Oh Norv Turner, You Always Have The Most Well-Prepared, Smart Teams

Stop me if you've heard this before: an NFL team coached by Norv Turner that is full of talent yet continues to underachieve thanks to costly turnovers and dumb plays/penalties.

Yes the San Diego Chargers were at Gillette Stadium this afternoon for the New England Patriots' 2011 home-opener and as always, they were in a giving mood. The Chargers (1-1) had four turnovers to zero for the Patriots (2-0) and wouldn't ya know, New England won 35-21 in a very entertaining game.

The NFL is undoubtedly run by quarterback play so it's no surprise that Tom Brady (31 of 40, 423 yards, 3 touchdowns) and Philip Rivers (29 of 40, 378 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions) both had great performances.

As you can tell from Rivers' numbers, he made three critical mistakes (also a fumble) and for good measure, Mike Tolbert (73 yards receiving) had a killer fumble.

New England's defense is still a work in progress but they displayed some real improvement from Monday night when they made Chad Henne look like an All-Pro. At least Rivers is legitimately a star. It helps too that he had Vincent Jackson (10 catches, 172 yards, 2 touchdowns) on a day when Antonio Gates was held without a catch by Patriots safety Patrick Chung and his teammates.

Six New England players had two or more catches, led by Deion Branch (8 catches, 129 yards), who continues to be on the same page as Brady and can always be counted on to pick up key first downs and Wes Welker (7 catches, 81 yards). Second-year tight ends Rob Gronkowski (4 catches, 86 yards, TD) and Aaron Hernandez (7 catches, 62 yards, TD) also have quickly become the best pair of pass catchers at their position. Chad Ochocinco doubled his production from last week as he had two catches for 45 yards, including a nifty 30-yard grab.

After forcing San Diego to punt on its first drive, New England went 93 yards in 12 plays, capped off by a 14-yard jump ball from Brady to Hernandez that he grabbed over the ghost of Bob Sanders. Stephen Gostkowski's PAT made it 7-0 Patriots.

The Chargers answered on the ensuing drive as Ryan Matthews (64 yards rushing, 62 yards receiving) ran it in from 10 yards out. Nick Novak tied it up with his PAT.

New England's next drive stalled in the red zone and they were forced to settle for a 22-yard kick by Gostkowski, 10-7 Patriots.

San Diego drove down to the 1-yard line on their next possession but Tolbert was tackled on fourth-and-goal by Jerod Mayo (11 tackles, 8 solo). New England cashed in on that momentum with Brady finding Gronkowski for a 10-yard touchdown pass after a 10-play, 104 yards (with penalties) drive. Gostkowski's PAT gave the Pats a 10-point lead (17-7).

The Chargers looked to get some points before halftime but none other than Vince Wilfork made his first career interception. One of the game's best defensive tackles showed off his athleticism as he knocked down Rivers' pass, caught it then raced 28 yards. The super slo-mo replay of Wilfork returning it was like watching similar replays of Serena Williams at the US Open a few weeks ago, lots of jiggling. After two passes to Branch (11 yards, 7 yards) Gostkowski extended the lead to 20-7 at halftime.

New England's first drive of the second half resulted in a punt and for the second drive in a row, San Diego's ended with an interception. This one was near the goal-line as Patriots safety Sergio Brown likewise made his first career pick by stepping in front of Gates.

New England went three-and-out and San Diego was driving as the third quarter ended with no scoring in it.

Rivers finally threw his first touchdown pass early in the fourth, a 3-yard toss to Jackson. Novak's PAT brought the Chargers within six at 20-14.

San Diego's defense forced another stop on New England's suddenly ineffective offense but Tolbert fumbled after getting hit by Mayo, Rob Ninkovich (1 sack) recovered it. Brady and Co. wouldn't let that chance pass them by as he hit Gronk for 17-yard touchdown. Danny Woodhead added the two-point conversion rush up the middle for a 28-14 advantage.

Rivers wouldn't go down easily though as he responded with another strike to Jackson, this time from 26 yards away. It was a perfect pass and a perfect catch, high level stuff from one of the NFL's top QB-WR duos. Novak's PAT cut it to a one score game again (28-21).

