Bill's reaction

FOXBOROUGH -- Patriots coach Bill Belichick opened his post-game press conference with the following statement:

“I can’t tell you how good it is to come in here after that game. The players did an awesome job. They have all year. It’s a real privilege to coach this group of guys. They stepped up and made the plays today, like they have all year. I really think it was the players’ game. They did everything they needed to do to beat an outstanding football team, and I congratulated Norv and the San Diego Charger team and organization. They’re a tremendous football team and we certainly had to everything, especially in the second half, we possibly could to hang on and beat them. I thought our red-area defense stepped up and of course Laurence ran well. We made some key plays when we needed to, especially on the last drive, being able to hang on to the ball and run out the clock. That was good. We’ll certainly enjoy this one for a few days. The players definitely deserve it. They’ve worked hard all year. At the end of the week, we’ll start getting ready for the trip to Arizona.”

We'll have more later in the night, after filing our stories for the Boston Globe. In the locker room, safety Rodney Harrison noted that the players wouldn't be practicing until Thursday, and planned to enjoy the victory for a few days.