FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Patriots coach Mike Vrabel talked to his team about being prepared to bleed as New England entered its first playoff game since the 2021 season.Then, shortly after Milton Williams sacked the Chargers’ Justin Herbert on Sunday night to secure the Patriots’ first playoff victory in seven years, Williams celebrated with a head-butt of Vrabel.It knocked the first-year coach backward and bloodied his lip.“The big dogs come out in January. I think Milt took that to heart,” Vrabel said. “He came over and got me pretty good. But that’s what happens.”Drake Maye threw a touchdown pass to Hunter Henry in the fourth quarter, and New England’s defense roughed up Herbert as the Patriots beat Los Angeles 16-3 in an AFC wild-card playoff game.Andy Borregales kicked three field goals for the Patriots (15-3), who hadn’t won in the postseason since their Super Bowl victory to cap the 2018 season. They’ll host the winner of Monday night’s game between Pittsburgh and Houston in the divisional round.In his playoff debut, Maye completed 17 of 29 passes for 268 yards and ran for a team-high 66 yards.“We made plays when we had to do it,” Maye said.He also threw an interception and lost a fumble, but the Chargers (11-7) couldn’t capitalize on those turnovers.New England held Los Angeles to 207 yards of offense and sacked Herbert six times, with one of those resulting in a lost fumble that set up the Patriots’ TD.“It’s on us, what we do. I’ve been saying that all season,” Williams said. “We can control the game. If we do what we need to do up front, we’re going to win.”This is the second straight season in which the Chargers have lost in the wild-card round. Herbert finished 19 of 31 for 159 yards and was his team’s leading rusher with 57 yards as he fell to 0-3 in the playoffs.Herbert was just over a month removed from surgery to repa …
