Patriots can cruise to top seed after beating Chargers

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scored a career- Nolan Ryan Jersey long 69-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter, catapulting the to a over the on Sunday night. Our takeaways:On a night when mi sed throws and looked rattled by the pa s rush, the scored 20 unanswered points from the middle of the second quarter to the end of the game. The scoreboard would have been more lopsided if not for Brady's red-zone interception going into halftime and a pick-six that was nullified by a suspect penalty. While is easily Brady's most valuable weapon, Edelman is the best wide receiver since Randy Mo s and were breaking records. Edelman's 141 receiving yards are good for a single-game career high.Even without top pa s rusher and star linebacker , the manufactured constant pre sure on with an array of blitzes. The ' injury-depleted offensive line has been a problem for the past two months. The result was a feckle s offense that managed just seven points.A week after burning the ' secondary for 121 yards and two touchdowns on 11 catches, was rendered a non-factor by .Darrelle Revis is all the way back. Every other corner lines up behind him. Dan Hanzus (@DanHanzus) 's helmet-to-helmet penalty might lead to a discu sion about the viability of reviewing those types of calls. Browner actually hit shoulder-to-shoulder. The penalty took McCourty's touchdown off the scoreboard, leaving the with a one-point deficit instead of a six-point lead. It could have swung the game in the ' direction.With the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs on the line, the were an interested party in this game's outcome. Although they remain behind the , they now have a commanding two-game lead in the AFC West with three weeks remaining. The are tentatively holding the AFC's No. 6 seed thanks to their head-to-head win over Baltimore last week. New England is in the catbird seat, with home games against the and sandwiching a trip to the woebegone .The latest Around The NFL Podcast and discu ses the ' return to form. Find more Around The NFL content on .  Taylor Hearn Jersey