Who will the New England Patriots play in the AFC Divisional round?

The New England Patriots are headed back to the Divisional Round. The Patriots beat the Chargers 16-3 on Sunday, pulling away in the fourth quarter. The game was nothing but field goals for the first three frames before Drake Maye found Hunter Henry to give New England a double digit lead. The Chargers defense made plenty of stops, but the offense could get nothing going.

New England Patriots’ next playoff opponent

Patriots

The Patriots will host either the Steelers or Texans next weekend in the Divisional Round. The NFL re-seeds after the Wild Card Round and the Patriots are the second best seed remaining. Their win over the Chargers means the Bills are the worst remaining seed and will travel to face the Broncos in the Divisional Round. The Steelers and Texans will play on Monday night.

Chargers

The Chargers will travel to face the Broncos in the Divisional Round. The NFL re-seeds the bracket after the Wild Card round, but no matter what, the Chargers as the lowest seed would have gotten the Broncos with this upset of the Patriots. The Broncos are the No. 1 seed and rested this past week with a first round bye.

History vs. potential opponents

vs. Pittsburgh Steelers: 15-16 regular season, 4-1 postseason — The Patriots and Steelers will play a rematch of their Week 3 contest. The Steelers went into Foxboro and won 21-14 that dropped the Patriots to 1-2 and suggested they might be in for a tough season. The Steelers forced four fumbles and an interception in the victory. These two had an extensive playoff history in the late 90s and early 200s, but their 2017 AFC Championship matchup is the only one since the 2005 AFC Championship. The Patriots thumped the Steelers in 2017, winning 36-17 en route to their Super Bowl win over the Falcons.

vs. Houston Texans: 9-4 regular season, 2-0 postseason — The last time the Patriots and Texans played was a season ago, with Houston thumping them 41-21 in Foxboro. Their last playoff game was in the 2017 Divisional Round, with the Patriots winning 34-16 and setting up the above-mentioned Patriots-Steelers AFC Championship.

New England Patriots playoff history

The Patriots are back in the Divisional Round for the first time since they won the Super Bowl to close the 2018-19 season. They’ve had a pair of Wild Card appearances since then, but they hadn’t even reached the playoffs since the 2022 NFL Playoffs. This is the 22nd time they have played in the Divisional Round.