Why the Pats are still playing

SPORTING GOODS

The Patriots were 4.5 point underdogs this past weekend when traveling to the home of the best team in the NFL. And in the end, they somehow won. And it wasn't because the Charger kicker is a choker, or because Tom Brady sprinkles himself with magic fairy dust, or because Bill Belichick has no class.

And although these things didn't help, it wasn't solely because the Chargers lost their cool or made a couple dumb plays, or wasted a time out with a dumb challenge.

LaDanian Tomlinson, the best football player in the world in 2006/2007, and the best player on the field, had only nine touches in the second half of the game.

I expect that I was joining Pats fans across the nation who got a terrible feeling in their stomachs every time LT touched the ball, as we helplessly yelled, "Get him! Please stop him!"

Tomlinson averaged 5.3 yards a carry, and took the ball all the way to the end zone twice. He also averaged 32 yards a catch. The Pats could not stop him, and only seemed to slow him down when he ran directly at the pile in short yardage situations. But he only got the ball nine times in the second half (compared to 16 in the first).

The funny thing is the talk is that Chargers head coach Schottenheimer may lose his job, and one of the lead candidates to take his job is offensive coordinator Cam Cameron. Cameron put together a hell of an offense this year. But in the end he only called #21's number 9 times in the second half, and that is why the Pats are still playing.