The Patriots had alot of great plays turned in by unlikely sources and that’s why they beat the Chargers yesterday.  Rookie TE David Thomas recovered a fumbled punt on the San Diego 31 yard line that led to a FG in the third quarter to bring the Patriots within one point at 14-13.  Roosevelt Colvin intercepted a pass as the Chargers were driving at the end of the third quarter.  But old vet Troy Brown had the biggest play in the football game.  With the Patriots trailing 21-13 and facing a 4th and 5 at the San Diego 41 with barely six minutes left in the game, safety Marlon McCree of the Chargers intercepted a Tom Brady pass, but Troy Brown stripped the ball from him and the Patriots recovered it.  The Patriots went on to tie the game on this drive when Tom Brady hit Reche Caldwell for a 4 yard TD.  Kevin Faulk then took a direct snap from the center and converted the 2-point play.  Then it was time for some Tom Brady magic as he led the Patriots on a 8 play, 72 yard drive to set up rookie Stephen Gostkowski for the game winning 31 yard FG with only 1:10 left in the game.  The Chargers had a short drive to set up for a 54 yard FG to tie, but it fell short.

Tom Brady threw a few bad passes, but he was money when the Patriots really needed him to be.  Brady completed 27 of 51 passes for 280 yards with 2 TD passes and 3 interceptions.  Kevin Faulk carried the ball 6 times for 25 yards, but his big carry was the 2-point conversion to tie the game in the 4th quarter.  The amazing thing for the Patriots has been the emergence of WRs Jabar Gaffney and Reche Caldwell.  The Patriots signed both of these guys off the scrap heap and are now reaping the benefits of that.  Gaffney caught 10 passes for 103 yards and a TD.  Reche Caldwell also had a good game with 7 receptions for 80 yards and a TD.  Troy Brown also caught 5 passes for 39 yards, but the strip of Marlon McCree of the football in the 4th quarter was his greatest contribution.

Tedy Bruschi stepped up like he always does when the games get big and led the Patriots with 11 tackles.  Mike Vrabel also made some big plays with 6 tackles and a sack.  The Patriots had big problems with the Chargers running game as they carried the ball 33 times for 148 yards (4.5 ypc).  They did play well against the pass and were often confusing Philip Rivers in the passing game.  The Chargers completed 14 of 32 passes for 204 net yards passing.

The Patriots are primed to roll into Indy and beat their whipping boy Peyton Manning next week.  The Colts might have beat them in Foxboro earlier this season…but that wasn’t the playoffs.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270114024