AFC CHAMPIONSHIP
SD CHARGERS AT NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
- As I start this log, we're at 5:31 remaining in the first quarter, and Philip Rivers has just been made into Junior Seau's wife. It's 4th and 11 and the Chargers are punting. We're scoreless.
- Mike Scifres' punt bounds into the end zone, and the Pats will start from their own 20.
- Brady goes play action on first down and floats a Charlie Hough like knuckleball into the waiting arms of Quentin Jammer for a pick. Jammer just stepped in front of Donte Stallworth and picked it. Gotta say the Chargers have a way of making good QBs look bad.
- Michael Turner takes the handoff on 1st down and plunges up the middle for 5 yards, and it becomes 20 yards when Vince Wilfork is flagged for a 15 yard facemask
- 1st and 10 from NE's 20. Turner tries to take it outside but there's nothing there.
- 2nd down, Rivers makes a sweet throw to the sideline and Chris Chambers pulls it in for a first down. A great throw and a great catch
- Turner up the middle for about a yard. 2nd and goal from the 8.
- Rivers tries a swing pass for Lorenzo Neal, who looked very surprised to turn around and find a ball flying at him. 3rd and goal.
- Rivers has all the time in the world to throw, and fires to the back of the endzone. Chris Chambers makes a leaping grab, but comes down with 0 feet in bounds. That'll bring out the FG team.
- Nate Kaeding's kick is just barely good from 25 yards out, and the Chargers are on the board first, leading 3-0.
- A short kickoff, and the Pats will start this series from their own 35.
- NE lines up with 5 receivers, Brady throws underneath to Welker for a nine yard pickup.
- Brady launches an out route about 20 feet over an open Randy Moss' head.
- 3rd and 1, and Heath Evans plunges off tackle to pick up 3 yards and a first down.
- A reverse to Randy Moss. The Chargers have it sniffed out, but Moss cuts it back and turns it into an 11 yard gain.
- 1st and 10 just inside Charger territory. A swing pass to Kevin Faulk turns into a 14 yard gain. The Patriots are having success throwing underneath.
- They run the swing to Faulk again for a 4 yard pickup. 2nd and 6 now from SD's 21.
- Empty backfield, Brady dumps it underneath to Stallworth to set up a 3rd and let's call it 2. That's the end of the first quarter. Chargers lead 3-0, but the Patriots are driving.
SECOND QUARTER
- Maroney bounces a run outside, gets a couple of nice blocks from Heath Evans, and picks up 7. Evans took Shawne Merriman out of that play.
- 1st and goal, and Brady throws underneath to Faulk, setting the Patriots up at the 1.
- Maroney off right tackle and he's IN for a TOUCHDOWN. YOOOO HOOOOOO HEEE...YOOOO HOOOO...YOOOO HOO HEEE.
- The PAT is GOOD and New England is up 7-3.
- Nice kickoff by Gostkowski, and Darren Sproles takes it out to the 30. CBS promises us a report on LaDanian Tomlinson, who has not been in this game since I've been watching. I expect them to tell me that he's not going to play anymore today.
- 1st down, and Rivers throws to Vincent Jackson over the middle for a 15 yard pickup. No pressure, no coverage.
- Play action, and Rivers rolls right and throws to leaping Vincent Jackson who pulls it down at the right sideline for a 17 yard pickup. The Chargers have 1st down at the NE 39.
- Michael Turner up the middle for 4 yards.
- Chambers and Jackson already have 71 combined receiving yards. They're the reason SD is playing in this game.
- 2nd and 6 and Rivers checks down to Turner for a 5 yard pickup, to setup third and 1.
- Play action, and again Rivers has Jackson in the middle of the field for a 21 yard pickup. 1st and goal for the Chargers from the nine.
- They try Turner off left tackle but there's nothing there.
- Rivers faces a three man rush and has all day to throw, he finds Antonio Gates at the goal line, but Teddy Bruschi dives and just does break up a TD pass. 3rd and goal from the nine.
