Boomer Esiason has confidence in the New England Patriots this weekend, so long as two players, in particular, do their job.
After enjoying a first-round bye, the Patriots will kick off their postseason run with a divisional-round matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers at Gillette Stadium. Given the Chargers’ stingy defense, Esiason believes New England will need to have success in the trenches in order to advance to its eighth straight AFC Championship Game.
“I always think about how am I going to protect my quarterback,” Esiason said Tuesday on Showtime’s “Inside the NFL.” “Trent Brown, Marcus Cannon — the two tackles for the New England Patriots — the hat is on you guys. You protect the quarterback, you win the football game. I think they win.”
Brown, Cannon and the rest of the Patriots’ offense put together a strong regular season, as Tom Brady only was sacked 21 times, tied for the third-fewest amount in Brady’s 18 seasons as the Patriots’ starting quarterback. And while the Chargers employ a ferocious front seven, they only were tied for 19th in the league in sacks during the regular season. Still, you can expect Joey Bosa and Co. to wreak havoc all game long.
The Patriots and Chargers will kick off at 1:05 p.m. ET. on Sunday.
