The Patriots Now Just One Away From Perfection

-Patriots 21, Chargers 12
Heroes: Laurence Maroney & Kevin Faulk
Goat: Chargers' red zone offense
Turning Point: Junior Seau tackles Michael Turner short of the 1st down on 3rd and 1 inside the NE 5 @ 14-9 Pats
Next: Super Bowl XLII vs. Green Bay/NY Giants

In a game where Tom Brady would throw three interceptions and the Chargers would gain more yards in the passing game than the Pats you would have given the Bolts a great chance to win. The Chargers definitely redeemed themselves this postseason for a very poor start this year, but unfortunately couldn't make the big play when they needed to today to beat New England.

The Chargers lost the game with their inability to get the ball into the endzone. They reached the Pats' red zone three times and traveled deep into their territory four times. You cannot beat the Pats settling for field goals even if you pick off Brady ten times. Give credit to the Patriots' defense though for their superb play deep in their own territory. The biggest play of the game was Junior Seau's stop of Michael Turner when the Chargers seemed poised to take a 15-14 lead off Brady's second interception. Seau and the defense had a terrific game today, and really redeemed themselves for some shoty play lately.

As mentioned, Brady threw three interceptions, so how did the Pats get enough offense to win the game today? The heroes are definitely the two running backs in Laurence Maroney and Kevin Faulk. Maroney dominated the Chargers' frontline in the 2nd half. He had about 15 yards at the half, but finished with 122 for the game. Maroney has had a huge postseason, especially when everyone thought he was a bum this year. Faulk was brillant in the passing game. He took several dumpoffs from Brady and made great things happen, including the spectacular diving catch that effectively ended the game in the fourth quarter. There has been no bigger unsung hero during the Pats' run of Super Bowls than Kevin Faulk.

Even though the Chargers were unable to come up with the big plays they needed, they should be very proud of themselves for what they accomplished this postseason. Philip Rivers showed a great deal of guts playing the way he did today. Other than two bad interceptions, he was very good. The CBS Halftime analysts were completely out of line when they said Norv Turner should have replaced Rivers with Billy Volek for the 2nd half. Rivers played the entire game when his star running back, LaDainian Tomlinson, who has a similar injury, couldn't make it through one possession. Those analysts need to get their heads examined. Vincent Jackson and Chris Chambers really played well again, and this team has the complete package to possibly win a Super Bowl next year.

But today belongs to the New England Patriots. Bill Belichick has done a remarkable job this season putting together this 18-0 team. They should be able to roll through the NFC Champion and complete their perfect year. The weather will be much better down in Arizona, so expect to see the full fire power of the Patriots' offense.

I want to congratulate my co-blogger, Shawn Marosek for predicting that the Pats would never have more than a 10 point lead in the game. His prediction of weather playing a major role was dead on. Great job, Shawn!

Pat Morgan

Depleted Chargers Shock the Colts 28-24

-Chargers 28, Colts 24
Hero: Philip Rivers and Billy Volek
Goat: Indianapolis secondary
Turning Point: Marvin Harrison's fumble deep in Chargers' territory while up 7-0
Next: AFC Championship @ New England

The San Diego Chargers pulled off the biggest upset of the playoffs thus far by going into the RCA Dome and shocking the defending champions 28-24. It was an amazing win for the Chargers considering they dealt with key offensive injuries to LaDainian Tomlinson, Philip Rivers, and Antonio Gates. The Bolts also had to shake off several shady calls against them by the officials. With all that combined with the fact that no one thought they could win anyway, it should go down as one of the more shocking playoff upsets in recent memory.

Before Rivers exited after his celebration injury, he was simply fantastic. He did not have LT most of the game, but that didn't stop him from connecting with his receivers, especially Vincent Jackson, all game long. Rivers was very efficient in converting 3rd downs. You could tell the crowd noice definitely gave the Chargers' offense issues with multiple delay of games, but somehow Rivers got through it and led the Chargers on three TD drives. After Rivers left the game and the Colts scored to go ahead 24-21, I thought it meant doom for the Chargers. However, Billy Volek did a superb job in relief. Volek connected on a critical 3rd down to Chris Chambers to really set up the go-ahead drive. Volek showed why he is one of the better backups in the league. Michael Turner also did a nice job running the ball in relief of LT.

The Indianapolis defense was extremely disappointing. They had carried last year's playoff momentum over into this season and had their best defensive year by far in the Peyton Manning era. I was surprised how poor the Colts' secondary was with the deficiencies in the San Diego offense. They allowed 312 yards in the air, and had it not been for an early interception and a few bad calls/non-calls the Chargers may have scored well over 30. The San Diego defense was not much better, as Peyton Manning threw for over 400 yards. However, they were able to come up with two key stops when the Colts were driving for the game-winning touchdown.

A lot of analysts have already come out knocking Tony Dungy's decision to go for it on 4th and 7 inside the Chargers' 10. They did have three timeouts and the two minute warning, but I totally disagree. You've got to take your chance at a touchdown there considering the Colts' defense couldn't stop the Chargers all day. If you don't convert, then you have a much better chance of stopping them within their own 10 than somewhere else on the field. Plus, if you do stop them, you expect the punt would give you the ball at midfield with lots of time. No one saw Chargers' punter Mike Scifres driving one almost 70 yards. Therefore, no foul there at all by Dungy.

The biggest play in this game was the Marvin Harrison fumble. The Colts were up 7-0 and driving at will in Chargers' territory toward what probably would have been a 14-0 lead. I don't think the Chargers would have recovered from this. They probably would have been able to score, but being able to make up a 14-point deficit would have been tough. The fumble settled the game down for San Diego. They took full advantage of it, and went an eight minute drive to tie the game.

The Chargers now head to New England. I don't know who they will have avaliable to them, but they should put up a better fight than they did when they were blown out back in Week 2. They also have a score to settle from last year. However, it is going to take a herculian effort to beat the 17-0 Patriots who got a huge break today not having to play Indianapolis next week.

Pat Morgan