The New England Patriots cruised to a 16-3 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday night to advance to the divisional round of the 2025 NFL Playoffs. The Patriots’ defense dominated this game, thanks in large part to a slew of injuries the Chargers were dealing with along their defensive line.
Los Angeles spent much of the season playing without its top two tackles on the offensive line in Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt. While Slater missed the entire year, Alt managed to suit up for just six games before he suffered a season-ending ankle injury early in November.
With New England sacking quarterback Justin Herbert six times in this game, it’s clear that Alt’s presence on the field was missed. On Monday, the former No. 5 overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft opened up the status of his ankle as his squad heads into the offseason.
“Joe Alt did not want to go into the specifics of his ankle injury, but when asked if there was a fracture and ligament damage, he said, ‘Everything you could do to an ankle, I did, pretty much.’ Alt added: ‘The goal is to have it not affect me at all’ heading into 2026,” Daniel Popper of The Athletic shared in a post on X.
It’s fair to wonder how different this game would have been had the Chargers been healthy along their offensive line. Protecting Herbert had been the team’s biggest issue all year long, and sure enough, that proved to be a deciding factor in the outcome of this game.
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The Pats won’t be focusing on that too much, though, as they have to get ready for their upcoming game. They will square off against either the Pittsburgh Steelers or Houston Texans when they return to action on Sunday.
Featured image via Denny Simmons/Imagn Images