- The play clock gets down to 3 and the Chargers call a timeout. Chargers need to get in here, because against New England, field goals are like turnovers. They count for nothing.
- Rivers kind of panicks when Mike Vrable blitzes, and dumps off to Chambers for a 3 yard pickup. Kaeding comes out and hits a field goal to make it 7-6.
- The Chargers are going to have to come up with a new plan on defense when they come back out. The Patriots will have the ball the whole game if they continue to take what the Chargers D is giving them underneath.
- Another short kick, and Ellis Hobbs takes it to the 40. Nate Kaeding's kickoffs have been terrible.
- Hey look, Kevin Faulk is wide open underneath again for a 15 yard gain.
- Maroney off right tackle and a nice second effort for a five yard run. 2nd and 5 from the SD 42.
- Swing pass to Welker but he's stopped right away, bringing up 3rd and 5.
- Brady tries to connect with Moss on an in route but Jammer is there to bat it away. Still no catches for Moss, and NE is going to punt.
- A beautiful play by Kelley Washington keeps the punt out of the end zone and pins the Chargers down at their own 4.
- Turner up the middle for 3.
- Turner again for 3 more yards. That'll bring up 3rd and 4 from the 10 yard line. The Chargers need this first down.
- They swing it out to Sproles who is able to get enough for the first down.
- Turner up the middle for 2.
- 2nd and 8, Rivers drops back and gets leg whipped by a blitzing Mike Vrabel, the trip knocks Rivers off balance, and Asante Samuel takes the ball away from Chris Chambers. He returns it down to the 24. Should have been a 15 yard tripping penalty on Vrabel.
- Faulk underneath again for 14 yards. All day long.
- Brady has forever and a day to throw on 1st and 10, and finds Jabar Gaffney on a look in and he winds his way into the end zone. TOUCHDOWN PATRIOTS. The XP is good and the Pats are up 14-6.
- At this point. This game looks like it's going to be a rout. The Chargers just have no ideas on stopping this Patriot offense, they seem like they are just hoping to slow them down and suffer the same death by a thousand cuts that the Jaguars suffered last week. A prevent defense isn't going to beat this team.
- Sproles runs the kickoff out to the 28.
- Sproles on the draw and Teddy Bruschi hog ties him for no gain.
- On 2nd and 10 they go max protect and Rivers hits Chambers on a sideline route for 12 yards and a first down. Rivers may be a douchebag, but he has an arm.
- Apparently not enough of an arm though. He heaves it downfield into the wind for Chambers, and it just kind of dies and Ellis Hobbs gets an easy pick at the New England 20.
- Now Brady tries to go deep, for Stallworth, but once again Jammer is there jammin on the one to break it up. He's been real good today. They're trying to pick on him and stay away from Cromartie, but it's not working.
- Kevin Faulk bounces off a block and turns a draw outside for an 8 yard pickup. The Pats will have third and 2 after the 2 minute warning.
- Third and 2, Brady tries to throw an out to Welker, but overleads him and Welker can't bring it in.
- Sproles fields the punt at the 33 and goes out of bounds at the thirty five.
- 1st and 10, and Sproles takes a draw up the middle for a gain of about six, the clock keeps running.
- Another draw, and Sproles busts it up the middle. ALLLLL the way down to the New England 30. A 26 yard pickup for Sproles. They are reviewing something, but I don't know what. Rental car smells like sunshine. Take a train to happy town.
- Rivers drops waaaay back and throws underneath to Gates, who is brought down in the middle of the field for an 8 yard gain. Timeout SD, they've got one left.
- 26 seconds remaining in the half, Chargers have 2nd and 2 at the NE 23.
- Rivers swings it out to Sproles but he is met right away by Brandon Meriweather. The Chargers have 3rd and 1 and have to use their last timeout. 18 seconds remaining.
- Now the Patriots call timeout. This is riveting.
- Shaky Nate Kaeding warms up on the sideline.
