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 Quarterback Brady continued his mastery of the Chargers, notching
his sixth consecutive victory against his opposite number Philip
Rivers as the Patriots bounced back from last week's loss to the
Green Bay Packers.
Brady threw for two touchdowns while the New England defense kept
the Chargers scoreless after the first four minutes of the second
quarter as the Patriots scored the final 20 points.
With the road win, the Patriots improved to 10-3, three games clear
of Miami (7-6) and Buffalo (7-6) in the AFC East with only three
regular season games left.
In the NFL, Denver (AFC West) and Arizona (NFC West) are also 10-3,
while Green Bay can go 10-3 with a win over Atlanta on Monday.
 The loss left San Diego (8-5) two games behind the AFC West-leading
Broncos, though the Chargers lead the race for a wild-card berth.
The Chargers still led by one-point after three quarters, before New
England hit the front with a 38-yard field goal from the boot of
Stephen Gostkowski early in the final period.
A 69-yard touchdown by Julian Edelman proved the hammer blow after
the wide receiver caught the ball 55 yards from the end zone, evaded
two tackles and ran in for the longest reception of career.
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"Defensively I can't say enough about that effort," Patriots coach
Bill Belichick told reporters, while also praising Edelman's
touchdown. "It was a great catch by Julian. It was a huge play."
Brady completed 28-of-44 passes for 317 yards and improved his
career record in December to 46-7, the best in NFL history.
"We needed that type of play at that point in the game and defense
took over from there," Brady said of Edelman's touchdown.
"We didn't play as well as well as would have liked offensively but
that's the NFL. That was the key to the whole game the way the
defense played."
(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by John
O'Brien)
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