The New England Patriots defended home turf in the Wild Card Round, dominating the Los Angeles Chargers in a 16-3 victory to move on in the NFL Playoffs.

New England, winning its first playoff game since their 2018 Super Bowl-winning campaign, will await the victor of the No. 4 Houston Texans and No. 5 Pittsburgh Steelers Wild Card game on Monday night to see who they face in the Divisional Round next week.

This game saw its first touchdown in the fourth quarter, but that was because of how suffocating both defenses were in this contest. But it was clear the Patriots had every answer for Justin Herbert and the Chargers’ offense.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Mike Vrabel’s squad shouldn’t have given up only three points, especially after Drake Maye was picked off on the Patriots’ second drive at his own 10-yard line. However, the Patriots’ defense was relentless all night, and the Chargers couldn’t adjust.

They stopped the Chargers on four plays to turn them over on downs, and ultimately got on the board first thanks to a 93-yard drive that resulted in a field goal.

49ERS ELMINATE DEFENDING SUPER BOWL CHAMPION EAGLES FROM PLAYOFFS

Los Angeles was knocking at the door again with a third-and-2 from New England’s three-yard line, but Kimani Vidal was stuffed. Cameron Dicker added a field goal to tie the game, and only another Patriots field goal was added to the score before halftime, a 6-3 lead for New England.

While the Chargers couldn’t get anything going on offense, their defense kept them in this game, at least for the first three quarters. Maye was strip-sacked by Odafe Oweh while in Chargers territory to keep it a three-point game in the third quarter.

But after another failed drive, a third Patriots field goal split the uprights to make it 9-3.

The dagger for the Patriots came after yet another Chargers punt, when Maye placed his pass perfectly for tight end Hunter Henry, the ex-Chargers star, for a 28-yard touchdown. The first six-pointer for either team seemingly ended all hopes for Los Angeles.

On the ensuing drive, Herbert was crushed by K’Lavon Chaisson, resulting in a fumble recovered by Christian Elliss, as the Gillette Stadium crowd went ballistic.

The Chargers tried to get some playoff heroics going, as they dinked and dunked their way down the field into Patriots territory. But on fourth-and-9 from New England’s 34-yard line, Milton Williams ended all hope when he delivered the Patriots’ sixth sack on Herbert to turn them over on downs again. 

In the box score, Maye went 17-of-29 through the air for 268 yards, with running back Rhamondre Stevenson being his top receiver with 75 yards on three catches. Kayshon Boutte also added 66 yards on four grabs, while Henry finished with 64 yards.

And Maye was also the Patriots’ leading rusher with 67 yards on the ground on nine carries, as he continuously picked his spots to gash the Chargers’ defense.

For Los Angeles, Herbert’s playoff woes continue, as he’s now 0-3 after this performance. He had just 159 yards passing and 57 yards rushing.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The MVP chants for the second-year quarterback of the New England Patriots rang throughout Gillette Stadium on Sunday night.

The Chargers, meanwhile, were haunted by their own echoes.

Another playoff game. Another one-and-done exit.

The gutty season of quarterback Justin Herbert again ended with a whimper, a 16-3 loss on a night when the Chargers defense provided ample opportunities.

“We have to do better than three points,” Herbert said. “As an offense, that’s not good enough. The quarterback play wasn’t good enough, and we let the defense down today.”

Three years ago was the nuclear meltdown at Jacksonville, when the Chargers blew a 27-0 lead to lose, 31-30.

Last year, the first under coach Jim Harbaugh, Herbert was picked off four times at Houston after making it through the regular season with just three interceptions.

Now, the Chargers have all offseason to ponder the fiasco at Foxborough, when they generated one field goal, 207 yards and converted one of 10 third downs.

The cover-your-eyes postseason scorecard under Harbaugh: Two games, 15 points on three field goals, one touchdown and a failed conversion.

Asked after the New England loss if the impending offseason changes could include changing out offensive coordinator Greg Roman, Harbaugh was notably noncommittal.

“Right now I don’t have the answers,” Harbaugh said. “We’re going to look at that.”

The juxtaposition between the Chargers and Patriots is stark. The Chargers are precisely where they were a year ago, groping for answers about how to win a postseason game.

