Where have these Patriots been all year?

THESE Patriots can get back to the Super Bowl.

The New England Patriots went 11-5 during the 2018 season. That’s an incredible year for almost every team in the NFL, but it was subpar by the Patriots’ lofty standards. It was their first five-loss season since 2009 and there just didn’t seem to be much that was special about New England this time around.

But January started and the Patriots looked like a brand new team Sunday.

In a 41-28 destruction of the Los Angeles Chargers, the Patriots dominated the line of scrimmage on offense and defense. They racked up 499 yards of total offense, and held the Chargers to just 335— many of which was racked up in garbage time.

Tom Brady — who looked more like a good quarterback than an elite one in 2018 — was spectacular with 343 passing yards, one touchdown, and a 106.5 passer rating.

The Patriots are headed to an eighth consecutive AFC Championship for a chance to go to the Super Bowl for the third time in a row, and the fourth time in five years. But even after that kind of consistency, it was surprising to see the Patriots turn the dial to blowout the Chargers.

Philip Rivers never had much of a chance

The Chargers’ 15-year quarterback has never been to a Super Bowl and he’s running out of time to change that. It appears likely at this point that he’ll finish his career as arguably the best passer to never get further than a conference championship game.

That’s a shame, because — for the most part — Rivers hasn’t been bad in his postseason appearances. And on Sunday, he was on his own.

Melvin Gordon managed just 15 rushing yards on nine attempts, forcing the entire Chargers offense to survive through the air. And when Rivers dropped back to pass, he was consistently harassed.

During the Patriots’ 35-7 run in the first half, Rivers faced pressure like no quarterback has all season:

Where in the world did this come from?

The Patriots defense finished the year with 30 sacks — the second-lowest total in the NFL. It only sacked Rivers twice Sunday, but the amount of pressure it put on the quarterback was something New England hasn’t managed to do all year.

Rivers still finished with 331 passing yards, three touchdowns, and an interception. But the pressure allowed him to complete just 49 percent his passes, and it forced enough third down stops to keep the Chargers off the field.

It’ll probably need to do the same next week if it hopes to keep likely MVP Patrick Mahomes in check during the AFC Championship.

The Patriots offense bullied the Chargers

Last week, the Chargers took an innovative approach to slowing down the powerful rushing attack of the Ravens. For all but one play, Los Angeles had seven defensive backs and zero linebackers on the field.

It worked perfectly, but when the Patriots opened the Divisional Round by running over the Chargers it seemed like the game plan was backfiring on defensive coordinator Gus Bradley.

But the reality is that it didn’t really matter if it was linebackers or safeties in the box for the Chargers. The Patriots offensive line was bulldozing the Chargers defensive line from the jump.

When the Chargers would put a linebacker in the game, it didn’t matter — they got steamrolled too. Tight end Rob Gronkowski did plenty of the mauling on the second level:

The Patriots averaged 4.3 rushing yards per attempt during the regular season — 20th best in the NFL.

But New England had no problem leaning on rookie Sony Michel for 129 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 24 attempts.

The Chiefs were surprisingly stout on defense against the Colts on Saturday, and allowed only 87 rushing yards. Indianapolis couldn’t get much going offensively, and couldn’t off the field on defense.

When the Patriots and Chiefs met in Week 6, running backs Michel and James White combined for 145 rushing yards for New England. If the Patriots do that again — and bring the same kind of physicality that allowed them to run over the Chargers — the AFC Championship may end up being a repeat of New England’s 43-40 win against Kansas City in October.