We have talked about the Patriots lack of a signature win this season. Well, they finally got one after their 27-24 win over the Chargers.

The win was the Patriots best win since they beat Baltimore last season on Sunday Night Football. With the win, the Patriots now improve to 4-4 and find themselves in the thick of things in the AFC.

It wasn’t easy as the Patriots repeatedly missed out on opportunities to capitalize on Chargers mistakes. Despite that, they found a way to make enough plays to keep it close and they pulled away in the second half.

After trying to be more balanced in the first half, it was obvious at half time that the Patriots decided to emphasize running the football. The move paid off as the Patriots ran through the league’s worst run defense.

The much maligned Patriots defense did their part as well in the second half playing arguably their best half of football this season. They got consistent pressure on Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert. Adrian Phillips picked him off twice including a pick six which sealed the deal for New England.

Belichick talked about why Phillips had such a big game.

“He does a good job of seeing the routes, seeing the quarterback, having vision on the ball. Just good awareness. He’s a good football player.”

The Patriots once again struggled with penalties and execution but when they needed to be situationally aware and on top of their game, they put on a clinic the last nine minutes of the game.

Mac Jones led a methodical drive to end the game that consumed almost six minutes. A drive in which the Patriots put on a master class on how to stay inbounds and chew the clock. It was vintage Patriots situational football.

The Patriots have now won two straight and have the Panthers, Browns and Falcons coming up the next three weeks. All three are winnable games. The Patriots have the potential to go on a run.

Of course Belichick would tell you otherwise. He would preach one game at a time and he is right. The Patriots need to take it one game at a time. They are not the Brady Era Patriots. They can’t check games off as wins.

However, for a half of football yesterday, they did remind us a little bit of those Patriots teams.