' play has been improving exponentially as of late. The Chargers have been giving up points to opponents in bunches, and it's only a matter of time before Meyers finds the end zone, right?
2. Mac Jones has breakout game, going shot for shot with Justin Herbert
Jones has had an excellent start to his young career, but he's yet to have a true breakout game on the stat sheet. The efficiency is there (67%+ completion rate in each of the last 4 games), but the volume has not been. All it could take for Jones to put up one of those monster 300 yard, multi-touchdown games is a matchup with the high-scoring Chargers. As they've given up 34 points or more in each of the last two contests, be ready for Mac to explode.
1. Patriots pull off huge statement win in Los Angeles
The Pats have had a mediocre couple of seasons in the recent past, and it was looking like they'd be headed down that road once again coming into 2021. However, they have played amazing over the past few games, and there's definitely potential for an upset here. With a dominant ground game and an opportunistic defense, they'll pull it off.
PREDICTION: Patriots 45, Chargers 31
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