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The Patriots Anfernee Jennings (58) and Adam Butler (70) strut away after sacking Charger quarterback Justin Herbert (10) during the fourth quarter Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The New England Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 45-0 in a National Football League game at SoFi Stadium. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
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Patriots punt returner Gunner Olszewski (80) celebrates with teammates after scoring on a 70-yard return to give New England a 14-0 second quarter lead Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The Los Angeles Chargers host the New England Patriots in a National Football League game at SoFi Stadium. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
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Charger head coach Anthony Lynn looks at the scoreboard as the Chargers fall behind 21-0 during the first half against the New England Patriots Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The Los Angeles Chargers host the New England Patriots in a National Football League game at SoFi Stadium. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
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The Patriots Gunner Olszewski (80) avoids the tackles of the Chargers Rayshawn Jenkins (23) and Nasir Adderley (24) as he scores on a a 38-yard touchdown pass during the fourth quarter Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood to give the Patriots a 45-0 lead over the Chargers. The New England Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 45-0 in a National Football League game at SoFi Stadium. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
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Patriots quarterback Cam Newton leaps and reaches over the goal line to give New England a 7-0 lead over the Chargers during the first quarter Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The Los Angeles Chargers host the New England Patriots in a National Football League game at SoFi Stadium. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
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Patriots quarterback Cam Newton fights through the tackle of the Chargers Nick Vigil to score his second touchdown of the game to give New England a 21-0 lead during the second quarter Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The Los Angeles Chargers host the New England Patriots in a National Football League game at SoFi Stadium. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
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Charger quarterback Justin Herbert (10) scrambles away from the Patriot defense during the first half Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The Los Angeles Chargers host the New England Patriots in a National Football League game at SoFi Stadium. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
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Patriots quarterback Cam Newton (1) is knocked out of bounds by the Chargers Rayshawn Jenkins (23) during the first quarter Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The Los Angeles Chargers host the New England Patriots in a National Football League game at SoFi Stadium. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
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The Patriots Anfernee Jennings (58) and Adam Butler (70) strut away after sacking Charger quarterback Justin Herbert (10) during the fourth quarter Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The New England Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 45-0 in a National Football League game at SoFi Stadium. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
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Charger quarterback Justin Herbert (10) is sacked by the Patriots Deatrich Wise Jr. (91) during the first half Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The New England Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 45-0 in a National Football League game at SoFi Stadium. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
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Patriots punt returner Gunner Olszewski breaks the last attempted tackle by Chargers punter Ty Long (1) to score on a 70-yard return to give New England a 14-0 second quarter lead Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The Los Angeles Chargers host the New England Patriots in a National Football League game at SoFi Stadium. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
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The Patriots Gunner Olszewski (80) avoids the tackles of the Chargers Rayshawn Jenkins (23) and Nasir Adderley (24) as he scores on a a 38-yard touchdown pass during the fourth quarter Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood to give the Patriots a 45-0 lead over the Chargers. The New England Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 45-0 in a National Football League game at SoFi Stadium. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
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The Patriots Gunner Olszewski (80) avoids the tackles of the Chargers Nick Vigil (59) and Nasir Adderley (24) as he scores on a a 38-yard touchdown pass during the fourth quarter Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood to give the Patriots a 45-0 lead over the Chargers. The New England Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 45-0 in a National Football League game at SoFi Stadium. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
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Patriots quarterback Cam Newton fights through the tackle of the Chargers Nick Vigil (59) and Nasir Adderley (24) to score his second touchdown of the game to give New England a 21-0 lead during the second quarter Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The Los Angeles Chargers host the New England Patriots in a National Football League game at SoFi Stadium. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
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The Patriots Gunner Olszewski (80) avoids the tackles of the Chargers Rayshawn Jenkins (23) and Nasir Adderley (24) as he scores on a a 38-yard touchdown pass during the fourth quarter Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood to give the Patriots a 45-0 lead over the Chargers. The New England Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 45-0 in a National Football League game at SoFi Stadium. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
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Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (10) throws a pass up field against the Patriots during the first half Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The Los Angeles Chargers host the New England Patriots in a National Football League game at SoFi Stadium. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
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Patriots punt returner Gunner Olszewski breaks the last attempted tackle by Chargers punter Ty Long (1) to score on a 70-yard return to give New England a 14-0 second quarter lead Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The Los Angeles Chargers host the New England Patriots in a National Football League game at SoFi Stadium. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
