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Week 19 Game Recap: New England Patriots 24, San Diego Chargers 21What you need to know
Tom Brady played worse than he probably ever has in the postseason, yet he still did enough to put his team in position for the victory. Despite a meager stat line and a career high three interceptions, Brady led the Patriots on the game winning touchdown drive and game winning field goal drive to set his team up in the AFC Championship game. Perhaps the big numbers put up by WR Jabar Gaffney a week ago weren’t a fluke after all. He hauled in ten more receptions for 103 yards and another score, and was consistently open all game long. The running back combo of Corey Dillon and Laurence Maroney had a tough time against San Diego’s defensive front. It got to the point where the Patriots basically abandoned the running game in the second half of the game.
League MVP LaDainian Tomlinson played as well as he’s played all season, and against one of the best defensive fronts in the league. The Patriots were able to do little to stop or even slow him, and he finished with 187 total yards and two more scores. QB Philip Rivers did not play well in his postseason debut. While he only turned the ball over once and didn’t make many huge penalties, he also didn’t make very many plays. He was hurt by a multitude of dropped passes, but he just didn’t do a great job of putting the ball where it needed to be at times either. While nothing is set in stone, there is a good chance that HC Marty Schottenheimer has coached his last game in San Diego. He doesn’t have a great relationship with GM A.J. Smith, and no one would be surprised if this latest playoff collapse with arguably his most talented team will cost him his job. This could have a fallout affect on the rest of the San Diego offense for the 2007 season.
What you ought to know
Brady was far from perfect, but as usual, he made the plays when his team needed them most. Of course, he was also helped along by a little bit of luck. He uncharacteristically threw what could have been the game clinching interception late in the fourth quarter when trying to rally his team to tie. S Marlon McCree picked Brady on a fourth down pass, but McCree fumbled the run back during the return. It was recovered by New England, who scored on a pass from Brady to Reche Caldwell later in the drive. On their ensuing possession, Brady made one of the best passes you’ll see all season when he hooked up with Caldwell again on a 49 yard bomb down the right sideline on a critical third and ten pass. That play helped set up the game-winning field goal and the victory. Now for the bad part: He was nearly intercepted very early on by Clinton Hart off a deflection, but Hart dropped a sure interception in his hands. It was a sign of things to come for Brady, as he would go on and actually be intercepted on three occasions. The three picks are the highest total he’s ever had in a playoff game, and he added a fumble (which New England recovered) and two more near-interceptions to boot. He made terrible decisions on his interceptions by Donnie Edwards and Drayton Florence, and at times he seemed more visibly frustrated than we’re used to seeing him. He misfired on what should have been a touchdown to a wide open Ben Watson in the flat, and later threw another interception when he tried connecting with Watson deep down the seam. When San Diego opted to put pressure on him, they got to him for most of the game. But late in the contest, the pressure just didn’t seem to bother him as much as he was able to have his way with the Chargers pass defense. And as mentioned earlier, late in the first and second halves is when Brady was at his best. He led three scoring drives over the last five minutes of the halves, resulting in 18 of the Patriots’ 24 points.
Faulk picked up the slack for the ineffective duo of Corey Dillon and Laurence Maroney, getting the majority of the playing time at tailback in the fourth quarter. Faulk’s major contribution to the game was not only as a receiving threat but also as a running threat. On the game-tying two point conversion, Faulk took a direct snap from center and plunged into the end zone to knot the score at 21. It was a critical play at the time, and says a lot about the confidence the team has in Faulk.
Dillon was as big of a non-factor as possible. He had just eight carries, the longest of which went for only five yards. His touches greatly decreased as the game went along, as New England took to the air in the second half almost exclusively and never established the running game.
Maroney carried five times for five yards. Since his long run of the game went for five yards, that means his other four carries resulted in a net gain of zero yards. His first carry of the game didn’t come until the second quarter, and by the second half New England had basically abandoned the running game.
