Key NFL Next Gen Stats intel on divisional-round matchups - ESPN

It was a 3-3 game with 26 seconds left in the half, and New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye couldn't find an open receiver. But he did find a lane.

So Maye took off on a run that was expected to gain just 13 yards, but he was able to pick up 37 to the Los Angeles Chargers' 17-yard line. Two incompletions later, Andy Borregales kicked a 35-yard field goal to give the Pats a lead they wouldn't relinquish in a 16-3 wild-card win.

Maye's run had the most yards over expected — 24 — during the wild-card weekend, according to Next Gen Stats.

Maye's running ability could be a factor Sunday when the Patriots host the Houston Texans (3 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN).

The Texans are likely to be without their top receiver as Nico Collins recovers from a concussion, but Christian Kirk showed how dangerous his speed can be with eight receptions for 144 yards and a touchdown in their win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Kirk turned in two of the fastest speeds during wild-card weekend as he hit 20.05 mph on a 46-yard reception and 19.64 mph on a 36-yard reception, according to Next Gen.

Here's a look at some of Next Gen's advanced metrics in analyzing all of this weekend's divisional round games.

Saturday, 4:30 p.m. ET, CBS

Bills quarterback Josh Allen could find himself in jeopardy Saturday — early and often — if he's not able to get better protection against one of the NFL's best pass rushes.

Allen was sacked on 24.5% of his pressured dropbacks during the regular season, the fifth-highest rate in the league. That was three times his career-low mark of 8.2% from his MVP season in 2024. Meanwhile, the Broncos generated the second-highest pressure rate (40.7%) of any defense this season. Those pressures were turned into sacks 23.9% of the