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FOXBOROUGH Womens Austin Ekeler Jersey , Mass. (AP) — With a few minutes left in the first half, on their fifth attempt to slow down Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, the Chargers finally managed a defensive stop.It was only temporary.Desmond King fumbled New England’s first punt of the game, Albert McClellan recovered the ball just inches before it went out of bounds , and the Los Angeles defense was back on duty. The Patriots needed just four more plays to score their fifth touchdown in one of the most dominating starts in NFL postseason history.“We laid an egg today,” Chargers safety Adrian Phillips said after the Patriots scoredfourstraighttouchdowns to blow open the game and went on to win 41-28. “We didn’t show up the way we usually do.”One week after shutting down Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens in the wild-card round, the Chargers (13-5) fell behind 35-7 in the first half and blew an opportunity to advance to their first AFC championship game since the 2007 season.Instead, the Patriots (12-5) reached the conference title game for the eighth straight time, with a chance to reach the Super Bowl for the third year in a row and the ninth time under Brady and coach Bill Belichick.“They’ve been here before and they showed up today,” Chargers coach Anthony Lynn said. “We dug ourselves in a hole in the first half, but the guys came back out in the second half and competed hard. It was a little too late.”The Patriots are the second team in league history to score a touchdown on each of the first four drives of a playoff game, joining the 2000 Indianapolis Colts (in a first-round game against Denver).Quarterback Philip Rivers said he was pleased with the way the Chargers offense helped out the defense and came right back to tie it 7-all after New England scored on its opening drive.“All year, we’ve really complemented each other well. And if one side needed picking up a little bit, we’ve done that,” Rivers said.“We did it right away after the first drive,” he said. “They scored again and we didn’t answer, and they scored again and we didn’t answer, and they scored again and we didn’t answer. We needed to and we knew offensively that our defense was going to settle in and they needed us and we didn’t hold up our end.”The only other time the Patriots failed to score in the first half was on their last possession, when they took over with 51 seconds left and moved to the Los Angeles 36. And it was only because Phillip Dorsett was stopped inbounds and the clock ran out that they weren’t able to attempt a field goal.New England’s Ryan Allen did not punt again until there were under 10 minutes left in the game.“We played better on defense in the second half http://www.thechargerslockerroom.com/authentic-melvin-gordon-jersey , but it was too late,” safety Derwin James said. “Once Brady has a lead on you like that, it’s tough.”The Chargers lost on the road for just the second time all season, and this one wasn’t even close. Before heading into the locker rooms at the half trailing 35-7, they:—Gave up 347 yards of offense, while gaining just 128.—Had six first downs to 24 for New England.—Allowed the Patriots to convert all five times they were in the red zone and on five of six third downs.“We got our butt’s kicked today,” Lynn said. “It’s not a comfortable moment for us, for sure, but I think in these times we can learn a lot about ourselves.”Rivers completed 25 of 51 passes for 331 yards in the game — much of it after it was out of reach. Tyrell Williams caught five passes for 94 yards, Melvin Gordon had a rushing touchdown and Antonio Gates had a TD reception in what could be the last game of his career.“Pretty cool that if it were to be his last one, that his last catch was a touchdown,” Rivers said. “If it were to be, you’d look back one day and say it ended just how it started there a long time ago.” NFL teams buck for a playoff bye all season. Then people wonder if those four lucky clubs are going to be rusty when they return in the divisional round.The football world finds out this weekend when the Chiefs, Patriots, Saints and Rams get into postseason action.That January week off is coveted for a variety of reasons. Playing one less game decreases the chances of getting knocked out of the Super Bowl chase. Healing injuries is a critical piece of the puzzle. Extra time to strategize, particularly against an unfamiliar opponent, is a bonus.And yet, there’s always the question of getting stale.“I think, really Philip Rivers Jersey , you could look at it where if you want to maintain your rhythm and your routine and being able to play — it’s been a couple weeks off —but I think the players would say that the rest is definitely the best way to go,” Rams coach Sean McVay says.