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You may not like them, but you have to respect them. Earlier this week I tweeted a stat I'd heard regarding Tom Brady at the Patriots. He has lost only 1 game in December since 2002. Just take a moment to take that in. In over 12 years, he's lost just one game when it comes to crunch time. Regardless of him potentially sitting a game here and there because the Patriots have already clinched, that's an impressive stat.
It wasn't a surprise to see New England roll past the San Diego Chargers during Monday Night Football considering the above stat. It wasn't a vintage Brady performance but he still finished the game 28/44 for 317 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. However his long touchdown to the impressive Julian Edelman iced it in the 4th quarter and ensured New England would have their 12 consecutive double-digit win seasons.
For all the offensive power that New England possess, I was most impressed by their ability of their defense to get off the field on 3rd down. They held the Chargers to just 30% completion on third down (4/13) and Revis managed to negate the threat of Keenan Allen, limiting him to just 2 catches for 3 yards.
The pass rush of the Patriots managed to get to Rivers four times for sacks and pressured him on countless drop-backs, this ensured Rivers couldn't get into any kind of passing sync with his receivers.
New England move to 10-3 and will likely be the #1 seed for the AFC heading into the play-offs.