Patriots top Chargers, 24-21
By ASSOCIATED PRESS

Tom Brady and Tedy Bruschi walked off the field together after stunning the San Diego Chargers, very much alive in their quest to get the New England Patriots to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in six seasons.

''I said to Tedy, 'Man, that was not easy,' '' Brady said. ''He says to me, 'They never are buddy, they never are.' ''

If not easy, then maybe expected from the Patriots. Despite a big game from league MVP LaDainian Tomlinson, the top-seeded Chargers made too many mistakes and the Patriots capitalized for a 24-21 win on Sunday to advance to the AFC championship game.

Brady was as cool as ever, delivering every time the mistake prone Chargers handed him another chance. He overcame three interceptions, his career playoff high, to finish 27-of-51 for 280 yards and two touchdowns.

Already a three-time Super Bowl winner, Brady led the Patriots to 11 points in 3:26 late in the game. He and coach Bill Belichick now have a 12-1 postseason record together, and need to win at Indianapolis next Sunday to make their fourth Super Bowl trip in six seasons.

It was a gut-wrenching loss for San Diego and its coach, Marty Schottenheimer, whose job could be in jeopardy after his career postseason record tumbled to 5-13.

Tomlinson shattered several league records in helping the Chargers go an NFL-best 14-2, including 8-0 at home in the regular season.

Once it was over, Tomlinson, like Brady one of the most laid-back superstars in any sport, lost his cool. He went after an unidentified Patriots player and had to be restrained by a teammate and former Charger Reche Caldwell, who had a huge game for the Patriots.

Tomlinson yelled and pointed at the Patriots player, upset that some Patriots were dancing on the Chargers logo at midfield after they had silenced the record crowd of 68,810 at Qualcomm Stadium.

''I would never react in that way. I was very upset,'' Tomlinson said. ''When you go to the middle of our field and start doing the dance Shawne Merriman is known for, that is disrespectful. They showed no class and maybe that comes from the head coach.''

Merriman, nicknamed ''Lights Out,'' did a spasmodic dance to celebrate each of his NFL-high 17 sacks.

''We lost to a better team today,'' Tomlinson said. ''Hopefully the next opportunity we have we'll learn something from this.''

Tomlinson ran for 123 yards and two scores, and caught two passes for 64 yards.

San Diego had nine players voted to the Pro Bowl team and five to the All-Pro team. And it had been supercharged by Tomlinson, who became the most prolific scorer in one season in NFLhistory with 31 touchdowns and 186 points while winning the rushing title with 1,815 yards.

But Brady is the one who's been there before in January. And nearly always has won - it was Brady's sixth career game-winning drive in the playoffs, and his 24th overall.

The winning points came on a 31-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski with 1:10 left. That capped a 72-yard drive highlighted by a 49-yard pass to Caldwell, who left the Chargers as a free agent after last season.

With the Patriots trailing 21- 13, Brady threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to the wideopen Caldwell with 4:36 to play.

The Patriots tied it on a tricky 2-point conversion, snapping the ball directly to running back Kevin Faulk, who was standing next to Brady and ran through the middle of the line.

San Diego's Pro Bowl kicker Nate Kaeding was short on a 54-yard field goal try with 3 seconds left.

Schottenheimer will no doubt be criticized for going for it on fourth-and-11 from the New England 30 in the first quarter rather than having Kaeding try a field goal.

Philip Rivers, the Chargers' first-year starting quarterback, was sacked by Mike Vrabel and fumbled, giving the Patriots the ball at their 35 yard line.