“Getting as healthy as possible for us where we’re about as healthy as you could ask to be going into the divisional round. So, I know we’ve certainly looked at it as a positive. It’s been a good chance for guys to kind of get refreshed, rejuvenated. There’s a good buzz in the building this week building into Saturday night.”That would be when the Rams (13-3) host the Dallas Cowboys (11-6), who eliminated Seattle in the wild-card round.The other matchups are AFC top seed Kansas City (12-4) hosting Indianapolis (11-6 after beating Houston) to open things. On Sunday, it’s New England (11-5) at home for the Los Angeles Chargers (13-4 after winning at Baltimore), andNFC top seed New Orleans (13-3) home for defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia (10-7 after a victory at Chicago).So what if Neil Young was correct that rust never sleeps? Are the Chiefs, Patriots or Saints in need of some WD-40?New England safety Patrick Chung notes the bye was “a good time to rest up, hang out with my family, chill out, get my mind off football. We’re locked in now.”Teammate Phillip Dorsett senses the opposite of rustiness: “Having a week off from football, it’s tough, but a lot of guys wanted to go back out there, it’s a big game coming up … definitely excited to go out there and start playing.”INDIANAPOLIS AT KANSAS CITYThe Colts are 4-0 in the postseason against the Chiefs, 2-0 at Arrowhead Stadium. They are on quite a roll after going 1-5, with an efficient offense that protects its quarterback better than any team, allowing sacks on only 2.7 percent of Andrew Luck’s passes. That could be a key because the Chiefs’ defense is one-dimensional, with a strong pass rush but otherwise plenty of holes.Of course, keeping pace with Kansas City’s dynamic offense led by All-Pro quarterback Patrick Mahomes is a major challenge.Kansas City scored a franchise-record 565 points Womens Kellen Winslow Jersey , third most in NFL history. Mahomes led the league with seven games with a 100-plus passer rating (Luck was third with five). Mahomes set a franchise record for TD passes (50), touchdown-interception differential (plus-38) and 300-yard passing games (10).Worth focusing on: The tight end production for Indy’s Eric Ebron, who had 15 touchdowns this season, and KC’s Travis Kelce, second among TEs with 1,336 yards receiving. He has a catch in 79 straight games.DALLAS AT LOS ANGELES RAMSThese franchises have split eight postseason games, and the Rams are the most frequent playoff opponent for Dallas. The Cowboys last won a road playoff game in 1993 on their way to a Super Bowl title, but their next playoff victory will be their 36th, tying Pittsburgh for the most in NFL history.Rams All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald topped the NFL with 20 1-2 sacks, nearly twice as many as Cowboys leader Demarcus Lawrence’s 10 1-2. Under former Dallas coach Wade Phillips, LA’s defense had 41 sacks to the Cowboys’ 39, yet the Rams had 97 more sack yards.Worth focusing on: This game could be decided on the ground, which means All-Pro Todd Gurley for the Rams and second-teamer Ezekiel Elliott for the Cowboys. Elliott won the rushing title for the second time in three years, but Gurley was sidelined late in the schedule by a knee injury. Gurley led the league in touchdowns with 21, 17 rushing.LOS ANGELES CHARGERS AT NEW ENGLANDNew England was 8-0 at Gillette Stadium, the only perfect home record in the league. And the Chargers were a league-best 7-1 on the road — some say they don’t really have home games considering they play in a temporary stadium built for soccer — and won at Baltimore last Sunday.Quarterback Philip Rivers enters Sunday’s game with a 1-7 record against the Patriots, including 0-4 in Foxborough and 0-2 in the playoffs. There is concern about leading rusher Melvin Gordon, who hurt his knee in Baltimore.Conversely, Tom Brady is 2-0 in the playoffs and 6-2 in regular-season meetings.Worth focusing on: The secondaries. If the weather is decent http://www.thechargerslockerroom.com/authentic-lance-alworth-jersey , Brady and Rivers will be testing defensive backfields of varying accomplishments. There often have been gaping holes in New England’s coverages, while the Chargers have an All-Pro in rookie safety Derwin James, and another standout back there in Desmond King.PHILADELPHIA AT NEW ORLEANSThey call him St. Nick around Philly, and the way Nick Foles has performed, why not? He guided the Eagles to the championship and was Super Bowl MVP last year after replacing an injured Carson Wentz. This time, with Wentz sidelined again, Foles got the struggling Eagles into the postseason, then helped them beat the Bears in the wild-card game.He’ll need to be plenty, well, saintly against New Orleans and its collection of Saints, the league’s top team in the regular season. Drew Brees has had perhaps the best season of his Hall of Fame-caliber career. And of all the teams coming off byes, New Orleans is the most balanced. Oh, yeah, the Saints also routed the Eagles 48-7 in November, before Philly won six of the next seven, including the 16-15 verdict in Chicago.Worth focusing on: Again, the secondaries. The Eagles have prospered despite a rash of injuries there, and the Saints’ DBs can be had when the guys up front don’t get in a QB’s face.