Who will the New England Patriots play in the AFC Divisional round?

The New England Patriots are headed back to the Divisional Round. The Patriots beat the Chargers 16-3 on Sunday, pulling away in the fourth quarter. The game was nothing but field goals for the first three frames before Drake Maye found Hunter Henry to give New England a double digit lead. The Chargers defense made plenty of stops, but the offense could get nothing going.

Monday update: The Texans beat the Steelers on Monday to close out the Wild Card Round. It wasn’t pretty for extended stretches, but the Texans defense dominated to overcome C.J. Stroud’s turnover woes. Houston scored two defensive touchdowns to win 30-6 and will travel to New England next weekend for the Divisional Round.

The Patriots will host either the Steelers or Texans next weekend in the Divisional Round. The NFL re-seeds after the Wild Card Round and the Patriots are the second best seed remaining. Their win over the Chargers means the Bills are the worst remaining seed and will travel to face the Broncos in the Divisional Round. The Steelers and Texans will play on Monday night.

Record: 9-4 regular season, 2-0 postseason

The last time the Patriots and Texans played was a season ago, with Houston thumping them 41-21 in Foxboro. Their last playoff game was in the 2017 Divisional Round, with the Patriots winning 34-16 and setting up the above-mentioned Patriots-Steelers AFC Championship.

The Patriots are back in the Divisional Round for the first time since they won the Super Bowl to close the 2018-19 season. They’ve had a pair of Wild Card appearances since then, but they hadn’t even reached the playoffs since the 2022 NFL Playoffs. This is the 22nd time they have played in the Divisional Round.