Chargers-Patriots takeaways: Khalil Mack keeps sack streak going

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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Khalil Mack is on a tear.

He has two sacks in each of the last three games, the NFL’s only player to do that this season and the first Chargers player to achieve it since Shawne Merriman in 2006.

Mack brought down Bailey Zappe twice Sunday and pushed his season sack total to 15, matching his career high. That he’s still putting up those numbers without Joey Bosa on the other side is especially impressive.

So he has five two-sack games this season, which is tied for second on the all-time Chargers list behind defensive end Lee Williams, who had six such games in 1989.

On Sunday, the Chargers also had their first takeaway in four games when linebacker Tuli Tuipulotu pried the ball loose from Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson.

Stevenson suffered an ankle injury on that first-quarter play and had to be helped off the field, done for the day. That was a significant blow to the Patriots, as Stevenson already had run for 39 yards in nine carries.

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Reeling them in

Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen (13) is flipped by the Patriots defense after making a reception.

The Chargers have lots of problems at receiver. Keenan Allen is not one of them.

Allen had five receptions for 58 yards against the Patriots, bringing his season catch total to 102. That ties him with Julio Jones (102 in 2015) for the third-most receptions by a player in his team’s first 12 games of the season.

Allen has surpassed the century mark in receptions five seasons in a row. He’s the sixth player in NFL history to do so, joining Antonio Brown (six seasons), Brandon Marshall (six), Larry Fitzgerald (five), Andre Johnson (five) and Wes Welker (five).

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Well-oiled machine

Patriots linebacker Jahlani Tavai (48) nearly blocks a punt by Chargers punter JK Scott (16).

The star of the game was the Chargers’ JK Scott, who had eight punts that resulted in zero return yards for the Patriots.

The unsung hero was long snapper Josh Harris, a 12-year veteran who reliably got that wet ball to Scott through the whipping winds.

“On a day like today you need that leadership, you need that togetherness on the punt team when you’re out there a lot,” head coach Brandon Staley said. “Hey, this is going to be the unit that can decide the game. I feel like the connection that those guys have on that punt team is really strong right now.”

Harris joined the Chargers last year after spending the previous 10 seasons with the Atlanta Falcons. The only other time he had played at Gillette Stadium was in 2017, when his Falcons suffered a 23-7 defeat.

“It’s a historic place,” he said. “So winning here is nice.”

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Forget the style points

Yes, the Patriots have only two wins and are at the bottom of the AFC East. And yes, the Chargers could muster only two first-half field goals and the 6-0 final was the lowest points total in the league this season.

But in the NFL, a win is a win. They don’t come easy.

“In two weeks, no one’s going to remember the score,” Chargers left tackle Rashawn Slater said. “It’s just a ‘W’ in the column. We’ll learn from it, fix the mistakes, and move on.”

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Running on empty

The Chargers couldn’t rely on the ground game to gather any momentum. They gained 29 yards in 24 carries, with the longest run of the day going for seven yards.

Eighteen yards rushing was a season low for Austin Ekeler, whose only 100-yard performance came against Miami in the opener, when he ran for 117.