For three quarters, the Chargers played with the best team in the conference. They took everything the New England Patriots had and led by a point.
In the end, Tom Brady and company were just too much, as the Pats pulled out a 23-14 win in front of a raucous crowd at Qualcomm Stadium on Sunday night.
The back-breaker came on a Brady pass over the middle to Julian Edelman midway through the fourth quarter. The speedy receiver broke through the Chargers secondary and scampered 69 yards for a touchdown to put New England up 23-14 and put the game out of reach.
Brady finished with 312 passing yards, outplaying counterpart Philip Rivers, who struggled to find open receivers all night. He completed just 18 of 31 passes for 188 yards.
The Chargers seemed to take New England by surprise in the first half, jumping out to a 14-3 advantage.
They jumped out to the lead early in the second quarter when Philip Rivers connected with Malcom Floyd on a beautiful diving 15-yard touchdown catch. Floyd finished with a team-high 54 yards receiving.
The Bolts held the lead through halftime with the help of some uncharacteristic Patriots turnovers.
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Jahleel Addae forced a fumble that Darrell Stuckey ran back 53 yards for a score midway through the second quarter. Then rookie Manti Te'o nabbed his first career interception at the goal line as the clock ticked down on the first half.
Both teams had defensive touchdowns called back because of penalties. Shareece Wright blocked a second-quarter field goal that went for a score, but was clearly offside.
In the third quarter, Devin McCourty took an interception back 56 yards, but the play was nullified by Brandon Browner's illegal hit on Chargers tight end Ladarius Green -- who was knocked out of the game with a concussion on the play.
Stephen Gostkowski kicked three field goals for the Pats, including a 38-yarder early in the fourth quarter that put them up for good.
The loss drops the Bolts to 8-5, still squarely in the playoff picture but left with plenty of work to do. The Patriots (10-3) move back into the top spot in the AFC.