Gaffney was once again a busy man for the Patriots, seeing a team high 14 targets head his way en route to a game high ten receptions for 103 yards. Additionally, Gaffney found the end zone on a play where he did a nice job to come all the way back across the back line of the end zone to get open. Tom Brady found him while on the run for a six yard touchdown pass just before the end of the first half. Gaffney didn’t see very many passes deep downfield, but he did a lot of damage on the short and intermediate routes. He was thrown to once on a deep ball early in the game and was actually open in the end zone, but the ball was overthrown by Tom Brady for an incomplete pass.
Caldwell got back at his former club in a big way. The receiver, who was signed away from the Chargers as a free agent this past offseason, made two of the biggest plays of the entire game (both in the second half). With the Patriots trailing 21-13, Caldwell broke to the back left corner of the end zone to get wide open for a four yard touchdown from Tom Brady. After a two point conversion and a San Diego punt, the Patriots took over with a chance to go ahead. Facing a third down and ten situation from their own 34 yard line, Brady lofted a pass deep down the right sideline to Caldwell for a 49 yard completion. Caldwell was unable to tiptoe the sideline to stay in bounds, which would have resulted in a 66 yard touchdown. As it was, the play helped set up the game winning field goal for New England.
Brown had a solid day catching the football, and got more active as the game went on. But his biggest contribution actually came when he was playing defense while still on offense. Following a Tom Brady interception, S Marlon McCree was headed back in the other direction for the Chargers. Brown reached out and ripped the ball out of McCree’s hand and New England recovered. That change of possession resulted in a fourth down for the Patriots, who would then drive down for the game tying touchdown. If not for the Brown forced fumble, San Diego would have at least had the opportunity to run out the clock and end the game.
Graham once again made the most of his opportunities, turning his three targets into two long receptions for 38 yards (each catch was for 19 yards). He nearly hauled in a third catch on a late drive, but was unable to hang onto the ball as he fell to the ground.
Watson was extremely quiet and didn’t record his first reception until very late in the second half. He did have a catch near the end zone, but was knocked out of bounds at the San Diego four yard line. Reche Caldwell caught a touchdown on the next play. The closest he came to scoring was on a pass play deep in San Diego territory. Watson broke out into the flat wide open, but Tom Brady’s pass was off the mark and landed at Watson’s feet. Had the throw been on target, there was nothing between Watson and the end zone.
Adam who? Just kidding. But the truth is, the Patriots got a game winning playoff field goal from someone not named Vinatieri. Gostkowski connected on the relatively easy game winner from 31 yards out to put the Patriots up 24-21 and advance them into the AFC Championship game. Gostkowski had earlier boomed a 50 yarder in the first quarter that would’ve been good from much further, and also connected from 34 yards out late in the third quarter (though his ensuing kickoff was booted out of bounds and could have been disastrous for the Patriots).
The Patriots had very little ability to stop RB LaDainian Tomlinson or Michael Turner. The duo combined for 147 yards and three touchdowns on just 26 carries. The majority of the damage was done in the first half, when the Chargers controlled the ball and mostly controlled the game. In the second half, San Diego got away from the run game a little bit and threw the ball quite a bit more. This enabled the Patriots to bring extra blitzers off the edge and also help to disrupt the passing game.
As usual, Bill Belichik and his staff came up with countless ways to harass and confuse a young quarterback in a playoff game. Philip Rivers just never appeared to be comfortable in the pocket, and a lot of it had to do with the way New England went about their defensive setup. They sacked Rivers three times, including a forced fumble. They intercepted him just once, but had countless tipped passes and batted down balls in front of the receivers. Perhaps most importantly, aside from a LaDainian Tomlinson screen pass, they didn’t give up many huge plays. Vincent Jackson had a 31 yard reception down to the goal line, but even that was more great athleticism by Jackson than anything New England did wrong. When the Patriots needed to make a stop, they did. They were helped along by an inordinate number of San Diego dropped passes, but they also made their own luck. Sacking Philip Rivers on a third down play with San Diego in field goal range, for one. The great interception by Rosevelt Colvin on a sideline screen to Tomlinson, for another. And finally, holding Philip Rivers out of field goal range twice on drives that could have led to the game winning field goal for the Chargers either time.
