It looks like the New England Patriots you all know and love are back, fans.

Chargers unplugged.

We’ve all seen this before. Sunday the Patriots re-discovered their offensive prowess against good teams. How could we even have questioned their chances before their 41-28 AFC Divisional Round win?

The Patriots were home and rested as they had two weeks to prepare.

You have to wonder if the Los Angeles/Should Be San Diego Chargers spent a lot of last week at the beach. They came into Sunday’s AFC Divisional Playoff game seemingly woefully unprepared for what the Patriots would try to do, which was attack their weakness in the linebacker area. They weren’t facing a scrambling rookie quarterback this time. No gimmicks.

And the Patriots, headed to their eighth straight AFC Championship Game, just took it to them.

Now with their offense feeling confident, they will go up against a Kansas City Chiefs defense that isn’t supposed to be nearly as good as the one the Chargers were rumored to have. Turned out to be a false rumor, at that. As Charger defensive back Adrian Phillips said after the Patriots shredded his team for 498 total yards, “We laid an egg today; we didn’t show up the way we usually do.”

The Chargers went with their six or seven defensive backs early and it was a flop because the Patriots and rookie Sony Michel pounded them, a great game plan. Then, when L.A. switched up, Brady would hit his backs and, as Chargers coach Anthony Lynn said, “it was a little too late.”

“That running game was just too physical today,”he said. “We had to get our linebackers in and then sometimes they got us in some matchups in the passing game that we didn’t like. So they did a heck of a job picking us apart.”

L.A.’s embarrassing defense left its offense and quarterback Philip Rivers (25 of 51 for 331 yards, three TDs, two meaningless, and one pick) feeling it had to get all those points back in a hurry, deep here, deep there, etc. They all played into Patriots coach Bill Belichick’s hands.

It was like old times. The opposition suddenly couldn’t tackle, panicked, and looked like it would rather be anywhere else than Gillette. Tom Brady had a quarterback rating of 106.5, the short passing game to his reliables Julian Edelman and James White (a combined 24 catches for 228 yards) just what he likes. The Patriots began the game with a 14-play drive that chewed up 7:11.

And now the Patriots are playing in the third weekend in January, one in which they always do. You kind of take it for granted, but it boggles the mind for one team to be one step away from the Super Bowl eight straight years. As Patriot veteran Matthew Slater said when asked if someone were to tell him back when he started that would be the case, “I’d have laughed.”

Instead the rest of the AFC cries. You wonder if the true Patriots have risen, with a chip on their shoulder, as Brady indicated to CBS reporter Tracy Wolfson after the game “Everybody thinks we suck and can’t win any games.”

“I think we showed a lot of perseverance, a lot of toughness,” he said later at the podium. “This team is showing it. We’ve had some tough losses this year too but you just keep fighting. … It’ll be a lot of fun to go back (to Kansas City) and play in a championship game and try to advance.”

It’s too bad the Patriots have to leave Gillette, where they went 9-0 this year and just looked like a different team. This had all the pregame big game surroundings, from Jon Bon Jovi on the sidelines to fans coming in early to sit in their seats. They were probably nervous, because this Charger team was supposed to be the most complete the Patriots were going to see all year.

Oops. How could we all have been so foolish. The Chargers looked as out of place Sunday as Patriots owner Robert Kraft did trying to sing “Livin’ On A Prayer” with Bon Jovi and the Gillette crowd.

Now the Patriots just have to make sure they’re not out of place in Kansas City. They won’t if they play like they did on Sunday.

“I just like winning,” Brady said. “I just like winning.”

Something for nearly two decades he and this franchise are pretty used to doing.

Tom King may be reached at 594-1251,tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or@Telegraph_TomK.