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The Chargers went into their Week 10 bye after losing three consecutive games and seemed to have been the AFC team on the downturn that would get left out of the playoff picture altogether. With three consecutive victories, including a 34-33 win last week on the road in Baltimore — which may end up being huge for conference implications — the Chargers are 8-4 and currently the No. 5 seed if the playoffs were to begin today.
The Patriots went into Green Bay last week and gave the Packers their toughest test at Lambeau Field this season, losing only 26-21. The 9-3 Patriots are looking to avoid losing consecutive games in the regular season for the first time since Weeks 2 and 3 of the 2012 season.
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Here’s what you need to know:
The Basics
Who:
Patriots at Chargers
When:
Sunday, 8:30 p.m. Eastern
Where:
Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California
Channel
NBC
Line:
Patriots by 4
Last Meeting:
Patriots 35, Chargers 21 on September 18, 2011 in Foxborough, Massachusetts
Preview: Brady Looks to Continue to Own Rivers and the Bolts
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The most important statistic entering the game is: Tom Brady and the Patriots have never lost to the Chargers; Brady and company are 5-0 entering Sunday Night Football, including two playoff victories in 2006 and 2007. Philip Rivers has defeated the Patriots before, but it came during the 2008 season — after Brady suffered an ACL tear in Week 1 against Kansas City — against Matt Cassel on Oct. 12, 2008.
The second most important statistic?
Among quarterbacks with at least 25 career starts in December since 1950, Brady has the best record at 45-7 and Rivers the second-best at 30-6.
Rivers believes this game is going to be different because since the last meeting between these two teams in 2011, the Patriots have had a lot of roster turnover. He said:
”We’ve never played this Patriot team,” Rivers said. “We’re 0-0 against this group. There’s a lot of guys in that locker room that have never played the Patriots in their life. You can’t really say this team is 1-5 against them.”
The Chargers plan on wearing the aesthetically beautiful powder-blue jerseys tonight.
Patriots. Powder Blues. #SNF.
LET’S GO!!!
RT if you’re as pumped as we are.
WATCH #NEvsSD: http://t.co/42jroAQOd5 http://t.co/t8xv9tZ2Sw
Heavy’s Pick
Chargers 34, Patriots 31
This game has all the makings of an instant classic. Rivers has never defeated Brady and the law of averages tend to slightly even anomalies like this out. While the Patriots are good against the pass with Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner, they let yards pile up. The Chargers also tend to have one significant late-season victory every year that ignites them in their playoff years. Rivers and Brady will each pass for over 300 yards, but Rivers and company will find a way to pull this out and open the door for them in the AFC West race and Miami in the AFC East race.
