Patriots capitalize on Chargers’ mistakes in 21-13 win

Tom Brady passed for 333 yards and a touchdown, Stephen Gostkowski added four field goals and the New England Patriots held on to beat the Los Angeles Chargers 21-13 on Sunday.

It was the fourth straight victory for the Patriots (6-2). The loss snapped a three-game win streak for the Chargers.

Los Angeles (3-5) got on the board first when Melvin Gordon found a seam on the outside and rumbled down the sideline for an 87-yard touchdown run . But the rest of the game was marked by Los Angeles’ mistakes and inability to move the ball offensively.

New England got its lone touchdown via a 2-yard toss from Brady to Rob Gronkowski in the second quarter. The Patriots went 1 for 4 in the red zone, but were able to cobble together the Gostkowki field goals and a safety.

The Chargers cut the Patriots’ lead to 18-13 with 8:30 to play following a 24-yard touchdown pass from Philip Rivers to Travis Benjamin and failed 2-point conversion pass. They got the ball back a final time after New England added Gostkowski’s fourth field goal. But Rivers’ pass with 1 second remaining was intercepted at the goal line by Jonathan Jones. Rivers finished 17 of 30 for 212 yards.

Los Angeles’ mistakes were highlighted in a wild way in the second quarter when Benjamin muffed a punt inside the Chargers 15, recovered it and retreated all the way to own goal line while trying to reverse field. He was wrapped up there by New England’s Brandon King and tackled in the end zone for a safety.