- Aaand we're back. Rivers gets chased out of the pocket and launches it out of bounds. Credit Ty Warren with forcing the incompletion.
- Shaky Nate is out for a 40 yard attempt. He's 0 for 4 from beyond 39 yards in his playoff career.
- Belichick calls timeout to make Kaeding think about how not good he is.
- The kick is GOOOD. Just inside the right upright. He gives an emphatic fist pump. Another field goal for the Chargers. They trail 14-9. Maybe if they kick 13 field goals they may have a chance.
- The kickoff is returned to about the 20. And it's halftime. 14-9 Patriots.
HALFTIME SHOW
- Wow. Cowher comes right out and says that Turner should bench Rivers and bring in Volek in the second half.
- Boomer says something about Rivers laying it all on the line for his team. Asks where is Randy Moss? He is advocating the Patriots forcing the ball to Moss rather than continuing to pick up 15 yards whenever they feel like it by throwing to Kevin Faulk.
- Marino gives Faulk some kudos, but also says they need to find a way to get the ball to Welker and Moss. No, they really don't.
- Sam Ryan is holding a giant thermometer to show us it's one degree in Green Bay. I feel that. It's friggin cold here in Chicago too. This morning when I drove to the gym it was 3 degrees out. Interestingly enough, it doesn't really feel that cold out. It's sunny and there's no wind. As someone that has spent 32 winters in Chicago, I can tell you that if it's not windy, it's not that cold. 20 degrees with a 40 MPH wind feels a lot worse than 3 degrees and no wind.
- Marino's cell phone goes off during the halftime show. Nice. Probably his coke dealer.
- It goes off again. Dude turn your fucking phone off. You're on national TV.
- Cowher re-emphasizes that Volek should go in. My winner of the halftime show is Cowher. Yaaay.
3RD QUARTER
- NE again gets great field position off a kickoff, they'll start at the 39.
- LT is not coming back.
- An out to Moss is dropped. I don't think he was very interested in catching a 5 yard pass.
- Underneath to Welker for a pickup of 8. Dink and dunk. Dink and dunk.
- Evans plunges up the middle and picks up about five and a first down. The Pariots are now in Charger territory. They go up 21-9 here and this game is over.
- Maroney off right end for no gain.
- Now I've got to help put groceries away. Lame. I missed an interception by Drayton Florence.
- 2nd and 10 and Rivers rolls right again, and guns it to Chambers, who does the falling tree routine out of bounds for a 15 yard gain. 1st and 10 for the Chargers at the NE 17.
- Swing pass out to a crossing Jackson for a pickup of six. The Chargers are down to the Patriot 8.
- Turner up the middle for about 3. It'll be third and one.
- Timeout Chargers. I go put more groceries away.
- What'd I miss what'd I miss?
- Turner got stuffed on third down and Kaeding kicked another field goal. 14-12 Patriots.
- The Patriots start from their own 32 and Maroney breaks an 18 yard run. Cromartie just totally blew a tackle there that added about another 10 yards on to the run. New England's already in Charger territory now.
- Maroney tries to bounce one outside to no avail. No gain.
- Brady pump fakes, then throws to a wide open Moss who is underneath on the left sideline. He turns it into a 12 yard gain. Another first down. Pats on the 30 now.
- Maroney cuts back and finds 11 yards. Clinton Hart has a chance to make an open field tackle and blows it.
- Maroney again, keeps his legs pumping for a 6 yard pickup.
- 2nd and 4 from th 15. Maroney does the same cutback as two plays ago and picks up the first down. 57 yards on 12 carries for Maroney.
- Now the Pats line up with only one wideout, and give to Maroney again. No gain this time though.
- They spread it out on this play, and throw the quick slant to Welker, who is brought down at the 1.
- 3rd and goal. From the 2. Brady has time, tries to throw to the back of the end zone for Ben Watson. But Cromartie steps in front and PICKS IT OFF IN THE END ZONE. Uhhhh Ohhhhh. Cro runs it out to the 7 yard line. That's three picks today for Brady, and somewhere, Peyton Manning smiles just a little.
