It’s a bit hard to believe we’re already on our 11th installment of this little project celebrating the 25th anniversary of the 1996 AFC championship win for the Patriots, but here we are. Today, we’re going to take a look at arguably the best overall game of the year for New England.

It happened to come in primetime on Sunday Night Football, December 1, 1996 in San Diego. Coming off an important win over the Colts at home following the embarrassing loss to Denver, the Patriots headed out west at 9-3 while the Chargers entered the matchup at 7-5.

Drew Bledsoe threw four touchdowns while Ben Coates, Shawn Jefferson and Terry Glenn all had strong nights in a 45-7 blowout win. The 45 points were the second-most the Patriots’ offense put up that season only behind 46 against Baltimore. The win also moved the Patriots into a first-place tie in the AFC East with the Bills at the time.

Curtis Martin only had 63 yards on 19 carries and didn’t get in the end zone, but he didn’t need to with the Patriots defense making life miserable for Stan Humphries and Sean Salisbury under center. Jerome Henderson, Ted Johnson, Lawyer Milloy and Otis Smith all had interceptions, the unit had six sacks and two fumble recoveries while also holding San Diego to 236 total yards of offense.

Not only was it a statement game on national television for the Patriots, it was also the worst loss for the Chargers at the time since 1988.

““We know that we got beat,” the late, great Junior Seau told the LA Times following that game. Seau of course was a superstar for the Chargers in the 90’s and was the team’s leader on and off the field. “That’s encouraging,” he added. “You’ve got to take yourself and kind of analyze and see what happened and what you can do better. We have three games and we got to go out and win them. New England just came in and gave us an old-fashioned beating and we have to take that.”

The beating was swift and severe as the Patriots led 31-7 at halftime. Terry Glenn and Keith Byars each caught TD passes in the first for a quick 14-0 lead before the Chargers cut it to seven on a Tony Martin 46-yard reception. The second quarter was the dagger quarter though, as Sam Gash hauled in a 7-yard TD catch, Willie McGinest recovered a fumble in the end zone, and Adam Vinatieri added a 47-yard field goal. Jefferson hauled in an 11-yard TD pass and Corwin Brown returned a fumble 42-yards for a TD in the third quarter to cap the explosive night on both sides of the ball.

We’ve got a big announcement coming tomorrow that will coincide with Day 12 of our 25 days celebrating the 25th anniversary of the 1996 AFC champion New England Patriots, so keep your eyes and ears on our social accounts!