Los Angeles Chargers at New England Patriots DFS Showdown Wildcard 2026

Drake Maye and the New England Patriots are about to see if their great run in December can stretch into January as they face the Los Angeles Chargers. Maye has gotten used to MVP chants when he is under center, but now he looks to prove his worth against a very strong opponent, especially for a seventh seed. Justin Herbert is itching for a playoff win as well, so both quarterbacks should be ready to fling the ball to the bevy of receivers on either team.

Lock of the Game

Both quarterbacks are going to play well in this game, that’s almost guaranteed. The thing that makes Maye the lock here is that his odds going up against the Chargers defense look better than Herbert going up against the Patriots defense. New England has held four of their last five opponents to under 25 points. Save the last game against Miami, the Patriots have also been throwing a lot in the endzone. So, while he isn’t a lock for 300 yards, Maye should get a couple of touchdowns to punch up his fantasy score.

Start ‘Em

Some fantasy players might recognize Johnston as being a big name from earlier in the season. Johnston fell off the map a bit after a quiet November, but his targets were down in that month. In the last two games of the season, Johnston saw a lot more work and performed excellently with the targets he had (202 yards and a touchdown). This probably earned him a lot of work in this playoff environment, where Herbert will look for his best targets. There is also a chance that Herbert will want to look away from Keenan Allen, who could be covered by Pro Bowler Christian Gonzalez, which makes Johnston a much more attractive target.

Yes, Rhamondre Stevenson did have a great last couple of games, but the Patriots will be playing very differently now that it’s the playoffs. Stevenson is coming off a great game against Miami, but New England had the lead for the entire game and simply needed to run the ball anyway. The Chargers are a much better team, so New England will be facing third down a lot more; they can’t simply keep pounding the ball. Henderson excels at third down because he is more of a pass catcher. He also has been much more consistent throughout the second half of the season, so he should be getting more opportunities than Stevenson.

Sit ‘Em

Despite being a little bit older, Keenan Allen still deserves a lot of respect in this league. While the Chargers don’t have a clear-cut WR1, Allen has been looking like it after getting 13 targets against the Broncos. Unfortunately, he hasn’t done much with those targets: Allen hasn’t gotten more than 53 yards in a single game since Week 8. He also hasn’t scored a touchdown in that same amount of time, and because Christian Gonzalez will be covering him for most of the game, the forecast doesn’t look good for Allen.

One big mistake for this game would be to start Stevenson just because he had a big game against Miami. That game was over very quickly, and this matchup against the Chargers will likely have a very different game script. While he hasn’t had a fumble since Week 5, the Patriots do not want to lose the ball to a Rhamondre Stevenson fumble in a playoff game. It’s also likely that Henderson will get more work, so Stevenson can’t get the amount of yards he’s been getting recently.

Fade of the Game

When the ball comes his way, Kyle Williams does look like a solid receiver. The issue is that he gets a small portion of the targets on this offense. He has only had 21 targets all season. Of course, the Patriots are going to try to get the ball to Stefon Diggs, but if he is covered, Maye can throw to Kayshon Boutte, Pop Douglas, Hunter Henry, or even Trey’Veon Henderson. Williams would need a touchdown to be fantasy relevant, and there is no guarantee he will get one.