- Turner breaks thru the line off tackle for a 10 yard pickup.
- They run the same play and its good for 3 yards this time.
- Rivers throws deep down the sideline for Sproles and its nowhere close. 3rd and 7.
- Bounce pass to Brandon Manumalea. Whenever Rivers is pressured he goes into panic mode and throws a bad pass.
- The punt rolls down to the 35 and that's where New England will start from.
- Brady finds Evans underneath for 13 yards.
- Maroney up the middle for 4, that'll bring up 2nd and 6 from the 50 yard line, as we move to the FOURTH QUARTER.
FOURTH QUARTER
- Brady swings it out to Welker who carries it for a 13 yard gain. 1st and 10 for the 40.
- A beautiful run by Maroney. He picks up about 10 off right tackle, then midway thru the run totally reverses the field and picks up about 15 more yards. New England has 1st down from the 20.
- Screen to Maroney for another 10 yards.
- Hart is injured.
- 2nd and 1 and Maroney churns forward for 4 yards. The Pats now have first and goal from the 7.
- My fiancee informs me that this is the last "inning". I correct her and say "quarter".
- Maroney for a yard.
- Pats line up 4 wide. Brady has time out of the gun, and finds Welker on a slant for the TD. I'm gonna go ahead and say that's ballgame. 21-12 Pats.
- The kickoff comes out to only the sixteen. Rivers drops back and finds Chambers on a post pattern, who leaps and brings it down for a 16 yard gain.
- Rivers makes an ugly throw downfield off is backfoot and its behind Chambers and tipped. Again, he was pressured, and again made a bad throw.
- Now Rivers pussies out and spikes it into the ground with Richard Seymour bearing down on him.
- 3rd and 10. Rivers makes a nice throw to Jackson on another post pattern for a 14 yard gain. Nice throw and catch.
- Swings it out to Gates for a nine yard pickup.
- Turner dodges a Wilfork ankle tackle and gains 4 yards and the first down.
- Rivers checks down on a blitz and throws to Gates, who isn't looking and drops it.
- Next pass is tipped at the line by Wilfork, and just off the hands of Rodney Harrison. 3rd and 10 now from the NE 36.
- Harrison blitzes and gets to Rivers, who has to bail and throw an incompletion. That'll bring out Scifres and the punt team. Hate this. They should go for it here.
- Fair catch at the 11 by Faulk.
- Maroney off left end for 11 yards. I'll tell you why it was stupid of the Chargers to punt. The Patriots seem to have the ball for like 10 plays on every series. At this rate the next time the Chargers get the ball they'll be down by 2 scores with about 4 minutes left.
- Brady is sacked by Igor Olshansky, a loss of eight. Big play for SD.
- Screen to Faulk who breaks a tackle and gets the eight yards back. Third and 10.
- Faulk lays out on a pass lofted out of the backfield, pulls it in and rolls past the first down marker. A huge, huge play. Faulk has been the MVP of this game.
- Maroney around right end for only a yard.
- 2nd and nine and Stallworth on a comeback route has a nice run after he catch to pick up six. Third and three now. Brady checks down to Faulk over the middle, who makes a great grab on a ball thrown behind him and turns it into a thirteen yard gain. He just stopped mid stride and reached behind him for a fingertip grab, then ran upfield. SD has only one timeout left, and there's four minutes left. This game's over. Good thing the Chargers punted it away .
- A couple of carries by Maroney brings up 3rd and 4 and SD has to use its last timeout with 3:30 remaining.
- LT sits forlornly on the sideline.
- Maroney picks up six for the nail in the coffin first down. That's a wrap for me. Patriots go to 18-0, and will be the AFC's representative in the Super Bowl. My MVP for this game is split between Maroney, who has carried for 111 yards, and Faulk, who has 8 catches for 82 yards.
