Dan McCarthy
Journal Staff

The San Diego Chargers were anything but electrifying on Sunday, but that didn’t stop them from making things interesting for the New England Patriots in Week 7 of the NFL season.  The Patriots escaped San Diego with a 23-20 victory, and moved into a tie for first in the AFC East with the New York Jets with a 5-1 record.  The Chargers now sit at 2-5 despite leading the NFL in pass offense and defense.

Despite being outgained 363-179 in yards for the game, the Patriots locked down defensively when it mattered most, while the Chargers crumbled in crunch time.  The Patriots recovered three fumbles and an interception that led to 13 points in the first half, despite only gaining 38 yards on offense during that span. Following an opening drive field goal, the Chargers were held scoreless until the fourth quarter.  However, Phillip Rivers finished the day with a solid 336 yards passing with a touchdown and interception, and leads the league with 2,344 passing yards.

The game truly got dicey for the Pats in the fourth quarter, where after holding a 20-3 lead the Patriots let up 17 points to the resurgent Chargers offense.  The Chargers and Patriots traded field goals to start the quarter, and then San Diego received the ball with about 11 minutes remaining in the fourth.  Following a Phillip Rivers touchdown to Antonio Gates to pull within 10 points, Chargers kicker Kris Brown, who was replacing Nate Kaeding because of injury, successfully converted on an onside kick to put the ‘Bolts on the Patriots 40-yard line with 7 minutes remaining in the game.  The Chargers followed with another score on the ground by Mike Tolbert to shrivel the Patriots lead to three.

The following Patriots drive was a quick three-and-out, but instead of kicking the ball downfield, Pats’ head coach Bill Belichick decided to go for it on fourth-and-one to try and finish off the Chargers for good.  Alas, San Diego’s defense would have none of that, and with a fourth down stop the Chargers received possession on New England’s 48-yard line with 1:55 left on the clock.

Many were reminded of the Patriots’ week 10 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in 2009, when the Patriots had a 6=point lead late in the fourth, and Belichick decided to try for a first down on a fourth-and-two instead of punting the ball down field. The Patriots failed to convert, and the Colts then recovered the ball deep in Patriots territory and scored a touchdown with 13 seconds left to win 35-34.

This time around however, the Patriots were not playing the defending AFC Champions- they were playing a team notorious for blowing it the pivotal moments of the game.  And when Kris Brown lined up for a 50-yard field goal to tie the game with half a minute left, the Chargers did just that.  The ball hit off the side of the field goal post and gave the Patriots possession with 22 seconds remaining. Tom Brady put down a knee, and the Patriots escaped with a 23-20 victory. Brady finished the day with 19 completions, 159 yards and a touchdown, with rookie tight end Aaron Hernandez reeling in 54 yards receiving.

The Patriots return to Foxborough on Halloween to faceoff with Randy Moss and the Minnesota Vikings.  For Moss, it’s his first game back in New England since his trade to the Vikings two weeks ago, and it’s a game made more interesting by Brad Childress’ comments towards Belichick in a Monday press conference following their 28-24 loss to the Green Bay Packers.  He called out New England for stealing plays during their 2006 Monday Night Football victory over his squad, calling the Patriots “some of the all-time great signal stealers,” as reported by WEEI.

There’s bad blood and bragging rights on the line for both teams in week 10, so the Patriots will have to clean up their act if they expect to walk away from Childress and company with the last laugh.