LOS ANGELES CHARGERS (3-4) at NEW ENGLAND (5-2) Sunday, 1 p.m. EDT, CBS OPENING LINE — Patriots by 7 RECORD VS. SPREAD — Los Angeles 3-3-1, New England 3-4 SERIES RECORD — Patriots lead 23-15-2 LAST MEETING — Patriots beat
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS (3-4) at NEW ENGLAND (5-2)
Sunday, 1 p.m. EDT, CBS
OPENING LINE — Patriots by 7
RECORD VS. SPREAD — Los Angeles 3-3-1, New England 3-4
SERIES RECORD — Patriots lead 23-15-2
LAST MEETING — Patriots beat Chargers 23-14, Dec. 7, 2014
LAST WEEK — Chargers beat Broncos 21-0; Patriots beat Falcons 23-7
AP PRO32 RANKING — Chargers No. 21, Patriots No. 2
CHARGERS OFFENSE — OVERALL (17), RUSH (31), PASS (8).
CHARGERS DEFENSE — OVERALL (13), RUSH (31), PASS (5).
PATRIOTS OFFENSE — OVERALL (1), RUSH (17), PASS (2).
PATRIOTS DEFENSE — OVERALL (32), RUSH (22), PASS (32).
STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — Both teams enter game on three-game win streaks. … Patriots have won three consecutive meetings in series, including last two at Gillette Stadium. … QB Philip Rivers is 1-6 all-time against Patriots (1-4 regular season, 0-2 in postseason). Rivers’ lone victory against New England was 30-10 win on Oct. 12, 2008 in San Diego, when Patriots QB Tom Brady was sidelined by knee injury. He has never won in New England (0-2). … Rivers has eight TDs and one INT in past four games. He’s aiming for third game in row with 100-plus QB rating. … Rivers has 3,967 career completions and needs 22 to pass Warren Moon (3,988) for eighth in NFL history. … RB Melvin Gordon has 357 scrimmage yards (119 per game) with four TDs (three receiving, one rushing) in past three games. Gordon is tied for second in NFL with seven TDs (four receiving, three rushing). … DE Joey Bosa has five sacks and two forced fumbles in past three games. Bosa, who has 7 ½ sacks, and DE Melvin Ingram (8 1/2 sacks), can become fifth pair of teammates to each get at least nine sacks in their team’s first eight games of season since sack became official statistic in 1982. … Brady is 7-2 all-time against Chargers (5-2 in regular season and 2-0 in postseason). … Brady leads NFL with 2,208 passing yards and is tied for AFC lead with 15 TD passes. … Brady is first player to pass for at least 2,000 yards and 10 touchdowns in team’s first seven games at age 40 or older. … RB James White leads team and ranks second among NFL RBs with 38 catches. … White has 10 receiving TDs since 2015, most among NFL RBs. … TE Rob Gronkowski has four TD catches in three career meetings with Chargers. … Devin McCourty is only NFL safety with 50-plus tackles (52) and INT (1) in 2017. … LB Kyle Van Noy has 3 1/2 sacks in past four games. … Fantasy Tip: Brady has passed for 2,119 yards (302.7 per game) with 14 TDs and 97.6 rating in seven career meetings with Chargers.
———
For more NFL coverage: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP—NFL
