WOMBAT-Empfang » which the defence allowed three touchdowns

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Winning in front of thousands of friendly fans is routine for the New England Patriots — even when theyre playing 3,000 miles from home.The support of the crowd behind the New England sideline and the teams stingy defence helped the Patriots remain in command of the AFC with a win in San Diego.There was a sea of Patriots fans behind our bench. I dont think Ive ever quite seen that before, coach Bill Belichick said Monday. We had all those fans right behind us. They were loud and vocal.They cheered as New England beat the Chargers on Sunday night, 23-14, one week after a 26-21 loss in Green Bay.Belichick gave his players the day off Monday to go with their usual day off on Tuesday because of what weve been through from a schedule standpoint, he said, where the team is physically, what we have coming up, the nature of the preparations for the next opponent.Two of their remaining three games are at home, where theyre 6-0 this season and 44-3 in their last 47 regular-season games.The Patriots (10-3) had gotten used to their West Coast surroundings after flying straight to San Diego after the loss to the Packers that snapped a seven-game winning streak.This whole week, guys were hanging out with each other, and thats what you need, team unity, cornerback Darrelle Revis said, especially coming off that loss to Green Bay.The victory maintained the Patriots chances of gaining home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.Theyre tied with Denver for the best record in the conference but hold the tiebreaker with their 43-21 win over the Broncos in Foxborough.Denver has road games at San Diego and Cincinnati then finishes at home against Oakland.New Englands remaining games are against AFC East opponents, at home against Miami, at the New York Jets and back home against Buffalo.Since 2010, the Patriots have lost consecutive games just twice.After a loss, nobody likes that feeling, said Brandon Bolden, who set up a touchdown Sunday by blocking a punt. We especially dont like that feeling, so everybody just takes it on their shoulders and says, we have to go out there and do better.The Patriots have improved greatly since their 33-20 loss at Miami in the opener in which the defence allowed three touchdowns. In the last four games — against playoff contenders Indianapolis, Detroit, Green Bay and San Diego — the defence has allowed a total of five touchdowns.With second-year linebacker Jamie Collins taking over signal-calling duties from injured Donta Hightower, the Patriots allowed just 216 yards and held the Chargers to four conversions on 13 third-down plays. Against Green Bay, the defence was much worse. The Packers gained 478 yards and were 10-for-17 on third downs.Three in-season pickups, linebackers Akeem Ayers and Jonathan Casillas and defensive tackle Alan Branch, played well.All three of those players have definitely helped us, both with their playing time, their performance and Id say the rapid pace at which theyve picked things up, Belichick said.Defensive tackle Sealver Siliga, playing his first game after being activated from the injured reserve list with a designation to return, also contributed.Those four guys, collectively, getting them all on the field (Sunday) night was a big boost for us, Belichick said. Those guys have really come in and done not only what we needed them to do, but probably more.Top pass rusher Chandler Jones has missed the past six games with a hip injury and linebacker Jerod Mayo went on injured reserve after the sixth game.Jones and Hightower were on the sideline cheering on their teammates.In the stands behind them, fans in Patriots jerseys joined in the support.The Patriots travel well, New England cornerback Brandon Browner said. That was awesome.___Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL Dion Waiters Jersey . 5 Trade Deadline is drawing closer and teams will be deciding on whether to buy or sell. Edrice Adebayo Jersey . LOUIS -- Known for his game-managing and defensive skills, Yadier Molina made another statement with his bat. http://www.cheapheatjerseys.com/?tag=che...n-rice-jersey.Y. -- As if the worst start in franchise history isnt bad enough, Buffalo Sabres President Ted Black braced his teams win-starved fans for potentially more tough times. Cheap Heat Jerseys China .com) - NFL owners have unanimously approved the sale of the Buffalo Bills. Chris Bosh Jersey . -- The Chicago Bears say they have agreed to a one-year contract with centre Roberto Garza.DENVER - Patrick Roy returned to the Colorado Avalanche to restore the glory years he helped forge, and hes enjoying the ride with a young team playing at a high level. Nick Holden scored two goals, Ryan OReilly had a goal and an assist and the Avalanche rallied to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-3 on Sunday night. Semyon Varlamov stopped 31 shots and Erik Johnson and Tyson Barrie also scored for the Avalanche, who have won two straight. Roy helped lead Colorado to two Stanley Cup titles in 1996 and 2001 as the goaltender with a dynamic offence in front of him. Now as the coach, hes bringing back memories of that era. "You ask me what reminds me of the Avalanche of the past, thats the type of hockey we were playing," he said. "And thats the way were playing right now." Those championship teams also featured goal-scoring defencemen, something lacking from last years squad. Colorados blue-liners had just five goals in 48 games a year ago. The Avalanche got four goals from its defence Sunday, including Johnsons first in his return from a two-game suspension for a slash on New York Islanders centre Frans Nielsen three weeks ago. "Its tough sitting out, and to be able to come back and contribute and help the team win is fun," he said. Johnson scored the go-ahead goal at 16:05 of the third when he pinched in to steal the puck and then sent a low shot past 6-foot-7 goalie Ben Bishop from along the boards. "I know (Bishop) from St. Louis, and I shot at him a lot," Johnson said. "Hes obviously a big guy and he doesnt give you a lot of room. Sometimes, big guys like that, you throw it at their feet and they dont see it." Nate Thompson had two goals, Tom Pyatt also scored and Bishop finished with 29 saves for the Lightning, who had four penalties in the last 21:28 of the game. "The penalties killed us," centre Alex Killorn said. "Six minutes where we didnt play in their zone." Holden tied it wiith a power-play goal at 5:12 of the third.ddddddddddddIt was Colorados sixth power-play goal in the past three games. Holden notched his second two-goal game when he scored into an empty net with 53 seconds remaining. Paul Stastny added another with 6.3 seconds left. "This is a tough one," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "Tied game with under five minutes to go. I thought we were getting points from this one. We let them slip out of our hands." Thompson has eight goals, and four of them have come in a pair of two-goal games. He got his first one Sunday when he beat Varlamov on the short side 6:40 into the second period to tie it at 2. Later in the period, he sent a wrister at Varlamov that settled in the crease, and then he skated through to knock it in at 17:37. The Lightning missed an opportunity to move into second place in the Atlantic Division and third in the Eastern Conference after Colorados late-game eruption. "I think were going through a little bit of a rough patch," Thompson said. "A couple breakdowns there at the end and they end up in the back of the net, unfortunately." Colorado stayed within three points of St. Louis in the Central Division with the win. The Blues beat Phoenix on Sunday. The game was scoreless for most of the first period despite plenty of chances. Lightning centre Vladislav Namestnikov had two of them and Colorado centre Matt Duchene was stopped on a breakaway. Tampa Bay finally cashed in when Pyatt scored at 16:49 of the first. Barrie tied it 30 seconds later with a shot between Bishops legs, and OReilly gave Colorado a 2-1 lead with his 23rd of the season 1:42 later. NOTES: Duchene and Nathan MacKinnon finished with two assists. ... Tampa Bay C Valtteri Filppula missed his fourth straight game with a non-displaced fracture in his right ankle. ... MacKinnon extended his points streak to 11 games. Its the longest streak by a rookie since Stastny had one of 20 games during the 2006-07 season. ' ' '