Rivers had a somewhat up and down performance, but in his first career playoff game he was mostly down. He didn’t make many glaring mistakes aside from an ill-advised screen fade to LaDainian Tomlinson that was picked off. But that play was more a great play by LB Rosevelt Colvin than a poor decision by Rivers. And the poor passing numbers weren’t entirely his fault, as the Chargers had a number of dropped passes (specifically by WRs Eric Parker and Vincent Jackson). He was also done in by some bad luck that cost him several touchdown passes. He completed a pass to FB Lorenzo Neal that was taken down to the one yard line on one occasion, and appeared to have completed another to TE Antonio Gates down to the one yard line that was later ruled an incomplete pass. He also threw a perfect pass to the back of the end zone to Jackson, but the receiver couldn’t drag his back foot to stay inbounds. Of course, Rivers had his share of plain old bad plays as well. He made a terribly underthrown pass to Jackson early in the game in the end zone that was tipped away by Ellis Hobbs. Jackson had beaten the defender deep and all Rivers needed to do was put some air under the ball, but he underthrew it and was actually almost intercepted. He took very costly sacks at very inopportune times, even at times when he clearly saw the rush coming. And were it not for a fantastic run after the catch by LaDainian Tomlinson, his long pass of 58 yards wouldn’t have gone for so many yards. In essence, Rivers didn’t do much to make the Chargers lose, but unlike his counterpart Tom Brady he also didn’t do very much to help them win either.
In the first half of the game, Tomlinson was nearly unstoppable. He ran roughshod over the Patriots, finding holes when it appeared there were none, and running both around and over tacklers seemingly with ease. His contributions weren’t limited to the running game either, as he picked up 58 yards on a screen pass that included a classic Tomlinson open field fake. Tomlinson was caught from behind on the play, as he had to wait for his blockers to get downfield. That was probably the only reason he was unable to score, and he went to the sidelines while backup Michael Turner took in the ensuing handoff for a six yard score. Despite missing out on that scoring opportunity, Tomlinson was the recipient of some very favorable situations for scoring. FB Lorenzo Neal took a screen pass from Philip Rivers down to the one yard line to set up Tomlinson’s first score. And WR Vincent Jackson caught a jump ball midway through the fourth quarter down down at the three yard line to set up the second. Early in the fourth quarter, Tomlinson briefly left the game and jogged off the field limping, but soon returned showing no ill effects.
Turner did nothing to hurt his value both to the Chargers and to potential off-season suitors. His first carry came on a crucial fourth and one play that resulted in Turner rumbling ahead for a 17 yard pickup. He later muscled in a touchdown from six yards out while filling in for a winded LaDainian Tomlinson (who had just gained 58 yards on a screen pass). And Turner was again adequate on kick returns, though he slipped on his final return of the game when it appeared he had a decent sized seam to run through.
Until a late 21 yard reception to help set up a potential game-tying field goal, very little went right in the game for Parker. He started off very inauspiciously with two dropped passes on his first two targets of the game, including one of which appeared to be a fumble that was incorrectly ruled incomplete. It continued with a run on a reverse on which he couldn’t keep his balance and ended up losing seven yards on the play that helped back the Chargers out of field goal range. The poor afternoon culminated with a muffed punt combined with a horrible decision to recover. Muffing the punt was bad enough, but rather than immediately falling on the ball Parker tried to pick it up and run again with it. By that point, the New England coverage team was on him and snagged the ball away. That eventually led to a field goal by Stephen Gostkowski that cut the lead to 14-13.
If it seemed like Jackson was involved in every big pass play for the Chargers, that’s because he usually was. The receiver, who came on strong down the stretch of the regular season, was counted on heavily in several big spots. He got open down the seam on a deep ball from Rivers early on, beating Ellis Hobbs to the end zone. But the pass from Rivers was badly underthrown and knocked down incomplete. He later scored again in the third quarter, this time on a perfect pass from Rivers. But this time, it was Jackson who was at fault for failing to come up with the score, as he couldn’t drag his back foot across the end zone and was correctly ruled out of bounds. The third time Jackson came close to scoring was on a 31 yard jump ball that he hauled in at the New England three yard line, where he was tackled immediately. RB LaDainian Tomlinson scored on the next play. Despite doing a solid job of getting open, Jackson also dropped two critical passes along the sidelines that could have resulted in big gains.
