Foxborough, Massachusetts

On a crisp Sunday afternoon, the New England Patriots once again advanced to their 8th straight AFC Championship Game by demolishing the Los Angeles Chargers 41 - 28 during their Divisional round match up played at Foxborough's Gillete Stadium.

Patriots quarter back Tom Brady showed why he is billed as the greatest of all time when he returned to his vintage form and threw for 343 yards and a touchdown, while two of his top receivers, Julian Edelman and James White had a game for the record books. The total number of yards between the two offenses, 498 against 335 in favour of New England illustrated physical and tactical mismatches with New England attacking the Chargers Defensive Line and dominating them during the entire game.

The Patriots defense on the other hand rose to the occasion and though the only 2 sacks they handed to Chargers quarterback, Philip Rivers do not tell the story, the pressure and pain inflicted on the Chargers Offensive Line ensured Rivers made quick and often inaccurate throws.

The win means that the New England Patriots will now travel to Arrowhead Stadium for the AFC Championship Game against the Kansas City Chiefs who edged out the Indianapolis Colts and are the number 1 seed on Sunday January 20th. Patriots coach, Bill Belichick will need to dig deep into his bag of tricks in what is expected to be an epic match up of two high powered offenses with Chiefs led by QB Patrick Mahomes who is arguably this season's Most Valuable Player.

The Kansas City Chiefs are favored to win this game by 3 points making this the first time in 67 games, the New Englad Patriots enter a game as the underdog. It is easy to overlook just how good the Patriots are especially in a season in which they were written off several times, but they are battle tested on the big stage, an advantage they have over Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.

The AFC Championship Game kicks off on Sunday, January 20th at 6:40 p.m Eastern Time on CBS and the winner will head to Atlanta for Super Bowl LIII. If we are going by previous experiences, I would bet all my money on New England as well as some from my neighbors, for you should never doubt the heart of a champion.

Ardent Patriots fans Jeff and Linda Schwartz were on hand to cheer

New England to victory at Gillette Stadium ( Pic. Courtesy of J. Schwartz)