SD CHARGERS AT NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
- As I start this log, we're at 5:31 remaining in the first quarter, and Philip Rivers has just been made into Junior Seau's wife. It's 4th and 11 and the Chargers are punting. We're scoreless.
- Mike Scifres' punt bounds into the end zone, and the Pats will start from their own 20.
- Brady goes play action on first down and floats a Charlie Hough like knuckleball into the waiting arms of Quentin Jammer for a pick. Jammer just stepped in front of Donte Stallworth and picked it. Gotta say the Chargers have a way of making good QBs look bad.
- Michael Turner takes the handoff on 1st down and plunges up the middle for 5 yards, and it becomes 20 yards when Vince Wilfork is flagged for a 15 yard facemask
- 1st and 10 from NE's 20. Turner tries to take it outside but there's nothing there.
- 2nd down, Rivers makes a sweet throw to the sideline and Chris Chambers pulls it in for a first down. A great throw and a great catch
- Turner up the middle for about a yard. 2nd and goal from the 8.
- Rivers tries a swing pass for Lorenzo Neal, who looked very surprised to turn around and find a ball flying at him. 3rd and goal.
- Rivers has all the time in the world to throw, and fires to the back of the endzone. Chris Chambers makes a leaping grab, but comes down with 0 feet in bounds. That'll bring out the FG team.
- Nate Kaeding's kick is just barely good from 25 yards out, and the Chargers are on the board first, leading 3-0.
- A short kickoff, and the Pats will start this series from their own 35.
- NE lines up with 5 receivers, Brady throws underneath to Welker for a nine yard pickup.
- Brady launches an out route about 20 feet over an open Randy Moss' head.
- 3rd and 1, and Heath Evans plunges off tackle to pick up 3 yards and a first down.
- A reverse to Randy Moss. The Chargers have it sniffed out, but Moss cuts it back and turns it into an 11 yard gain.
- 1st and 10 just inside Charger territory. A swing pass to Kevin Faulk turns into a 14 yard gain. The Patriots are having success throwing underneath.
- They run the swing to Faulk again for a 4 yard pickup. 2nd and 6 now from SD's 21.
- Empty backfield, Brady dumps it underneath to Stallworth to set up a 3rd and let's call it 2. That's the end of the first quarter. Chargers lead 3-0, but the Patriots are driving.
SECOND QUARTER
- Maroney bounces a run outside, gets a couple of nice blocks from Heath Evans, and picks up 7. Evans took Shawne Merriman out of that play.
- 1st and goal, and Brady throws underneath to Faulk, setting the Patriots up at the 1.
- Maroney off right tackle and he's IN for a TOUCHDOWN. YOOOO HOOOOOO HEEE...YOOOO HOOOO...YOOOO HOO HEEE.
- The PAT is GOOD and New England is up 7-3.
- Nice kickoff by Gostkowski, and Darren Sproles takes it out to the 30. CBS promises us a report on LaDanian Tomlinson, who has not been in this game since I've been watching. I expect them to tell me that he's not going to play anymore today.
- 1st down, and Rivers throws to Vincent Jackson over the middle for a 15 yard pickup. No pressure, no coverage.
- Play action, and Rivers rolls right and throws to leaping Vincent Jackson who pulls it down at the right sideline for a 17 yard pickup. The Chargers have 1st down at the NE 39.
- Michael Turner up the middle for 4 yards.
- Chambers and Jackson already have 71 combined receiving yards. They're the reason SD is playing in this game.
- 2nd and 6 and Rivers checks down to Turner for a 5 yard pickup, to setup third and 1.
- Play action, and again Rivers has Jackson in the middle of the field for a 21 yard pickup. 1st and goal for the Chargers from the nine.
- They try Turner off left tackle but there's nothing there.
- Rivers faces a three man rush and has all day to throw, he finds Antonio Gates at the goal line, but Teddy Bruschi dives and just does break up a TD pass. 3rd and goal from the nine.
