Chargers rout Pats behind River's Big Day

The Patriots did a decent job shutting down San Diego’s all world running back LaDainian Tomlinson, holding him to just 74 yards.  Too bad they couldn’t shut down Phillip Rivers.  Rivers torched the New England secondary for 306 yards and 3 TDs with no interceptions as San Diego avenged last year’s AFC Conference Championship game loss with a 30-10 victory.

Rivers was nearly unstoppable as he compiled his sixth regular season 300+ yard game and second this season.  The Chargers were up 17-3 at halftime and didn’t let up until early in the 4th when a Nate Kaeding FG extended their lead to 30-3.  The Patriots managed to score a TD late in the game to save some face.  Nevertheless, the loss represented the 2nd New England loss by 20+ points this season—the first time in the Bill Belichick era that’s happened.

Despite the struggles of Charger RB Tomlinson, New England’s rushing attack wasn’t much better compiling 106 yards to San Diego’s 98.  The salient statistic was the passing yardage, where Matt Cassell couldn’t come close to keeping pace with Rivers.  The Patriots went for 198 yards through the air, much of it when the game was already out of reach.

Though the victory gave the Chargers some degree of redemption, they’ve got a ways to go before parity is restored in the series.  The victory broke a three game losing streak for the Chargers against New England and represented only their third win in the last 16 meetings between the two teams.  They won’t play again during the regular season, and a playoff berth for either team is far from a foregone conclusion at this point.

San Diego will now play two games on the road prior to a bye week, heading to Buffalo next Sunday and New Orleans the week after.  After their off week they’ll entertain Kansas City at home before playing the Steelers at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh on 11/16.  New England will host the Denver Broncos next Monday night and St. Louis the following Sunday.  They’ll head to Indianapolis for a tough game against the Colts on 11/2.