Patriots now control AFC's number 1 seed after Chargers upset Manning's Broncos

In one of the biggest upsets of the year, the San Diego Chargers waltzed into Mile High on Thursday Night Football tonight and handed the Broncos their third loss of the season, 24-20.

San Diego dominated the entire game, holding Denver without a first down from the end of the first quarter until after halftime. Manning got plenty of chances in the end but threw a key interception to San Diego's Thomas Keiser in the fourth quarter to help San Diego eventually hold onto the lead.

The talks will swirl again about Manning's cold weather struggles, but the big takeaway from tonight's game from a Patriots perspective has to do with seeding in the AFC.

Due to the Pats' comeback win over Denver a few weeks ago, the Patriots are now tied with Denver in the loss column but hold that head to head tiebreaker.

That means, after all of the Patriots' struggles and Denvers' success, the Pats could hold the AFC's top seed and home-field throughout the playoffs as long as they beat the Dolphins this Sunday, and win out the rest of the year.

It's a pretty remarkable turnaround, and a comeback fitting of the way the team's season has gone.

A topic for another article, but it's worth noting that Tom Brady has the same record with a JV squad on offense as Manning has with a super team.

Still, this won't mean much if the Patriots lose to the red-hot Dolphins in Miami in just a few days. The Pats defense is struggling and they just lost their most impactful offensive playmaker. They'll also have to travel to Baltimore next week to take on the currently sixth seeded Ravens. No victory is a guarantee, but things are looking up.