- The play clock gets down to 3 and the Chargers call a timeout. Chargers need to get in here, because against New England, field goals are like turnovers. They count for nothing.
- Rivers kind of panicks when Mike Vrable blitzes, and dumps off to Chambers for a 3 yard pickup. Kaeding comes out and hits a field goal to make it 7-6.
- The Chargers are going to have to come up with a new plan on defense when they come back out. The Patriots will have the ball the whole game if they continue to take what the Chargers D is giving them underneath.
- Another short kick, and Ellis Hobbs takes it to the 40. Nate Kaeding's kickoffs have been terrible.
- Hey look, Kevin Faulk is wide open underneath again for a 15 yard gain.
- Maroney off right tackle and a nice second effort for a five yard run. 2nd and 5 from the SD 42.
- Swing pass to Welker but he's stopped right away, bringing up 3rd and 5.
- Brady tries to connect with Moss on an in route but Jammer is there to bat it away. Still no catches for Moss, and NE is going to punt.
- A beautiful play by Kelley Washington keeps the punt out of the end zone and pins the Chargers down at their own 4.
- Turner up the middle for 3.
- Turner again for 3 more yards. That'll bring up 3rd and 4 from the 10 yard line. The Chargers need this first down.
- They swing it out to Sproles who is able to get enough for the first down.
- Turner up the middle for 2.
- 2nd and 8, Rivers drops back and gets leg whipped by a blitzing Mike Vrabel, the trip knocks Rivers off balance, and Asante Samuel takes the ball away from Chris Chambers. He returns it down to the 24. Should have been a 15 yard tripping penalty on Vrabel.
- Faulk underneath again for 14 yards. All day long.
- Brady has forever and a day to throw on 1st and 10, and finds Jabar Gaffney on a look in and he winds his way into the end zone. TOUCHDOWN PATRIOTS. The XP is good and the Pats are up 14-6.
- At this point. This game looks like it's going to be a rout. The Chargers just have no ideas on stopping this Patriot offense, they seem like they are just hoping to slow them down and suffer the same death by a thousand cuts that the Jaguars suffered last week. A prevent defense isn't going to beat this team.
- Sproles runs the kickoff out to the 28.
- Sproles on the draw and Teddy Bruschi hog ties him for no gain.
- On 2nd and 10 they go max protect and Rivers hits Chambers on a sideline route for 12 yards and a first down. Rivers may be a douchebag, but he has an arm.
- Apparently not enough of an arm though. He heaves it downfield into the wind for Chambers, and it just kind of dies and Ellis Hobbs gets an easy pick at the New England 20.
- Now Brady tries to go deep, for Stallworth, but once again Jammer is there jammin on the one to break it up. He's been real good today. They're trying to pick on him and stay away from Cromartie, but it's not working.
- Kevin Faulk bounces off a block and turns a draw outside for an 8 yard pickup. The Pats will have third and 2 after the 2 minute warning.
- Third and 2, Brady tries to throw an out to Welker, but overleads him and Welker can't bring it in.
- Sproles fields the punt at the 33 and goes out of bounds at the thirty five.
- 1st and 10, and Sproles takes a draw up the middle for a gain of about six, the clock keeps running.
- Another draw, and Sproles busts it up the middle. ALLLLL the way down to the New England 30. A 26 yard pickup for Sproles. They are reviewing something, but I don't know what. Rental car smells like sunshine. Take a train to happy town.
- Rivers drops waaaay back and throws underneath to Gates, who is brought down in the middle of the field for an 8 yard gain. Timeout SD, they've got one left.
- 26 seconds remaining in the half, Chargers have 2nd and 2 at the NE 23.
- Rivers swings it out to Sproles but he is met right away by Brandon Meriweather. The Chargers have 3rd and 1 and have to use their last timeout. 18 seconds remaining.
- Now the Patriots call timeout. This is riveting.
- Shaky Nate Kaeding warms up on the sideline.