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Patriots quarterback Cam Newton fights through the tackle of the Chargers Nick Vigil to score his second touchdown of the game to give New England a 21-0 lead during the second quarter Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The Los Angeles Chargers host the New England Patriots in a National Football League game at SoFi Stadium. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
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Quarterback Cam Newton #1 of the New England Patriots jumps over a pile of players and scores a touchdown in the first quarter of the game against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium on December 06, 2020 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
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Patriots punt returner Gunner Olszewski (80) celebrates with teammates after scoring on a 70-yard return to give New England a 14-0 second quarter lead Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The Los Angeles Chargers host the New England Patriots in a National Football League game at SoFi Stadium. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
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Patriots quarterback Cam Newton celebrates after scoring his second touchdown of the game to give New England a 21-0 lead over the Chargers during the second quarter Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The Los Angeles Chargers host the New England Patriots in a National Football League game at SoFi Stadium. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
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Patriots punt returner Gunner Olszewski (80) celebrates with teammates after scoring on a 70-yard return to give New England a 14-0 second quarter lead Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The Los Angeles Chargers host the New England Patriots in a National Football League game at SoFi Stadium. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
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New England Patriots running back Damien Harris (37) runs against the Los Angeles Chargers during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Kelvin Kuo)
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Patriots head coach Bill Belichick walks the sidelines during the first half against the Chargers Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The Los Angeles Chargers host the New England Patriots in a National Football League game at SoFi Stadium. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
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New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton huddles with his team during pregame warmups prior to playing the Los Angeles Chargers Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The Patriots will play back-to-back games at SoFi Stadium when they play the Rams on Thursday night. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
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New England Patriots Bill Belichick (left) watches pregame warmups prior to playing the Los Angeles Chargers Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The Patriots will play back-to-back games at SoFi Stadium when they play the Rams on Thursday night. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
INGLEWOOD — Patriots coach Bill Belichick is best known for his six championships with Tom Brady, but he’s built a reputation as one of the best coaches in NFL history for his emphasis on complementary football.
Everything needs to work in sync regardless of who’s playing quarterback for the Patriot way to work, and that includes special teams — an area the Chargers might have neglected before this season.
Adrian Phillips was recognized as an All-Pro special teamer for the Chargers in 2018, but the Chargers let him walk in free agency to join the New England Patriots this past offseason. The Chargers also didn’t retain other key special teams players, like Derek Watt and Nick Dzubnar, and assumed inexperienced players would step up to fill the void.
But the Chargers haven’t had a successful special teams formula under coach Anthony Lynn to have those types of assumptions and have paid the price this season, especially Sunday during a 45-0 drubbing against the Patriots at SoFi Stadium. It was the worst loss by margin in franchise history.
Now, Chargers owner Dean Spanos might be doubting his assumptions about Lynn being the right person to coach his team after the embarrassing outing in all three phases.
The Patriots built their comfortable lead by working off their opportunistic special teams. Patriots quarterback Cam Newton operated an efficient ground game and the defense smothered star rookie quarterback Justin Herbert and his many offensive weapons.
Lastly, and definitely not an area of neglect, Belichick outcoached Lynn, who seems to be on one of the hottest coaching seats in the NFL.
Not much has gone right for Lynn in his fourth season with the Chargers, from coaching decisions on the field to tinkering with his coaching staff. He reassigned special teams coordinator George Stewart on Nov. 25 and replaced him with Keith Burns.
But the worst special teams unit in the NFL — according to analytics website Football Outsiders — got much worse Sunday. Kicker Michael Badgley missed field goals, kickoff catches were bobbled and a punt was returned for a touchdown. Even something as simple as having 11 players on the field was a struggle for the disastrous unit.
Lynn had an opportunity to prove that he was more than a motivator and could go toe-to-toe with one of the best head coaches of all time. Instead, the Chargers delivered a flat performance and gave Lynn his worst game as a head coach. Not even last year’s 39-10 defeat to the Minnesota Vikings at home that featured seven turnovers was as ugly as Sunday.
A nightmarish first half got worse when the Chargers set up for a potential field goal before halftime. Badgley’s 58-yard attempt was blocked by Cody Davis and returned by Devin McCourty for a 44-yard touchdown as the clock expired in the first half. The Chargers trailed 28-0 at halftime.
The embarrassing moments on special teams picked up after Patriots wide receiver Gunner Olszewski returned a punt for a 70-yard touchdown and a 14-0 advantage with 14:02 left in the second quarter. Olszewski found an opening on the right side of the field and forced punter Ty Long and defensive back Jahleel Addae into missed tackles before crossing the end zone.
Later in the second quarter, the Chargers only had 10 players on the field during a punt return. The special teams blunders started with Badgley’s missed 46-yard field-goal attempt on the Chargers’ opening drive.
The Patriots punished the Chargers for 57 rushing yards on their first drive, which ended with a 1-yard touchdown run from Newton and 7-0 lead with 7:50 in the first quarter. The Patriots had 13 plays and killed 7:10 of clock on the scoring drive.
After four drives, Herbert and the Chargers’ offense had three punts, 63 total yards and was 0 for 5 on third downs. At that point, wide receivers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams had a combined one catch for 3 yards.
Check back soon for updates.
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