The Patriots continue their march to an unbeaten record, but the Chargers will be a formidable foe.  After all they did knock out the defending World Champs on their own field last weekend. 

The Chargers come into this game banged up on offense.  It looks as if Philip Rivers, LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates will all attempt to give it a go.  Rivers has been outstanding in the post season and he always plays with a chip on his shoulder.  Rivers though will be playing with a partially torn ACL so the front line better block well.  Look for the Patriots to blitz more than usual to try to rattle Rivers or knock him out of the game.  But, the Chargers could just decide to feed the ball to LaDainian Tomlinson and Michael Turner to try to control the clock and keep the ball away from the Patriots offense.

Chargers defensive end Igor Olshansky could wind up being the new Anthony Smith (Steelers safety) as he was talking trash earlier in the week.  Look for the Patriots to run a few plays his way to try to make him look bad.  It will be fun to watch the Antonio Cromartie vs. Randy Moss matchup as Tom Brady will have to be careful there.  Still, the Patriots could use Moss as a decoy again this week and spread the football around.  The Patriots will also likely run the ball more than usual if they get a lead in this game.

PREDICTION:  NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 31, SAN DIEGO CHARGERS 21

The Jaguars gave the Patriots a fight before they got knocked out.  Tom Brady completed his first 16 passes (post-season NFL record) of this game.  Brady finished up completing 26 of 28 passes for 262 yards with 3 TD passes.  Laurence Maroney gave the offense balance as he rushed for 122 yards on 22 carries (5.5 ypc) with a TD run.  He also caught 2 passes for 40 yards.  Kevin Faulk only rushed for 9 yards on 4 carries (2.3 ypc) but he also caught 5 passes for 36 yards (7.2 avg).  Donte’ Stallworth (3 rec, 68 yards) and Wes Welker (9 rec, 54 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game for the Patriots in this game.  TE Ben Watson only caught 2 passes for 12 yards….but they were both TDs.  Randy Moss only caught 1 pass for 14 yards in this game.  The Patriots rushed for 145 yards on 29 carries (5.0 ypc) and they also completed 26 of 28 passes for 258 yards.

Junior Seau (10 tackles), James Sanders (9 tackles) and Rodney Harrison (7 tackles, interception) led the way for the Patriots on defense.  The Jaguars finished up with 80 yards rushing on 22 carries (3.6 ypc) and they also completed 22 of 33 passes for 270 yards.