The Patriots came into Week 8’s strangely important contest with the Los Angeles Chargers with a lot of questions, including what they would do at the trade deadline if they lost and dropped to 3-5.
But more pointedly, they had to answer one main query: could they finally decisively beat a good team?
Yes, they can.
Sunday’s takedown of the Chargers wasn’t the cleanest effort, but it was the most satisfying performance the team has put together this year–even more so than last week’s destruction of New York Jets.
They beat a playoff contender without their best stuff on offense.