The Patriots won just four games last season but bumped that to 14 this year — one of three teams in NFL history to improve by at least 10 games in 12 months — and now advance to play host to Monday night’s winner between Houston and Pittsburgh.

As good as Herbert was all season — particularly playing behind a patchwork offensive line and with a broken left hand — he seemed lost in space Sunday, unable to connect with his receivers or establish anything close to an offensive rhythm.

Former Chargers tight end Hunter Henry catches a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter for the Patriots. It was the game’s only touchdown.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

He threw for 120 yards and oversaw an offense whose possessions ended thusly: punt, turnover on downs, field goal, punt, end of half, punt, punt, punt, fumble, turnover on downs.

It’s not as if the Patriots were much better. The Chargers largely shut them down on offense, but New England was able to cobble together three field goals and a touchdown by tight end Hunter Henry, who, in a tormenting twist, began his career with the Chargers.

But Patriots quarterback Drake Maye was more calm and in command than Herbert despite two fumbles (one lost) and an interception on a pass that was batted at the line of scrimmage.

“Credit to Drake Maye,” Chargers safety Derwin James Jr. said. “Every time we got to him, he got back up. Every time his team needed a play today, he used his legs.”

In fact, the quarterbacks were the leading rushers, with Maye running for 66 yards and Herbert 57. The Patriots got 53 more from Rhamondre Stevenson, whereas the Chargers couldn’t mount anything of a true running game.

When teams win, they spend the offseason trying to keep their rosters together. When they lose, it’s back to the drawing board. The Chargers are in the latter category.

In a locker room so quiet you could hear a dream drop, linebacker Daiyan Henley said Harbaugh thanked his players after the game.

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert is slow to get up after being sacked in the fourth quarter against the Patriots on Sunday.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

“There was a lot of confidence going into this game,” Henley said. “I think the feeling and vibe you’re getting in this locker room right now is that it’s over and that this team is going to change. Everybody is aware that our defense is going to surely change.

“When you have a core group of guys like this, everybody holds a lot of pride in what we do. So to know that we lost and the season is over and this locker room is going to change — and upstairs may change — it hurts more.”

Henley said Harbaugh thanked his players after the game, especially for the way they fought all season despite the various hurdles in their path.

“It sucks because this is how the season ends, so when you talk about processing a loss like this, the process lasts longer,” Henley said.

“You go out on a loss, I’ll be thinking about it until I can go out and get my next win.”

The Green Bay Packers’ playoff exit on Saturday immediately put added focus on what the organization will do with head coach Matt LaFleur.

The NFL coaching cycle has been the wildest in recent memory, with veteran coaches like John Harbaugh and Pete Carroll being shown the door. Packers fans seemingly put LaFleur on the hot seat following their crushing defeat to the Chicago Bears.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter said Sunday that the Packers will have a major decision to make.

“The Green Bay Packers and their new president, Ed Policy, have a significant decision to make here in the coming days – and that is whether to extend Matt LaFleur’s contract. He’s currently got one year remaining, or to move on from him,” Schefter said. “If they moved on from him, he would automatically go near the top of coaches available and shakeup this current head-coaching cycle yet again.”

Schefter added that Harbaugh could be one of the names that would interest the Packers’ organization.

BEARS’ BEN JOHNSON GIVES FIERY MESSAGE TO TEAM AFTER PLAYOFF WIN: ‘F— THE PACKERS!’

“Notice how we said this belongs to the Packers’ president, Ed Policy. Well, the Packers’ former president from the back in the day was a man by the name of Bob Harlan,” Schefter explained. “Bob Harlan’s son, Brian Harlan, represents John Harbaugh. John Harbaugh is a Midwestern guy, who has a home in the Upper Peninsula, and a lot of people around the league have been wondering if the Packers decide to go in a different direction, if all of a sudden the Green Bay Packers might fall to the top of John Harbaugh’s list as the top available choice for him.

“This has been a wild, crazy coaching cycle, and we may be just scratching the surface.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Green Bay finished 9-7-1 this season. LaFleur is 76-40-1 as the Packers’ head coach with a 3-6 record in the playoffs.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.