FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The San Diego Chargers walked through the Gillette Stadium tunnel toward the visitor’s locker room and, almost en masse, made a simple statement that just re-emphasized the one they had just made on the field.
“Twenty-one and one,” a number of the Chargers yelled. “Twenty-one and one.”
“And I don’t want to hear none about (New England’s) injuries, either,” one added.
The Chargers rode a dominant second half to a 41-17 win over New England yesterday, snapping the Patriots’ league-high 21-game home winning streak and setting off a raucous post-game, closed door celebration in the locker room that was almost audible from where a terse Bill Belichick was talking about the loss to the media.
“Well, there is no doubt about it out there today. San Diego is the better team,” said Belichick, who had just watched his team give up the most points it has during his tenure. “We didn’t make any of the plays we needed to make. They made an awful lot, especially in the second half, obviously.”
As obvious as outscoring the Patriots 24-0 in the second half. As plain as the 21-9 minute time of possession gap between the two teams. And as noticeable as the large swaths of blue and red empty seats inside the stadium late in the fourth quarter.
Characteristically, Belichick deflected a question about New England’s injury woes playing a role in yesterday’s result, and the players followed suit.
“This is the NFL,” said Deion Branch.
“People get paid to come in here and work, and if there are injuries, other people have to step up.”
Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer was more frank, though, saying the Patriots lost a force in the secondary when Rodney Harrison went down.
“I think his absence had to be significant,” Schottenheimer said. “My point is that at what point in time are you pushed over the edge because you can’t go on forever replacing players.”
“I think he was a big part of their secondary, but they’re still a good team,” pointed out wide receiver Reche Caldwell. “We just went out there and showed that we could play with one of the best teams in the league and win.”
Not since Dec. 22, 2002, when the New York Jets laid a 30-17 loss on New England had someone been able to say that in the visitor’s locker room. But the Patriots downplayed the significance of a crack suddenly appearing in their previously impregnable home defenses.
“You play well at home, you win. You play poorly, you lose,” Tom Brady said. “You try to go out and play well, no matter where you play. We played in a tough environment last week (in Pittsburgh) and played well. I thought the fans were really into it today. They helped us out a lot. We just didn’t live up to our end of the bargain.”
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