FOXOBOROUGH, Massachussetts—The New England Patriots kept up their pursuit of a perfect season by beating the San Diego Chargers 21-12 on Sunday to advance to the Super Bowl as American Football Conference champions.
The Patriots, who extended their mark to 18-0, will meet the winner of the National Football Conference title game later on Sunday between the Green Bay Packers and New York Giants in the Super Bowl on Feb. 3 in Arizona.
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady overcame a slow start and some errant passing in windy conditions with a pair of second-quarter touchdown drives and a fourth-quarter TD strike to Wes Welker, which made up for three stunning interceptions.
"I think the difference was the players," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said on the field after hoisting the AFC trophy. "These guys played great. They played great all year and played great today."
New England are now one win away from becoming the only team other than the 1972 Miami Dolphins to cap a perfect campaign with a Super Bowl title.
Laurence Maroney rushed for 122 yards as New England relied on a running game to move the ball and grind out the clock after taking a 14-9 lead at the intermission.
San Diego, led by a gutsy performance by injured quarterback Philip Rivers and without running back LaDainian Tomlinson, failed to fully capitalise on three drives deep into Pats' territory.
The Chargers settled for field goals by Nate Kaeding of 32, 23 and 40 yards in the first half, two of the kicks coming on drives that stalled from first-and-goal from the nine yard line.
The Chargers had another golden opportunity early in the third quarter when cornerback Drayton Florence intercepted a Brady pass that deflected off the fingers of Donte Stallworth.
San Diego drove to a third-and-one from the three but failed again to get a touchdown as linebacker Junior Seau, who played 13 seasons as a Charger, knifed into the backfield to drop running back Michael Turner for a two-yard loss.
A 24-yard field goal by Kaeding made it 14-12.
Brady squandered a golden opportunity when he tossed an end zone interception on third down from the two-yard-line but came right back to engineer a 67-yard drive that culminated in Welker's sprawling TD catch and made for the winning margin.
The New England quarterback completed 22-of-33 passes for 209 yards, including eight connections to running back Kevin Faulk, and seven to Welker. Rivers was 19-of-37 for 211 yards.
Turner, filling in for Tomlinson, who retired to the sidelines with a knee injury after San Diego's second drive of the game, ran for 65 yards on 17 carries.
New England can now take aim at a fourth Super Bowl crown in seven years and a perfect 19-0 season.
"Now we have a chance," said Seau. "A chance to be part of forever."
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