Patriots 23, Chargers 14 | Ben Volin | On football

Pats defense carried the load

The Patriots? D proved Sunday night that it can carry the team to the Super Bowl.

Tom Brady celebrated with Vince Wilfork after the N.E. defense stopped the Chargers for the final time.

Jim Davis/Globe Staff

Tom Brady celebrated with Vince Wilfork after the N.E. defense stopped the Chargers for the final time.

Chargers QB Philip Rivers looked to throw under pressure from Jamie Collins.

Lenny Ignelzi /AP

Chargers QB Philip Rivers looked to throw under pressure from Jamie Collins.

Julian Edelman is happily greeted by offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels after his fourth-quarter touchdown.

Jim Davis/Globe Staff

Julian Edelman is happily greeted by offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels after his fourth-quarter touchdown.

Matthew J. Lee/Globe staff

Julian Edelman took the ball 69 yards to the endzone.

Brandon Browner was penalized for unnecessary roughness on this hit.  The penalty negated a Devin McCourty interception return.

Ap Photos

Brandon Browner was penalized for unnecessary roughness on this hit. The penalty negated a Devin McCourty interception return.

Lenny Ignelzi/AP

Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers was sacked by Chris Jones in the second half.

Robert Hanashiro/USA TODAY Sports

Shane Vereen leapt over San Diego?s Jahleel Addae in the second quarter.

Matthew J. Lee/Globe staff

Rob Gronkowski caught a pass from Tom Brady for a touchdown in the first half.

Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

LeGarrette Blount ran the ball in the first half.

Denis Poroy/AP

Jamie Collins sacked Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers in the first quarter.

Matthew j. lee/globe staff

Julian Edelman made a catch during a pre-game warm up.

Lenny Ignelzi/AP

Tom Brady warmed up before the game.

Brandon Browner leveled Ladarius Green as the Chargers tight end was bobbling the ball, but  was penalized for unnecessary roughness. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

Patriots Notebook

Brandon Browner disputes roughing penalty

Brandon Browner leveled Ladarius Green as the Chargers tight end was bobbling the ball, but was penalized for unnecessary roughness.

Norman and Kathy Gray from Wrentham were two of the thousands of Patriots fans at Qualcomm Stadium Sunday night. Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff

DAN SHAUGHNESSY

Throngs of fans made San Diego the Patriots? place

Patriot fans brought down the house while Edelman took it to the house. It had to be embarrassing for the Chargers.

Company One Theatre is leading the way with plays written by women, such as ?The Chronicles of Kalki.??

Critic?s Notebook

Hub theater needs a stronger female presence

The more that women?s voices are heard, the closer theater comes to representing the full human experience.

Mark Wahlberg.

Adrian Walker

Mark Wahlberg should apologize to his victims

Wahlberg shouldn?t get an EZ-Pass just because he?s a movie star and people like his restaurants.

Mark Leach, Tim Westfield, and Sean Doonan reacted to the loss.

For Revolution faithful, a familiar gloom

Soccer fans from across the region saw their hopes dashed on Sunday, as a tense MLS final ended with a 2-1 loss for the New England Revolution.

Kaajine Chentsova, 4, of North Quincy, spent some time with Globe Santa on Saturday in the rotunda at Faneuil Hall Marketplace.

Globe santa

Mother with debilitating pain needs help making Christmas happen

The young mother of a 5-year-old girl had suffered severe pain in her back and a knee for at least several months.

US orders Mass. to fix food stamp procedures

A new system of using photos on EBT cards is blocking some families from using their benefits to buy groceries.

Mahdi Haghzadeh operated an aerosol jet printer used to print flexible electronics last month at UMass Lowell?s Center for Photonics, Electromagnetics, and Nanoelectronics.

Raytheon?s $50m will help start UMass Lowell campus in Kuwait

The defense contractor called the arrangement a unique way to meet its contractual commitments to invest in Kuwait.

Leaders who topped the $1 million salary threshold included (from left): Joseph Aoun at Northeastern University, Susan Hockfield, who formerly led MIT, and Robert Brown at Boston University.

Globe Staff/File

Salaries for college presidents continue to rise

Among private colleges surveyed in Mass., many presidents received far more than the national average of $400,000 a year.

Siblings discover bodies of parents in Haverhill home

The couple?s 10-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter found them in the morning and called their grandmother, who notified a local friend.

About 150 people attended a rally in Lexington about the police killings of two unarmed black men.

Dina Rudick/Globe Staff

Protesters rally in Lexington after deaths in N.Y., Ferguson

The 150-person rally was low-key, with speeches and singing, but no attempts at civil disobedience or traffic distruption.

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, arrive at The Carlyle Hotel December 7, 2014 in New York City. The three-day trip to the US will see the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, both 32, mix diplomacy with supporting their favorite causes and promoting British business interests. AFP PHOTO / Pool / Neilson BarnardNeilson Barnard/AFP/Getty Images

Prince William, Kate begin US visit

The two have a full schedule of events, including a visit to the National Sept. 11 Memorial and a Brooklyn Nets game.

Opinion

John E. Sununu

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2014/12/06/BostonGlobe.com/EditorialOpinion/Images/jsununu-1302.jpg The beginning of the end for OPEC?

With global demand slowing and US consumption flat, unity within the cartel unravels quickly.

The Big Picture

The Big Picture

Rio de Janeiro?s affordable housing crisis

The city is dealing with a housing crisis daily, with about 220,000 people without a proper place to live.