Still Perfect

One win in the desert separates the New England Patriots from immortality.  One more win and they go 19-0 for the 2007 season.  They’ll have to do it against a team that gave them a hard time in Week 17 - the New York Giants.  But how did they get to the game?  Let’s take a look inside the AFC Championship game between the Patriots and the San Diego Chargers.

The Chargers jumped out to an early lead at 3-0, playing solid defense.  But the Patriots switched up their game plan, going to more of a balanced attack as Laurence Maroney ran in a score and Jabar Gaffney caught one later on in the second half to give the Patriots the 14-6 lead.  But Philip Rivers led his team down for a FG before the half ended.  The third quarter was back and forth as Tom Brady found himself committing turnovers.  The Pats D held though as the Chargers drew closer with another Nate Kaeding field goal, making it 14-12 at the end of three.  But the Patriots continued to pound the rock and early in the 4th, Brady found Welker in the red zone for a TD and extended the lead to 9.  That was all that was needed as the Patriots made one more stop, and ran out the final nine minutes on offense. 

The Patriots look to win their fourth Super Bowl in seven years.  The Giants are looking to win another road game to grab their first taste of the Lombardi trophy in 17 years.  The matchup is set and I’ll break it down for you in just a little bit as kickoff is not too far for Super Bowl XLII.

Keep it here.