In a hard fought battle by both teams, the Patriots and Chargers certainly made this weeks Sunday Night Football an exciting game to watch. A win was important to both squads tonight, for the Patriots it was a chance to end this “Tough Road” going 5-1, exceeding almost everyones expectations. For the Chargers, it was a chance to keep pace with the Broncos and give them momentum going into an important battle next week against the Denver Broncos. For this week’s BUG’s (Bad, Ugly, Good) we’re going to take a look at what was some things the Patriots could improve upon for next weeks game against Miami, but also recognize someone who exceeded expectations and delivered when it mattered most.

Bad: Nate Solder

Nate Solder had a tough game on Sunday night, he got beat on the majority of his snaps in the first half. While there were many times throughout the first half that Tom Brady was rushed and forced to get rid of the ball, no greater example of this was shown then in the final minutes of the first half. Tom Brady and company were marching down the field looking for a late touchdown to put the Patriots ahead 20-14. But on a 2nd and 10 on the Chargers 18 Brady stepped back and was pressured once again thanks in part to blown coverage by Solder, he was forced to get rid of the ball and it fell in to the hands of Chargers DB Manti Te’o. Solder’s play improved as the second half continued, but it was not at the level that the Patriots have been used to throughout the season.

Ugly: Referees in the 3rd quarter

Obviously the play that everyone in New England was talking about was the second half play where Brandon Browner laid out Chargers TE Ladarius Green and as a result Devin McCourty intercepted the football and took it the other way for a touchdown. However the referees got together after the play and decided that the hit by Browner was unnecessary roughness and as a result was called back, which undoubtedly upset all of the Patriots and their fans. After NBC showed numerous replays it was clear that Browner did not deliver a helmet to helmet hit so it becomes very foggy in terms of where the penalty occurred. There has to be a way that the NFL can look into making these sort of penalties reviewable by the referees because this was almost a certain game changer. Imagine just for a second that the Patriots lose this game by a touchdown or less, that could have altered the AFC seeding drastically. All because of a penalty that in most cases would have not been called, the Patriots are lucky that did not come back to haunt them and potentially cost them home field advantage in the playoffs.

Good: Patriots Defense

Going into tonight’s game we learned that both Dont’a Hightower and Chandler Jones would not play and that had to worry many Patriots fans throughout New England. Their abscense would mean that guys on defense would have to play above and beyond their normal production against the Chargers and their sneaky good offense. To almost everyone’s surprise they played did that, capitalizing on key throws by Philip Rivers and forcing a pickoff (actually two if you count the McCourty interception). One player who really impressed me was Jamie Collins who was able to be all over the field tonight and get to Phillip Rivers. He acted in place for Chandler Jones by pressuring the quarterback and making him make split second decisions, some that lead to rushed throws and ultimately incomplete passes or interceptions. Going into the final weeks of the season, you would have to imagine that Jones and Hightower would make their returns to get ready for the postseason. And if the defense played like they did tonight alongside Hightower and Jones, this defense may be able to walk their way into Super Bowl XLIX.

The Dirt Sheet:

An impressive win by the Patriots, while this may be a good team win, there will be tons for Bill Belichick and staff to go over within the next week. Alongside Solder, Tom Brady did not look that great but he was able to make adjustments on the fly even coverage was blown. One thing I did not like seeing from Brady was his commitment to throw the football to Rob Gronkowski more times than not, it seemed throughout the second and third quarter Gronk was the main target for Brady and he focused solely on him instead of looking at other options. As the fourth quarter went on the ball was evenly disturbed between Julian Edelman and Gronk, and that’s the formula that they need to adapt if they want to go far in the postseason. Everyone knows Gronkowski is a beast at the TE position, but if Brady continues to focus all of his attention on him teams will have a better idea of who to cover and who to back off.