New England added another notch to its historic belt Sunday, beating San Diego 21-12 in the AFC championship hame.

 

Here are 10 Cold, Hard Football Facts learned during New England's 18th win of the season.

 

1. The Patriots tailbacks were spectacular. Laurence Maroney and Kevin Faulk were about as good as a tandem can be Sunday in the AFC title game. Maroney ran hard and smart, especially in the second half, when he gained 106 of his 122 rushing yards. And if they were handing out the AFC championship game MVP award, Faulk would have been a good choice. Faulk caught 8 passes for 82 yards, with several tough grabs, and all pivotal on a day when Tom Brady and Randy Moss were both off their games. For the season, Maroney, Faulk and injured Sammy Morris combined for 332 carries, 1,484 yards (4.5 YPA) and more than 2,000 yards from scrimmage. And on Sunday, in a game in which the historic New England passing well struggled Maroney and Faulk proved just how valuable they wree.

 

2. San Diego won the Big Play battle, but lost the war. We proved the importance of Big Plays throughout the season. Teams that won the Big Play battle won 84.1 percent of all NFL games in 2007. Not on Sunday. The Chargers won the battle Sunday, but couldn't produce a victory. They produced four of our Big Plays (three INTs, and a 26-yard Darren Sproles run) to New England's two (two INTs) yet put just four field goals on the scoreboard.

 

3 … the Patriots had more of the original Big Plays – touchdowns. San Diego's settling for four field goals – three short ones – cost them a shot to win it in the end, and coach Norv Turner probably deserves some heat for his conservative ways in the red zone.

 

4. The Chargers are New England's No. 1 rival going forward, not Indianapolis. The Colts have the blue-chip QB and the classic battles with the Patriots under their belts. But San Diego is the only team in the AFC with the talent to match New England. Covering the spread as short-handed as they were was a remarkable achievement, and a display of what a great roster GM A.J. Smith has assembled in his tenure in San Diego. Plus, the Chargers have proved that they have Indy's number. Now, like Indy a year or two ago, the Chargers have to find a way to beat the Patriots to become a championship contender.

 

5. New England's offensive line did it again. The Patriots averaged 4.8 YPA on the ground and went 7-for-13 on third down yesterday, great numbers on a windy, frigid day. Clearly, New England's Hogs won the battle in the trenches against San Diego, which was out of gas in the second half, when the Patriots held the ball for 21:38 of 30 minutes.

 

6. The refs turned in a championship effort. The refs have been flamed more than a Bic by Fan Nation this postseason. But the crew in the Chargers-Patriots game got it right. No bad calls – in fact, almost no calls at all (three total penalties). No second guessing by the peanut gallery, no coaching challenges, no angry protests by the players or coaches. Just a team of professionals staying out of the way of an excellent football game. Kudos to Jeff Triplette and crew.

 

7. Apparently, taking away Brady-to-Moss isn't too hard. Only New England could see its dominant, record-setting offensive option get shut down in back-to-back playoff games … and win both games fairly comfortably. Six passes thrown to Moss in two games, with just two catches, should be cause for panic. But Brady threw 26 completed passes to the other Patriot WRs, and it hasn't mattered much at all. Still, after the week Moss had off the field, finding joy in the team achievement must have been a struggle. Credit goes to Chargers coach Norv Turner (who got a 1,005-yard season out of Moss when he coached Oakland in 2005) for finding a way to take Moss out of the game.

 

8. The Lamar Hunt Trophy is pretty chintzy. Sure, no team really cares about winning it (at least not the teams with Super stuff), but the AFC championship trophy looks like it was made in seventh-period metal shop. Other than soccer's World Cup trophy, the Lamar Hunt trophy might be the lamest piece of hardware in modern pro sports.

 

9. Another Quality Opponent bites the dust at the hands of the Patriots. New England hasn't covered many spreads lately (0 for the last 3), but they sent nine Quality Opponents to defeat in nine tries, seven of those victories by a touchdown or better. Only two teams in NFL history have bested 10 Quality Opponents in a single season. The 2003 Patriots went 10-0 vs. Quality Teams. The 1979 Steelers went 10-3. The Patriots attempt to become the third in Super Bowl XLII.

 

10. Regardless of the opponent, this Super Bowl will be the most anticipated in a decade. The quest to beat New England has made for some great ratings this year. In fact, that four highest-rated games in football this year featured the Patriots (vs. Cowboys, Colts, Steelers and Gaints). And either the Giants or Packers would be an intriguing foil. New York's close loss to New England in Week 17 is still fresh in the minds of the pigskin public. And "Favre vs. Brady" speaks for itself. The last Super Bowl with a national hook this big was Broncos-Packers/Elway-Favre in Super Bowl XXXII. Yet Green Bay-New England could surpass that game and all others as the most anticipated (and highest rated) Super Bowl in history.