- Aaand we're back. Rivers gets chased out of the pocket and launches it out of bounds. Credit Ty Warren with forcing the incompletion.
- Shaky Nate is out for a 40 yard attempt. He's 0 for 4 from beyond 39 yards in his playoff career.
- Belichick calls timeout to make Kaeding think about how not good he is.
- The kick is GOOOD. Just inside the right upright. He gives an emphatic fist pump. Another field goal for the Chargers. They trail 14-9. Maybe if they kick 13 field goals they may have a chance.
- The kickoff is returned to about the 20. And it's halftime. 14-9 Patriots.
HALFTIME SHOW
- Wow. Cowher comes right out and says that Turner should bench Rivers and bring in Volek in the second half.
- Boomer says something about Rivers laying it all on the line for his team. Asks where is Randy Moss? He is advocating the Patriots forcing the ball to Moss rather than continuing to pick up 15 yards whenever they feel like it by throwing to Kevin Faulk.
- Marino gives Faulk some kudos, but also says they need to find a way to get the ball to Welker and Moss. No, they really don't.
- Sam Ryan is holding a giant thermometer to show us it's one degree in Green Bay. I feel that. It's friggin cold here in Chicago too. This morning when I drove to the gym it was 3 degrees out. Interestingly enough, it doesn't really feel that cold out. It's sunny and there's no wind. As someone that has spent 32 winters in Chicago, I can tell you that if it's not windy, it's not that cold. 20 degrees with a 40 MPH wind feels a lot worse than 3 degrees and no wind.
- Marino's cell phone goes off during the halftime show. Nice. Probably his coke dealer.
- It goes off again. Dude turn your fucking phone off. You're on national TV.
- Cowher re-emphasizes that Volek should go in. My winner of the halftime show is Cowher. Yaaay.
3RD QUARTER
- NE again gets great field position off a kickoff, they'll start at the 39.
- LT is not coming back.
- An out to Moss is dropped. I don't think he was very interested in catching a 5 yard pass.
- Underneath to Welker for a pickup of 8. Dink and dunk. Dink and dunk.
- Evans plunges up the middle and picks up about five and a first down. The Pariots are now in Charger territory. They go up 21-9 here and this game is over.
- Maroney off right end for no gain.
- Now I've got to help put groceries away. Lame. I missed an interception by Drayton Florence.
- 2nd and 10 and Rivers rolls right again, and guns it to Chambers, who does the falling tree routine out of bounds for a 15 yard gain. 1st and 10 for the Chargers at the NE 17.
- Swing pass out to a crossing Jackson for a pickup of six. The Chargers are down to the Patriot 8.
- Turner up the middle for about 3. It'll be third and one.
- Timeout Chargers. I go put more groceries away.
- What'd I miss what'd I miss?
- Turner got stuffed on third down and Kaeding kicked another field goal. 14-12 Patriots.
- The Patriots start from their own 32 and Maroney breaks an 18 yard run. Cromartie just totally blew a tackle there that added about another 10 yards on to the run. New England's already in Charger territory now.
- Maroney tries to bounce one outside to no avail. No gain.
- Brady pump fakes, then throws to a wide open Moss who is underneath on the left sideline. He turns it into a 12 yard gain. Another first down. Pats on the 30 now.
- Maroney cuts back and finds 11 yards. Clinton Hart has a chance to make an open field tackle and blows it.
- Maroney again, keeps his legs pumping for a 6 yard pickup.
- 2nd and 4 from th 15. Maroney does the same cutback as two plays ago and picks up the first down. 57 yards on 12 carries for Maroney.
- Now the Pats line up with only one wideout, and give to Maroney again. No gain this time though.
- They spread it out on this play, and throw the quick slant to Welker, who is brought down at the 1.
- 3rd and goal. From the 2. Brady has time, tries to throw to the back of the end zone for Ben Watson. But Cromartie steps in front and PICKS IT OFF IN THE END ZONE. Uhhhh Ohhhhh. Cro runs it out to the 7 yard line. That's three picks today for Brady, and somewhere, Peyton Manning smiles just a little.
