Keys to winning the AFC Championship: New England Patriots

Well, this could potentially be the shortest post in the world. How do the Pats win the AFC Championship? Just keep doing what they are doing. The end.

Well, I guess there needs to be a little more than that, right? Ok, ok. Anyways, there is some truth to that statement that I made--but with a twist. While the Patriots handled the Jags last week in the second half by methodically tearing them down, there were still some obvious cracks in their proverbial armor that they will need to make sure doesn't happen against the Chargers this weekend. First off, the run defense has to be in top gear. LaDanian Tomlinson, even though he is coming off an injury, is by far the best the NFL has to offer, and if he gets going, this could be a long day for the New England front four.

They also have to shut Philip Rivers up early. Give him any type of momentum and suddenly he's like Ellen Degeneres at the beginning of her show. If they can frustrate the Chargers early, they should have it in the bag. Offensively, they need to do the things the Colts didn't do last week, and that is distribute the ball on shorter passes, much like the Patriots did a lot of during their three-peat run. Going deep to Randy Moss is always an option, but you can bet that the double teams will be there, and with Moss being shut down against the Jags and his off the field lawsuit distraction, New England would be better off using a lot of Wes Welker and Laurence Maroney out of the backfield.

As long as they show up and execute, this should be a no-brainer. But, of course, Indianapolis Colts fans were saying the same thing last week and look what happened.

Photo Source: AP

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Keys to winning the AFC Championship: New England Patriots

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