Gates wasn’t bad in the game, but his name wasn’t called for long stretches of time and he certainly was well contained by the New England pass defense. He almost made a fantastic grab for a touchdown early in the second quarter, but was tackled down at the one yard line and subsequently fumbled the ball. The Chargers challenged the play and won, as the ball was ruled an incomplete pass. The call could have gone either way, and it certainly appeared as if Gates had possession and fumbled when he was trying to stretch out into the end zone. Eighteen of Gates’ 61 yards came on the Chargers’ final possession when they were trying to get into field goal range and save the season. Those two plays accounted for approximately one third of Gates’ total production in the game, which begs the question of why he wasn’t utilized more frequently during the rest of the contest.
Fair or not, Kaeding has now missed two costly field goals in the last two playoff games by the Chargers, and that’s what most people will remember. This game’s kick was decidedly more difficult than it was two years ago, as this time he was asked to hit a 54 yard field goal with the game and season on the line as time ran off. Kaeding was unable to reach the back line of the end zone, and the kick was also off line, as the Chargers fell 24-21. It’s an unknown factor how much a missed kick in a big spot affects certain kickers, but it’s something to certainly keep in mind regarding Kaeding’s mental state heading into 2007.
San Diego absolutely stifled the Patriots’ running game, forcing them to become very one-dimensional in the second half. The long gain of the game went for just seven yards, and the Patriots gained just 51 total yards running the ball. The two-headed duo of Corey Dillon and Laurence Maroney never posed any kind of a threat to the Chargers, who swarmed to the ball on the rare occasion the Patriots did run it.
The Chargers’ pass defense has been the team’s Achilles heel for the better part of three seasons. In this game, that aspect of the team again cost them dearly but not necessarily in the way one might expect. The problem wasn’t necessarily with poor coverage or poor tackling; rather, it was mental errors that did them in. Arguably the two costliest plays of the game both involved the so-called “better” defensive backs of the Chargers. CB Drayton Florence, who had earlier made a very nice play on an interception, made one of the biggest bonehead plays possible when he head-butted TE Daniel Graham directly in front of the official. The ensuing personal foul penalty gave the Patriots a first down and a 15 yard gain on what would have been a fourth and 17. That drive eventually led to a Stephen Gostkowski field goal. Late in the fourth quarter, with the team leading by eight and the Patriots facing a fourth down and five, Brady threw a pass into traffic that was intercepted by S Marlon McCree. It was bad enough that McCree actually caught the ball rather than knock it down, but he then failed to go down during the return and had the ball stripped by WR Troy Brown for one of the best plays of the season. The fumbled return was recovered by New England, which picked up a first down on the change of possession. That drive led to an eventual touchdown and game-tying two point conversion. The team also made other costly errors throughout, including an early dropped interception by S Clinton Hart that was just about the easiest interception he’ll ever have. There was another potentially huge interception dropped by LB Stephen Cooper, though it would have been a terrific play if he had been able to hold onto the ball. The final nail in the coffin was allowing WR Reche Caldwell to streak down the right sideline for a 49 yard gain to help set up the eventual game winning field goal. The long pass came on a third and ten pass play, and was a tip-toe away from actually being a 66 yard touchdown pass. The pass rush was good early, but struggled mightily later on. They got good pressure on Tom Brady for the better part of three quarters, and forced him into a lot of poor decisions and some bad-looking passes. But when he needed to, Brady handled the rush about as well as anyone in picking the Chargers apart for the better part of the fourth quarter. LB Shawne Merriman briefly left the game late in the third quarter after injuring his knee while trying to brace himself from going offsides. Fellow LB Shaun Phillips was also hurt late in the third quarter, apparently suffering from a hamstring injury. He went to the sideline to get re-taped and emerged from the locker room limping badly. Phillips didn’t return. Merriman did return, but no one noticed because most people assumed he wasn’t actually playing in the game. He recorded just two tackles, and the boisterous linebacker did very little to disrupt the rhythm or timing of the New England passing attack.
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