Welcome to the Friday Five, postseason edition!

Every week until the Patriots’ playoff run is over, I will drop five team-related thoughts on Friday to recap the week that was in Foxboro and look ahead to kickoff.

Ready, set, football.

1. A Chargers chess match

In recent years, NFL offenses have pivoted toward more progression-based passing attacks that instruct a quarterback to move from his first read to his second read and his third or fourth until he identifies an open receiver.

Not so in New England.

Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels tasks Drake Maye with reading coverage before and after the snap, and those reads then dictate where Maye will direct the ball. Those reads also impact the Patriots’ receivers, who sometimes read coverage mid-play and adjust their routes based on the movement of certain defenders. Often, that leads to an advantage.

But facing a clever Chargers defense on Sunday night, passing downs could become more complicated. According to McDaniels, Los Angeles introduces new, complex defenses most weeks in high-leverage situations to confuse quarterbacks.

“They’re going to make it as complicated as you’ve seen all year,” he said Thursday.

McDaniels later Chargers: “They’re going to challenge your ability to identify where they’re at. They’re a team that will send guys from anywhere; anybody could blitz in certain situations. They’ll challenge your eye discipline, your rules, and then your ability — once you identify it, then it’s (a question of), are you tough enough to stand in there and slug it out? Because that is not going to be a small thing on Sunday night.

“So every ounce of our toughness, our details, our techniques, our fundamentals and our execution to consistently do anything well against this unit, because they’re really good.”

So far this season, Maye has thrived against disguised coverage, though few defenses on the Patriots’ schedule presented as difficult a test as the Chargers will.

2. Ready, set, strike

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye pushes away Los Angeles Chargers safety Derwin James Jr. during the second half of an NFL game Saturday in Foxboro. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Another challenge for Maye: Los Angeles finished the regular season with the NFL’s best deep pass defense by DVOA, an advanced metric that adjusts for opponent and game situation.

In fact, the Chargers led the league in deep-ball defense by such a margin the gap between them and the second-ranked defense was roughly as big as the gap between second and seventh. The Patriots will meet strength with strength in this area, after Maye completed the second-most deep balls in the NFL and finished as the league’s best deep thrower by passer rating. So how does Maye intend on cracking the Chargers’ secondary for valuable explosive plays?

“I think you just take chances when they’re there,” Maye said Wednesday. “I think in one-on-one coverage, you’ve got to take chances. One-on-one, I like our guys. They’re making plays on the football when they have one-on-one coverage, and I like (throwing with) ball placement and giving them a chance to go make a play. At the same time, just be patient. Don’t get bored being efficient, executing underneath and letting things come to you.”

If the Chargers’ late-season play-calling is any indication, Maye could have more chances than expected. According to Tru Media, defensive coordinator Jesse Minter almost doubled his rate of man coverage called on third down over the last two months, a percentage that rans 11th league-wide since Week 11. Downfield, Maye’s best options will be, if healthy, Kayshon Boutte, who’s caught 10 of 14 deep targets for 256 yards and five touchdowns, and speedsters Kyle Williams and DeMario Douglas.

3. Friday fun

In his first season as the Patriots’ head coach, Mike Vrabel maintained a popular tradition from his Tennessee days.

Related Articles

Patriots veteran defender experiencing breakout season thanks to buy-in

Patriots-Chargers injury report: Kayshon Boutte hurts hamstring, Hunter Henry upgraded

Patriots preparing for unique Chargers defender in playoffs

Patriots not looking to change recipe for playoffs after successful season

Patriots return key starter at Thursday practice before Wild Card playoff game

During Friday team meetings, he runs through a highlight reel of unusual plays Patriots vice president of football operations and strategy John Streicher created for him after reviewing every snap of every game the week before. Those reels are the basis for what the Pats call “Teach Tape Fridays;” a way to emphasize smart situational football and decision-making without dedicating practice time to rare plays that may or may not surface during the game. But there’s more.

According to backup quarterback Joshua Dobbs, Friday meetings also double as a stage for lighter moments. Vrabel shows highlight tapes from players’ high school careers and invites some to come to the front of the room. Dobbs stopped short of explaining why or revealing what happens next, adding only that first-round rookie left tackle Will Campbell recently impressed.

“I think we do a good job of giving the floor to different people to get up there and show their personality,” Dobbs said with a smile.

4. He said it

“It was the only option I had, so I guess I didn’t have a choice.” — Vrabel on whether he benefitted from consulting for the Browns last year instead of taking another head-coaching job after getting fired in Tennessee

5. Did you know?

Sunday will be the first time Mike Vrabel and Jim Harbaugh coach against one another in college or the NFL, though they faced one another three times at the end of Harbaugh’s playing career in the late 1990s.

In those years, Harbaugh was a quarterback for the Ravens, while Vrabel while starting his career in Pittsburgh (’97-2000). Vrabel’s Steelers won all three meetings.