Patriots vs. Chargers: Score and Twitter Reaction from 'Sunday Night Football'

The New England Patriots have no problem winning games on the defensive side of the ball. 

With the typically explosive offense committing two turnovers and sputtering around the red zone for much of the contest, the defense rose to the occasion and held the San Diego Chargers to 216 total yards en route to a grueling 23-14 win at Qualcomm Stadium on Sunday night. 

Jamie Collins had two sacks, Darrelle Revis held Keenan Allen to three yards on two catches, and outside of allowing an 80-yard touchdown drive, the Patriots forced the Chargers into eight punts, an interception and a turnover on downs. 

Philip Rivers was blunt about his team's performance after the game, via Eric Williams of ESPN.com:

The victory puts New England into double-digit-win territory…again, per ESPN Stats & Info:

Tom Brady threw for 317 yards and two touchdowns, leading to big days for Julian Edelman (eight catches, 141 yards, one touchdown) and Rob Gronkowski (eight catches, 87 yards, one touchdown). 

But the yards didn't immediately equal success on the scoreboard. 

Despite out-gaining San Diego by more than 100 yards in the first half, the Patriots carried a 14-13 deficit into the locker room due to a pair of costly turnovers. 

The first, a strip of Brandon LaFell by Jahleel Addae, was recovered by San Diego's Darrell Stuckey and returned 53 yards to the end zone. The second was an interception by Manti Te'o when Brady underthrew Gronkowski on what looked to be a surefire touchdown. 

While the throw from Brady was a bad one, San Diego's pressure certainly had something to do with it. ESPN's Ed Werder praised Corey Liuget for his role in creating that pressure:

Of course, it wasn't all bad for the Pats in the first half. On the previous drive, Brady did connect with Gronkowski, who outmuscled Brandon Flowers for his 10th touchdown of the season. 

SportsCenter noted the achievement put the 25-year-old tight end in a class of his own, while Yahoo Sports' Frank Schwab put it into perspective: 

After 16 first downs in the opening two quarters, the Patriots began the second half with four consecutive three-and-outs. They seemed to trump that with a game-changing play on the other side of the ball, but it wasn't meant to be. 

Midway through the third quarter, Brandon Browner delivered a jarring hit on Ladarius Green that popped the ball right to Devin McCourty, who took the interception 56 yards back to the house for New England. 

Although Browner appeared to lead with his shoulder, he was flagged for unnecessary roughness, and the play was overturned. Sports Illustrated's Tim Layden and Chris Burke—and many others—expressed their displeasure with the potential game-changing call: 

Seemingly fired up by the call, New England's defense became impenetrable, intercepting Rivers later on the drive and forcing punts on the subsequent three San Diego possessions. 

ESPN's Mike Reiss put it simply:

And if Brady and this offense didn't get enough opportunities, they would eventually break through for the big play. That came with just under nine minutes remaining, as Edelman took a pass across the middle, broke a couple of tackles and darted up the field 69 yards to make it 23-14. 

ESPN Stats & Info put the catch into context for Edelman, who entered the week averaging just 9.6 yards per reception:

That sealed the victory, as the Bolts simply weren't able to get anything going against the Patriots' lockdown defense.

Even with the tough loss, the Chargers' playoff hopes are still alive. Earning a wild-card spot is still the most likely scenario, but a win next week against the Denver Broncos would pull them back within one game in the AFC West. 

As for the Patriots, the AFC East is essentially sealed, but a victory against the Miami Dolphins next Sunday would make it official. 

With the defense looking like it has the past several weeks, however, a division title is clearly just step No. 1 for Bill Belichick's squad.