Patriots-Chargers recap

The Patriots and Chargers have met three times in the Belichick-Brady era, with San Diego taking two, and star running back LaDainian Tomlinson playing a big part. A rundown of the games:

Oct. 14, 2001 at Foxboro Stadium: Patriots 29, Chargers 26 (OT)
Tom Brady, starting just his third game for the Patriots and coming off a dismal performance the week before (30-10 loss at Miami), shows the poise that would lead to a Super Bowl championship in his first season at the helm.

Trailing, 26-16, to the Chargers -- with Doug Flutie at quarterback and Rodney Harrison at strong safety -- with 8:48 left in the game, Brady leads the Patriots to two fourth-quarter scores to send the game into overtime, then drives the team into field goal position on their first possession of OT.

After San Diego erases a 16-13 fourth-quarter deficit with a 3-yard Flutie-to-Steve Heiden touchdown pass followed by a Derrick Harris 6-yard TD return of a fumble by Patriots punter Lee Johnson, Brady takes control.

Starting from his 26, Brady drives the team 69 yards in 15 plays but the drive stalls at the San Diego 5 and the Patriots settle for a 23-yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri.

The defense stops the Chargers on three runs by Tomlinson (8 yards, 1 yard, no gain) -- he's held to 74 yards on 24 carries in the game -- forcing a punt, and Brady takes over at his 40 with 2:10 left, courtesy of a Troy Brown 40-yard punt return. Brady hits Brown on passes of 3, 12, and 16 yards to get to the 29, then finds David Patten at the San Diego 3 with 40 seconds left. On the next play, Jermaine Wiggins -- thanks to a play-action fake -- is wide open in the end zone for the tying score.

The Chargers get the ball first in overtime but go three-and-out before Brady and the Patriots go 51 yards in just six plays -- the key being a pass interference call on Alex Molden good for 37 yards -- to set up Vinatieri's 44-yard game-winner.

Sept. 29, 2002 at Qualcomm Stadium: Chargers 21, Patriots 14
Coming off a Super Bowl run and already off to a 3-0 start in 2002, some begin to wonder if the Patriots would lose again. Tomlinson almost single-handedly answers that question, piling up 217 yards (the second most of his career) on 27 carries, including the tying and winning touchdowns.

The teams exchange first-quarter touchdowns catches -- Christian Fauria a 5-yarder from Brady, Curtis Conway a 52-yarder from Drew Brees. In the second quarter, the Patriots unveil a play that will reap huge dividends down the road -- linebacker Mike Vrabel lining up as a third tight end on offense in a goal-line situation, then slipping out to catch a touchdown pass from Brady -- good for a 14-7 lead.

But despite a big day from Brady (36 of 53 passes for 353 yards), the Patriots don't score again. Tomlinson, meanwhile, takes over, carrying the ball six times out of nine plays in a late second-quarter drive, the last a 37-yard jaunt off right tackle that ties the score at 14-14.

In the second half, it takes Tomlinson (the only runner other than O.J. Simpson to gain 200 yards on the Patriots) just two plays to find the end zone again. On the Chargers' first play from scrimmage, he runs around left end for 9 yards, then goes around the other end on the next play for 58 yards and a 21-14 lead.

The defenses dominate the rest of the way, though Brady and the Patriots have one last chance when they take over at their 4 with 1:51 left. Four Brady passes move the Patriots to the 37, but they have to burn their third timeout. Brady then finds Patten at the San Diego 45 with -- yes -- 45 seconds left, but after two incompletions, Kevin Faulk takes a short pass and fumbles trying to lateral, ending the 12-game winning streak.

Oct. 2, 2005 at Gillette Stadium: Chargers 41, Patriots 17
Just like the last meeting, the Chargers put an end to a Patriots' winning streak -- this one 21 straight at home. Unlike last time, it isn't even close.

The Patriots play San Diego to a 17-17 standoff at the half, with field goals by Nick Kaeding (42 yards) and Vinatieri (24, with 21 seconds left in the half) sandwiched around a pair of touchdowns by each club. New England gets in on a 1-yard run by Corey Dillon and 30-yard catch by Tim Dwight, San Diego on an 11-yard reception by Keenan McCardell and an 8-yard run by that man again, Tomlinson (25 carries for 134 yards in the game).

But the second half is all Chargers -- Tomlinson 1-yard run, Reche Caldwell 28-yard catch from Brees, Kaeding 21-yard FG, Donnie Edwards/Clinton Hart interception return/lateral. In the meantime, the Patriots' offense goes virtually nowhere, getting into San Diego territory just once in the second half, with two drives ending on interceptions.

It's the most points allowed at Gillette Stadium by the Patriots, who are left in awe of Tomlinson: "He can play. He truly, truly can play," says Chad Brown. "Our succumbing to his will [puts us] in a long line of many people who he has run through and run over."