Pats vs. Chargers: Week 7

I said it yesterday, and I'll say it again. It's not how you win, it's that you win. The Pats looked uglier yesterday than South Park's rendition of Sarah Jessica Parker, I'll be the first to admit it. They did not deserve to win that game. Yet it always seems that those are the kinds of games that will ultimately go to the better team, regardless of who outplayed who. Add it all up, and the Patriots are 5-1 this morning, tied with the J-E-T-S and Steel City for the best record in the NFL after escaping San Diego with a 23-20 victory.

The Chargers, as has become characteristic over the past several years, shot themselves in the foot a few too many times to have any chance at winning. Year in, year out, they always seem to have an elite collection of talent, but nobody on the roster has any idea how to seize "the moment". That's why they're considered the Dallas Cowboys of the AFC. If you look at the numbers, and just the numbers, you could say with relative ease that Philip Rivers is the best quarterback from the 2004 draft, which also featured Eli Manning and Ben Rapelisberger Roethlisberger in the first round. (JP Losman was also a 1st rounder in '04, but we'll leave him off this list because, well, he's kinda in the UFL now).

38 total yards of offense in the 1st half left Patriots with visions that couldn't have been much better than this one.

But Rivers's lack of success late in games, let alone in the post-season, is what keeps him consistently ranked no. 3 on the list. Sure, Rivers managed 336 passing yards yesterday with a depleted receiving corps and did manage to lead the Chargers to 17 4th quarter points. But it was all too-little, way too-late. When Rivers and the Chargers got the gift of starting their final drive just shy of midfield, he led them close but not close enough to having a shot at the game-tying field goal. As usual, San Diego self-imploded.

Add up all the San Diego miscues and it's no wonder the Patriots wound up surviving. The ultimately-ruled backwards pass/fumble to Jacob Hester; the first career catch/first career fumble for Richard Goodman; the unsportsmanlike penalty that got the Patriots 17-play 3rd quarter drive kick-started; the false-start on the potential game-tying field goal; and Kris Wilson's fumble, which caused anyone from Hingham to wonder"why would they ever give Kris Wilson the ball?

(Was that in poor taste? Hell's gonna be something else).

If you look at the game as a chess-match, who would you rather have moving the pieces around? Bill Belichick or Norv Turner? Exactly.

It's alright, Norv. It's not like you're behind the Oakland Raiders in the AFC West or anything.

The lack of a ground game has to be concerning for the Pats, with a combined 48 yards rushing (24 apiece) for BJGE and Danny Woodhead. I'm a huge fan of both of these guys in their own rights, but are either of them the answer long term as a full-time, workhorse back? That's something that will be answered over the course of the season. But I maintain what I say that Woodhead is more than a gimmick, and definitely has a role on this team moving forward, likely as Kevin Faulk's heir apparent.

Bottom line is this: would you rather have the Patriots be firing on all cylinders but wind up losing, say, 35-31, or would you rather have them unravel a stink bomb like yesterday's and still manage the W? At the end of the day, all they count in the National Football League is wins and losses. So in the words of Ron Burgundy, go fuck yourself, San Diego. Gus Johnson might call them the "San Diego SuperChargers" in Madden '11, but there's nothing super going on in the suburbs of Tijuana right now. 5-1 is 5-1, and in a year where it looks increasingly as though there are no elite teams, that's definitely something to hold your head high on.

It's not 2007 anymore. The Patriots aren't going to be blowing anyone out by 30. That being said, this team looks increasingly capable of winning close games that could go either way, something that ultimately befell that historic '07 squad. The offense can't possibly be as inept yesterday as it was the rest of the way.

Needless to say, it's gonna be a helluva trick-or-treat when Randy Moss comes rolling back to town on Sunday with the Vikings. A team which is in complete and utter disarray. General Disarray if you will. Two South Park references in one blog? It's time to stop typing.