Chargers takeaways: Khalil Mack takes advantage of sad-sack Patriots offense

Khalil Mack is on a tear. He has two sacks in each of the last three games, the NFL’S only player to do that this season and the first Chargers player to achieve it since Shawne Merriman in 2006.

Mack brought down Bailey Zappe twice Sunday and pushed his season sack total to 15, matching his career high. That he’s still putting up those numbers without Joey Bosa on the other side is especially impressive.

So he has five two-sack games this season, which is tied for second on the all-time Chargers list behind defensive end Lee Williams, who had six such games in 1989.

On Sunday, the

Chargers also had their first takeaway in four games when linebacker Tuli Tuipulotu pried the ball loose from Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson.

Stevenson suffered an ankle injury on that first-quarter play and had to be helped off the field, done for the day. That was a significant blow to the Patriots, as Stevenson already had run for 39 yards in nine carries.

The Chargers have lots of problems at receiver. Keenan Allen is not one of them.

Allen had five receptions for 58 yards against the Patriots, bringing his season catch total to 102. That ties him with Julio Jones (102 in 2015) for the third-most receptions by a player in his team’s first 12 games of the season.

Allen has surpassed the century mark in receptions five seasons in a row. He’s the sixth player in NFL history to do so, joining Antonio Brown (six seasons), Brandon Marshall (six), Larry Fitzgerald (five), Andre Johnson (five) and Wes Welker (five).

The star of the game was the Chargers’ JK Scott, who had eight punts that resulted in zero return yards for the Patriots.

The unsung hero was long snapper Josh Harris, a 12-year veteran who reliably got that wet ball to Scott through the whipping winds.

Harris joined the Chargers last year after spending the previous 10 seasons with the Atlanta Falcons.