When it counted, New England's offense marched 75 yards in nine plays with BenJarvus Green-Ellis (17 carries, 70 yards) going in untouched from 70 yards out.

The Chargers got the ball one more time but Rivers was strip-sacked by Mark Anderson with Kyle Love recovering the ball.

New England is tied atop the AFC East with the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets. The Miami Dolphins lost again to fall to 0-2; Tony Sporano is on the hot seat for sure.

Next Sunday, the Patriots travel to Ralph Wilson Stadium to take on a team that they have owned for the last decade. Ryan Fitzpatrick is playing well and the Bills have picked up two impressive wins (blowing out the Chiefs and getting a big comeback against the Raiders today) but that group has to prove they can get it done against Brady and the Pats. Buffalo goes into the game having lost its last 15 straight games to New England.

Good luck to any defense trying to stop the Pats this season.

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Well that was painful: Super Chargers smoke Pats, 30-10

So this is how the other half lives, huh? With Matt Cassel as quarterback of the 2008 New England Patriots, the team is wildly inconsistent and I guess at this point we have to accept that it'll be like that all season. The Patriots were in San Diego last night and got absolutely destroyed, 30-10 by a Chargers team that's not even that good.

Probably the most worrisome thing about the Patriots (3-2) is that not one part of the team is playing well. The offensive line has been terrible since the Super Bowl and they look worse when Cassel takes about 10 seconds to make a decision downfield (even Drew Bledsoe thinks he should get rid of it sooner). Laurence Maroney and LaMont Jordan both sat out and as a result, the duo of Kevin Faulk and Sammy Morris while likeable is woefully average. The running back situation needs a playmaker and Maroney is the only guy that has that ability, not saying he'll ever stop dancing and run hard downhill. The receivers are fine but they're nullified since Cassel can't get them the ball (other than short dumps to Welker).

The defensive line has been terrible, there's been no pressure on quarterbacks. The linebackers other than promising rookie Jerod Mayo have shown their age. The worst group on the team is the cornerbacks. Oh man, if you thought Ellis Hobbs is bad (he is), Deltha O'Neal is looking like a poor man's Duane Starks from a few years ago. Ugh. The Chargers repeatedly picked on O'Neal and he couldn't do anything to stop it. Finally, punter Chris Hanson is a complete bum. You wouldn't notice or care about that but with the current state of the Patriots, we need a good punter.

The Chargers (3-3) were coming off a loss at the Dolphins but you wouldn't know it as they stepped on the gas immediately. Philip Rivers had a Peyton Manning/Tom Brady-esque performance, 18 for 27, 303 yards and three touchdowns. The only reason I didn't vomit on the keyboard while typing that is because Rivers helped lead one of my fantasy teams to a win.

Nate Kaeding opened the scoring with a 25-yard kick in the first quarter. A sign of things to come was when Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski missed his first kick of the season.

Even without Chris Chambers, the San Diego passing game was unstoppable. Malcolm Floyd caught a 49-yard TD pass from Rivers in the first quarter. Gostkowski finally got New England on the board with a 47-yard kick in the second quarter. Vincent Jackson (5 catches, 134 yards) put the Chargers up 17-7 with a four-yard catch with 1:07 left in the half.

New England could be best summed up by their first drive of the second half. They moved it down to the 1-yard line and with four cracks at the end zone, they failed to score. It went incomplete play action pass, Morris stuffed, incomplete pass and Cassel was sacked when he tried to scramble in. Shoot me now. At that point, I think Brady turned off the TV. I wouldn't blame him either.

To nobody's surprise, San Diego made the Patriots pay by marching down the field and scoring on a 1-yard toss from Rivers to Gates. A 35-yard Kaeding kick made it 27-3 going into the fourth.

Kaeding's 23-yard kick made it 30-3 Chargers before Morris' 1-yard TD plunge hopefully helped a fantasy football player somewhere. Didn't mean anything to the real game.

After two weeks in California, the Patriots finally come home. They host a good Broncos (4-2) team next Monday. It can't get much worse than two out of the last three games (Dolphins and Chargers).