FOXBORO — A dash of Red Auerbach.



A scoop of Sony Michel.



A dose of the defense.



And a whole helping of Tom Brady.



The Patriots’ recipe for retribution was executed with perfect precision Sunday during their 41-28 deconstruction of the Chargers at Gillette Stadium. As a result, the Pats advanced to their eighth consecutive AFC Championship Game — and 13th since 2001 — where they’ll square off against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium next Sunday at 6:40 p.m. ET.



The title game will be a rematch of superpowers. And now that the Patriots are whole again, they’ve reinserted themselves to the NFL’s top-four teams and boast a level of potential that was universally expected in the summer but rarely realized through much of the fall and winter.



While outsiders gloomed over the doom of the dynasty last week as the Patriots prepared for the Chargers — who had a better record, an...