Drake Maye and Justin Herbert each looking for 1st playoff win as Patriots host Chargers

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — In a year’s time, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye has gone from the rookie starter on a losing team to an MVP candidate and the face of a playoff squad.

That rapid rise hasn't altered the 23-year-old’s mindset as he prepares to lead New England into its first playoff game since the 2021 season. The Patriots (14-3) host the Los Angeles Chargers (11-6) on Sunday night.

Maye insists his focus is on following the same process that helped him get this far.

“I’ve got to play well for us to win,” Maye said. “I know that’s the nature of this league and the nature of the position. I wouldn’t want to have it any other way.”

Wide receiver Stefon Diggs doesn’t think Maye will be rattled by the postseason stage.

“I expect to see the same player, if not him doing more,” Diggs said. “Whatever duty calls, or whatever the job calls for, he’s been consistent. I’m excited for Drake, though. Another stage for him to shine.”

New England will be seeking its first home playoff victory since the 2018 season, which concluded with the franchise's sixth Super Bowl title. That run started with a divisional-round victory over the Chargers.

“We’re not here just to get here,” first-year coach Mike Vrabel said. “We have to be able to host games and compete for championships. There’s not going to be any consolation prize for anybody. We understand what we have to do.”

Los Angeles is making its second straight playoff appearance under coach Jim Harbaugh. The franchise hasn’t won a postseason game since the 2018 season.

In his sixth season, Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert is seeking his first playoff win. He enters with an 0-2 postseason record.

“To keep going on in the playoffs is the goal for every team. We’re handling and taking advantage of this opportunity and doing everything we can to be prepared for that,” Herbert said. “Experience is a good thing. I think you learn from what you did right, what you did wrong.”

Herbert’s health could be a factor in whether he’s able to get over his postseason struggles. He’s just over a month removed from having surgery to repair a broken bone in his nonthrowing hand.

He was among several starters who sat out the Chargers' regular-season finale, a loss at Denver.

“I think not taking hits on it last week was probably pretty helpful for it,” Herbert said of his left hand. “Just getting back to making sure you have full strength and able to hold on to a football.”

The Chargers' defense has been great against the pass this season. Among the 12 playoff teams, LA allowed the fewest air yards (1,520) during the regular season.

Maye has been one of the league's best at throwing the ball deep.

According to Sportradar, Maye completed 67 passes of at least 20 air yards, which ranked second in the NFL behind only Matthew Stafford (72). Among quarterbacks who completed at least 20 passes that traveled at least 20 yards in the air, Maye’s completion rate of 50.7% was third, behind Brock Purdy (63.6%) and Sam Darnold (53.8%).

Patriots defensive coordinator Josh McDaniels expects Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter to throw a variety of looks at Maye.

“There’s a few plays where they’re going to be as complicated as you’ve seen all year,” McDaniels said.

Maye said he’s comfortable finding ways to beat schemes that feature extra defenders in the secondary.

“I think from an attacking standpoint, if there’s any coverage, there’s always a void,” he said.

The Patriots were 8-0 away from New England this season, the only team in the NFL with an unblemished road record.

In those games, New England outscored opponents by 80 points. But at home, its point differential was 90 points. To Vrabel, that’s proof his team can play just as well at home.

“It’s just got to be a tough place to play in January,” Vrabel said. “We need to create a hard environment, we need to play well, let our crowd feed off of us and let us feed off of them.”

AP Sports Writer Beth Harris in El Segundo, California, contributed to this report.

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Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh leaves the field after an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel stands on the sidelines during the first half of an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (10) throws a pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Houston Texans Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Wally Skalij)

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye walks on the sideline during the first half of an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

VATICAN CITY (AP) — In his most substantial critique of U.S., Russian and other military incursions in sovereign countries, Pope Leo XIV on Friday denounced how nations were using force to assert their dominion worldwide, “completely undermining” peace and the post-World War II international legal order.

“War is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading,” Leo told ambassadors from around the world who represent their countries’ interests at the Holy See.

Leo didn’t name individual countries that have resorted to force in his lengthy speech, the bulk of which he delivered in English in a break from the Vatican’s traditional diplomatic protocol of Italian and French. But his speech came amid the backdrop of the recent U.S. military operation in Venezuela to remove Nicolás Maduro from power, Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine and other conflicts.

The occasion was the pope’s annual audience with the Vatican diplomatic corps, which traditionally amounts to his yearly foreign policy address.

In his first such encounter, history’s first U.S.-born pope delivered much more than the traditional roundup of global hotspots. In a speech that touched on threats to religious freedom and the Catholic Church’s opposition to abortion and surrogacy, Leo lamented how the United Nations and multilateralism as a whole were increasingly under threat.

“A diplomacy that promotes dialogue and seeks consensus among all parties is being replaced by a diplomacy based on force, by either individuals or groups of allies,” he said. “The principle established after the Second World War, which prohibited nations from using force to violate the borders of others, has been completely undermined.”

“Instead, peace is sought through weapons as a condition for asserting one’s own dominion. This gravely threatens the rule of law, which is the foundation of all peaceful civil coexistence,” he said.

Leo did refer explicitly to tensions in Venezuela, calling for a peaceful political solution that keeps in mind the “common good of the peoples and not the defense of partisan interests.”

The U.S. military seized Maduro, the Venezuelan leader, in a surprise nighttime raid. The Trump administration is now seeking to control Venezuela’s oil resources and its government. The U.S. government has insisted Maduro's capture was legal, saying drug cartels operating from Venezuela amounted to unlawful combatants and that the U.S. is now in an “armed conflict” with them.

Analysts and some world leaders have condemned the Venezuela mission, warning that Maduro’s ouster could pave the way for more military interventions and a further erosion of the global legal order.

On Ukraine, Leo repeated his appeal for an immediate ceasefire and urgently called for the international community “not to waver in its commitment to pursuing just and lasting solutions that will protect the most vulnerable and restore hope to the afflicted peoples.”

On Gaza, Leo repeated the Holy See’s call for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and insisted on the Palestinians’ right to live in Gaza and the West Bank “in their own land.”

In other comments, Leo said the persecution of Christians around the world was “one of the most widespread human rights crises today,” affecting one in seven Christians globally. He cited religiously motivated violence in Bangladesh, Nigeria, the Sahel, Mozambique and Syria but said religious discrimination was also present in Europe and the Americas.

There, Christians “are sometimes restricted in their ability to proclaim the truths of the Gospel for political or ideological reasons, especially when they defend the dignity of the weakest, the unborn, refugees and migrants, or promote the family.”

Leo repeated the church’s opposition to abortion and euthanasia and expressed “deep concern” about projects to provide cross-border access to mothers seeking abortion.

He also described surrogacy as a threat to life and dignity. “By transforming gestation into a negotiable service, this violates the dignity both of the child, who is reduced to a product, and of the mother, exploiting her body and the generative process, and distorting the original relational calling of the family,” he said.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Pope Leo XIV holds his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Leo XIV holds his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Leo XIV holds his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)