Guess we watched different games.
1st quarter was a draw.
2nd quarter was slightly in favor of the Chargers
3rd quarter was also a draw.
4th quarter was almost all Pats.
I guess I watched a different game from you. To me it was obvious the Patriots were on their heels in the first quarter (and more than half the game at least), with the SD offense knocking on the door. SD could run for yards and get some pass yards. The Patriots could get some pass yards. I give the Patriot Defense credit for getting tough as the field got shorter though, and for the turnover too. However, SD I think was into the Patriot side of the field on every single first quarter series. Fortunately, the Patriots put together a drive that got just into FG range (credit SG for that much needed long FG!!). That made it at least competitive in the first quarter but still a quarter that was obviously more dominated by SD.
In the second quarter, Patriots are on their heels again. SD had 2 TD drives. I don't think the Patriots had a first down drive until the last drive for a TD. Again, that last drive made the quarter competitive and imho kept the game alive for the Patriots.
The third quarter likely favored the Patriots solely because we scored a FG (but did nothing else) and SD did nothing on offense.
Last quarter, best NE quarter. Again, still on our heels too often, however, we got a TD, 2 pointer and a FG. SD got a TD. That quarter was ours.
All that said, one would have to have extreme Patriot colored glasses on to not see that SD was winning the individual battles far more often than not. The Patriots played more mistake free (actually more like they made less mistakes) and executed when it was critical to do so. That is why we won.