NFL Today: Patriots Power Past Chargers

This week, Josh Allen led the Bills to their first road playoff win in over three decades; Matthew Stafford hurt his finger, but X-rays were negative; and the Eagles were without six-time Pro Bowl RT Lane Johnson in their upset loss to San Francisco. Other Fantasy football news items we’re tracking include…

Hunter Henry Comes Through

When we last checked in on the New England Patriots in November, they were about as hot as any team. Since then, they have proved to be the real deal, ultimately extending that win streak to 10 and earning victories in 13 of their last 14 games to punch their ticket back to postseason play for the first time since 2021.

And clearly, they are not done there.

Thanks to a dominant defensive showing, New England smothered the Chargers en route to a 16-3 win in an AFC Wild Card game on Sunday night. The Patriots’ offense wasn’t bad, either, getting solid showings from QB Drake Maye, RB Rhamondre Stevenson, WR Kayshoun Boutte and even TE Hunter Henry, who overcame a perceived tough matchup and a slow start to rack up 64 yards receiving and haul in the game’s only touchdown (on a sweet pass from Maye — see video below).

We last recommended Henry just over two years ago, but that didn’t pan out that well as he immediately went quiet for a few weeks before finishing strong. He built on that performance with a career best showing in 2024 (except for a lack of TDs) and then was even better this year, as he racked up more yards than ever despite fewer catches, and got his TD count back to where you’d like.

Despite being a veteran who is getting a bit long in the tooth (he turned 31 last month) Henry is still quite effective, so will in all likelihood remain New England’s top tight end in 2026. Perhaps we should be disappointed that he’s never been a Pro Bowl selection considering he was projected to have that level of talent coming out of Arkansas, but the fact that he’s still setting career highs at his age works for us.

Consider Henry the TE2 for the Divisional Round and a top 10 option for 2026.

Chicago’s Huge Comeback

Now if eight years since winning a playoff game felt like a long time for the Pats, the wait for the Chicago Bears had literally been twice as long: nothing since 2010 until Saturday’s massive comeback against Green Bay.

By early October, it was evident that these were not the same Bears as they very quickly shook off a slow start and looked like a much better team – especially offensively. That remained the case, as the offensive gains were the real deal, morphing from a near cellar dwelling unit to easily a top 10 group. In fact, it was offense that drove this team’s improvements as the Bear D took a fairly big step backward.

Chicago went on an 8-1 run over a two-plus month stretch from late-September until late-November before scuffling to a 2-3 finish. And things sure did not look good by halftime on Saturday when the Bears trailed 21-3.

But a 28-point second half (25 in the fourth quarter alone) allowed Chicago to complete an improbable comeback. Odds suggest that this team will most likely go out in the Divisional Round (-210 as per FanDuel), but at +290 to go out in the conference final, it’s hardly a long shot scenario.

When we discussed the Bears’ progress in October, we suggested that it was a work in progress with quarterback Caleb Williams, and that assessment proved accurate, although he did show modest progress over his rookie season.

He wasn’t at his best in the season finale and was even worse in the Wild Card game, completing just 50 per cent of his passes while getting picked twice and sacked once (although he did manage a season-high 361 passing yards, which set a new Chicago playoff record). But overall this season, Williams did some solid work, gaining more yards on fewer completions, throwing more TD passes and being sacked way less often.

The bottom line on Saturday was that when the chips were down, he came through. The box score didn’t paint the prettiest picture, but the Bears are playing on thanks to his late heroics.

After a top five finish this season, can Williams take another step forward next year and become a 20 Fantasy point per game guy? Well, for the Divisional Round, he’s likely a top four option, and is easily a top six QB in Dynasty formats.

RotoRob Tune of the Day

Moloko formed in Sheffield, England and released their debut album Do You Like My Tight Sweater? in 1995. The second single was “Fun for Me,” which also wound up on the soundtrack for the 1997 movie Batman and Robin.