- Turner breaks thru the line off tackle for a 10 yard pickup.
- They run the same play and its good for 3 yards this time.
- Rivers throws deep down the sideline for Sproles and its nowhere close. 3rd and 7.
- Bounce pass to Brandon Manumalea. Whenever Rivers is pressured he goes into panic mode and throws a bad pass.
- The punt rolls down to the 35 and that's where New England will start from.
- Brady finds Evans underneath for 13 yards.
- Maroney up the middle for 4, that'll bring up 2nd and 6 from the 50 yard line, as we move to the FOURTH QUARTER.
FOURTH QUARTER
- Brady swings it out to Welker who carries it for a 13 yard gain. 1st and 10 for the 40.
- A beautiful run by Maroney. He picks up about 10 off right tackle, then midway thru the run totally reverses the field and picks up about 15 more yards. New England has 1st down from the 20.
- Screen to Maroney for another 10 yards.
- Hart is injured.
- 2nd and 1 and Maroney churns forward for 4 yards. The Pats now have first and goal from the 7.
- My fiancee informs me that this is the last "inning". I correct her and say "quarter".
- Maroney for a yard.
- Pats line up 4 wide. Brady has time out of the gun, and finds Welker on a slant for the TD. I'm gonna go ahead and say that's ballgame. 21-12 Pats.
- The kickoff comes out to only the sixteen. Rivers drops back and finds Chambers on a post pattern, who leaps and brings it down for a 16 yard gain.
- Rivers makes an ugly throw downfield off is backfoot and its behind Chambers and tipped. Again, he was pressured, and again made a bad throw.
- Now Rivers pussies out and spikes it into the ground with Richard Seymour bearing down on him.
- 3rd and 10. Rivers makes a nice throw to Jackson on another post pattern for a 14 yard gain. Nice throw and catch.
- Swings it out to Gates for a nine yard pickup.
- Turner dodges a Wilfork ankle tackle and gains 4 yards and the first down.
- Rivers checks down on a blitz and throws to Gates, who isn't looking and drops it.
- Next pass is tipped at the line by Wilfork, and just off the hands of Rodney Harrison. 3rd and 10 now from the NE 36.
- Harrison blitzes and gets to Rivers, who has to bail and throw an incompletion. That'll bring out Scifres and the punt team. Hate this. They should go for it here.
- Fair catch at the 11 by Faulk.
- Maroney off left end for 11 yards. I'll tell you why it was stupid of the Chargers to punt. The Patriots seem to have the ball for like 10 plays on every series. At this rate the next time the Chargers get the ball they'll be down by 2 scores with about 4 minutes left.
- Brady is sacked by Igor Olshansky, a loss of eight. Big play for SD.
- Screen to Faulk who breaks a tackle and gets the eight yards back. Third and 10.
- Faulk lays out on a pass lofted out of the backfield, pulls it in and rolls past the first down marker. A huge, huge play. Faulk has been the MVP of this game.
- Maroney around right end for only a yard.
- 2nd and nine and Stallworth on a comeback route has a nice run after he catch to pick up six. Third and three now. Brady checks down to Faulk over the middle, who makes a great grab on a ball thrown behind him and turns it into a thirteen yard gain. He just stopped mid stride and reached behind him for a fingertip grab, then ran upfield. SD has only one timeout left, and there's four minutes left. This game's over. Good thing the Chargers punted it away .
- A couple of carries by Maroney brings up 3rd and 4 and SD has to use its last timeout with 3:30 remaining.
- LT sits forlornly on the sideline.
- Maroney picks up six for the nail in the coffin first down. That's a wrap for me. Patriots go to 18-0, and will be the AFC's representative in the Super Bowl. My MVP for this game is split between Maroney, who has carried for 111 yards, and Faulk, who has 8 catches for 82 yards.
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