Seven storylines to follow when the Patriots host the Chargers

Here are seven things to watch for when the Patriots and the Los Angeles Chargers meet in Sunday afternoon’s AFC divisional round playoff game at Gillette Stadium.

FOXBORO – Seven storylines to follow when the Patriots chase their eighth straight appearance in the AFC Championship Game by hosting the Los Angeles Chargers in Sunday afternoon’s divisional round playoff game at Gillette Stadium:

The end of a trend – The Chargers are 8-1 on the road (and their one loss actually occurred in L.A., 35-23, to the Rams) and have won their past seven away from home. This band travels well. They even won a home game in London, 20-19, over Tennessee.

At 8-0 in Foxboro, the Patriots were the league’s only unbeaten team at home during the 2018 regular season.

One of those trends (and one of these teams’ seasons) is about to come to an end.

Rivers runs dry – Philip Rivers, the Chargers’ 37-year-old quarterback, has struggled in a major way against the Patriots.

The 15-year veteran is 1-7 lifetime against the Patriots, including 0-2 in the playoffs, and has thrown as many interceptions (10) as touchdown passes (10) in those eight games against them. He's 0-7 head-to-head against Tom Brady, his one victory against the Patriots coming in San Diego in 2008, 30-10, with over the Matt Cassel-quarterbacked Pats (Brady was out for the year with the knee injury he'd suffered in his team's season opener with Kansas City).

Rivers put up MVP-type numbers for most of this season, but his production has plummeted of late – 517 yards passing with one touchdown and four interceptions over the last three games, including last Sunday’s 23-17 wildcard win over Baltimore.

A top 10 defense – Hard to believe in a season in which their quarterback was in the discussion for league MVP for the better part of the year, but the Chargers’ defense ranked higher than their offense in most major categories.

While the Chargers' offense was 11th in the league in total yards, 15th in running the ball, 10th passing it and tied for sixth in points scored, their defense before dropping off late was ninth across the board in total defense and in both defending the run and the pass and eighth in points allowed.

Ends Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram lead the charge up front and loom as major threats to the Patriots' offensive line. Derwin James is a hybrid safety capable of making an impact wherever he lines up and cornerbacks Desmond King (also a threat in the return game) and Casey Heyward are active on the back end. The Chargers do have problems at the linebacker position, however.

No kidding – That Chargers defense was able to take advantage of Lamar Jackson, the Ravens’ 21-year-old rookie quarterback, to the tune of seven sacks and had Baltimore in the negative column in total passing yards (minus-2) in the fourth quarter last Sunday.

This Sunday, they’ll get Brady, a quarterback who has been in the NFL (19 years) for nearly as long as Jackson’s been alive and holds the league’s all-time postseason records for starts by a QB (this will be No. 38), wins (27), passing yards (10,226), completions (920), touchdowns (71), multi-TD passing games (23) and 300-yard passing games (14).

Between the quarterbacks and the teams’ styles of play (the Ravens were ground and pound), the two offenses the Chargers will face one week apart couldn’t be much different.

As Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn said earlier this week "it's night-and-day."

He’s Keen(an) – His name may not be mentioned when the topic of the best receivers in the game pops up, but the Chargers’ Keenan Allen is certainly in the league’s upper tier.

Allen’s 97 receptions this season ranked 12th in the league, his 1,196 receiving yards were 15th and he’s caught six of the 32 touchdown passes Rivers has thrown.

Running back Melvin Gordon ranked second to Allen in receptions on the Chargers with 50 that went for 490 yards and four touchdowns. Wide receiver Mike Williams led the team in TD receptions with 10 while catching 43 passes for 664 yards.

The forgotten man – Is the Patriots’ forgotten man about to become their secret weapon?

Over a four-game stretch from Dec. 2-Dec. 23, wide receiver Phillip Dorsett wasn’t targeted once in the Patriots’ passing game, a period of time that included losses at Miami and Pittsburgh in which he was on the field for a combined total of nine offensive snaps.

Pressed into duty for 39 offensive plays (his highest snap count in 11 games) by necessity – Josh Gordon's indefinite suspension for his latest violation of the league's substance abuse policy and Cordarrelle Patterson’s inactivity due to a knee injury (he's back) – Dorsett caught all five passes Brady threw his way for 34 yards and a touchdown and carried the ball twice for 16 yards in the Patriots’ 38-3 regular season-ending rout of the New York Jets at Gillette on Dec. 30.

Dorsett has been remarkably reliable when thrown the ball (he's caught 32 passes in 42 targets, a 76.2 percent catch rate), but he has problems getting separation and his 9.1 yards per catch indicate he isn't the deep threat one would expect a speed burner like him to be.

Doing what he did two Sundays ago against a Jets defense that ranked 24th in the league against the pass during the regular season, one that was anxious to start its annual winter vacation, is one thing. Doing it against a Chargers defense that ranked ninth and is playing for a berth in the AFC Championship Game is another.

An impact performance by Dorsett this Sunday would be a huge boost to the Patriots' cause.

Farewell to Foxboro? – Could this be Rob Gronkowski's last game ever in Foxboro?

With the tight end's retirement at season's end a possibility and with the possibility that the season ends on Sunday or takes the Patriots to Kansas City for the AFC Championship Game the following Sunday, it isn't out of the realm to think that this is Gronkowski's last go-round at Gillette.

So, after looking like he was an old 29 for much of the regular season, might Gronkowski be recharged at the sight of the Chargers?

Gronkowski has caught 19 passes for 240 yards and five touchdowns in the four games in his career he’s played against the Chargers, and he’s scored at least one TD in each of them.

In his past three games against the Chargers, Gronkowski has grabbed 17 passes for 230 yards and four TDs.

Glen Farley may be reached at gfarley@enterprisenews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @GFarley_ent.