What started as a typical back-and-forth battle between the New England Patriots and San Diego Chargers turned into another field day for Tom Brady, another impressive gameplan by Bill Belichick and his assistants and a 10th straight home-opener win for the Patriots.
Just six days after throwing for a career-high 517 yards in the Monday night season opener in Miami against the Dolphins, Brady threw for 423 more Sunday, tossing three touchdowns to his trusty pair of second-year tight ends, Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, at Gillette Stadium.
Only one NFL player has ever thrown for more yardage in two consecutive games than Brady’s first two performances this season: Phil Simms, who threw for 945. Brady amassed 940.
The true turning point of the game for the Patriots (2-0), though, came from a part of the team that was questioned the most: the defense. With New England leading, 10-7, the Chargers (1-1) found themselves with a first and goal on the Patriots’ 5-yard line, but the Patriot defense walled up. It refused to let San Diego score, stuffing four straight running plays on the goal line and forcing a turnover on downs.
“It was huge,” Belichick told reporters after the game about the goalline stand.
Brady and Co. then took over at their own 1-yard line with no qualms, running the length of the field before Brady found Gronkowski for the tight end’s first touchdown of the day and a helping the Pats take a commanding 17-7 lead.
And, if the big defensive goalline stand didn’t fire you up, New England nose tackle Vince Wilfork’s huge interception in the first half’s final minute certainly did. It was the 325-pound big man’s first career interception, and, boy, was it worth the wait. He managed to run for 36 yards after the catch and, with just 9 seconds left in the half, the Patriots were able to squeeze another three points out before halftime.
The defense came up big in the second half, too, forcing two lost fumbles by the Chargers (RB Mike Tolbert and QB Philip Rivers) and turning, at least the first one, into points. The later lost fumble by Rivers was with just over a minute remaining in the game and the Patriots kneeled the ball to close out the game.
“I'm really proud of our football team today,” Belichick said. “I'll tell you, we had a lot of guys battle through stuff -- coming off a short week, getting ready for this football team. The Chargers are a good football team, but ultimately the turnovers and getting the ball in the end zone was big for us.”
Rivers threw for 378 yards and two touchdowns, but he was picked off twice and, clearly, the Patriot defense took control when it mattered most.
Chargers wide receiver Vincent Jackson reeled in 10 catches for 172 yards and two scores. The Rivers-Jackson connections, at times, seemed unstoppable – Jackson was never wide open yet Rivers got the ball in his vicinity and Jackson just kept making the catches. The only way the Patriots secondary may have been able to stop Jackson was to make illegal contact to prevent the catch … and that’s not going to keep the team out of the end zone.
The win sets up a big Week 3 matchup between the divisional rival Patriots and Buffalo Bills, both of whom are undefeated and make up two of the league’s three top-scoring squads. The Bills lead the NFL with 79 points scored over the first two weeks and New England is ranked third with 73. (The Detroit Lions have scored 75.)
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