FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Heading down the home stretch of an at times harrowing and other times dominant 2014 season, the Patriots (10-3) approach a trio of very winnable AFC East games to close out the schedule.

A 23-14 win over the Chargers (8-5) in San Diego on Sunday night put New England back on the winning track after the previous week’s failure in Green Bay had snapped a seven-game winning streak. That loss, combined with a resurgent Denver Broncos team, put plenty of pressure on the Patriots to win on the West Coast to maintain hold on the No. 1 seed in the AFC.

The Darrelle Revis-led pass defense keyed the victory that has Bill Belichick’s team poised to harness home-field advantage in the playoffs, an advantage that gives the team the inside track on a fourth straight AFC title game.

Closing out a six-game stretch in which New England’s defense had to deal with the passing powers of Jay Cutler, Peyton Manning, Andrew Luck, Matthew Stafford, Aaron Rodgers and Philip Rivers, the Patriots’ secondary once again put forth an impressive effort to record its fifth victory in the six-pack of supposedly season-defining games.

Revis matched up with second-year receiver Keenan Allen and took the youngster right off Rivers’ list of would-be targets. Allen, who had 72 catches before the game, finished with two for three yards as Revis dominated a week after he allowed a key 45-yard touchdown on a slant to Jordy Nelson that propelled the Packers to victory.

Fellow veteran cornerback Brandon Browner, safety Devin McCourty and a variety of other defensive backs simply never let Rivers and his diverse, if unspectacular, weapons get on track. A San Diego offense that ranked third in the NFL on third-down conversions moved the chains just four times on 13 chances, just once in the second half.

The Patriots forced the Chargers to punt eight times, and the home team ran five plays or fewer on nine of its 12 possessions.

That dominance started with Revis, rolled through a secondary that is becoming stronger and more physical by the week and even allowed New England’s suspect pass rush to get to Rivers for four sacks and seven hits.

“I thought Revis played good. I think we really competed well against their receivers. We had pressure at times on the quarterback and that eliminated some downfield options,” Belichick said Monday.

“Overall, I thought he (Revis) did a real good job. (Keenan Allen) wasn’t targeted a lot, but Revis was on him and they moved Allen around a little bit. He was usually outside but played on both sides, played in the slot a little bit. He’s a very good catch-and-run player. (When) he caught that under route, Darrelle was right there to make the tackle on him for a pretty short gain. It’s not just covering him but also tackling him. That was a good finish on that play. (Revis) did a good job, did a good job against a real good receiver. That guy is tough to cover and, like I said, tough to tackle.”

That came after the coach’s immediate postgame comments in which he summed up the victory by saying, “Defensively, I can’t say enough about that effort.”

That effort helped New England overcome a slow night on offense, including a third quarter of four consecutive three-and-outs.

“That was the key to the whole game, the way the defense played,” quarterback Tom Brady said.

And that could be the key to the whole season and potential championship run that New England hopes to embark on.

Gone are the days, it seems, of Brady and the offense having to do it all. New England finds itself atop the AFC heading into Sunday’s matchup in Foxborough against the Miami Dolphins, with a chance to lock up the AFC East.

Revis, Browner and the rest have slowed or shut down some of the best quarterbacks in the game over the last two months. And that — as much as Brady, Rob Gronkowski and the passing attack — has Super Bowl hopes alive and well in New England.

NOTES: DT Sealver Siliga returned from injured reserve to see reserve action in the win in San Diego. The run-stuffing defensive tackle had been sidelined since Week 3 with a foot injury. He played 25 snaps, finishing with three tackles and a half-sack. … LB Dont’a Hightower missed a game for the third time this season, this time due to a shoulder injury suffered in the loss at Green Bay. Hightower had practiced on a limited basis last week and was listed as questionable to play. In his place, second-year linebacker Jamie Collins handled the defensive play calling duties for the Patriots.

REPORT CARD VS. CHARGERS

–PASSING OFFENSE: B-minus — Things certainly didn’t come easy for Tom Brady and the passing attack Sunday night in San Diego. The Chargers came in with the NFL’s No. 7 pass defense and utilized a combination of pressure and coverage to keep Brady from finding rhythm. But when all was said and done, Brady completed 28 of 44 passes for 317 yards, two touchdowns and one ugly interception. He tallied a 90.8 passer rating. He was sacked just once but hit five times and hurried many others as left tackle Nate Solder struggled with both Melvin Ingram and Dwight Freeney. Rob Gronkowski was the only receiver consistently making plays; he caught eight passes for 87 yards and a touchdown. Julian Edelman also had eight catches and a touchdown, finishing with 141 yards in large part due to his catch-and-run 69-yard score in the fourth quarter that helped put the game away for the visitors.

–RUSHING OFFENSE: C — The rushing attack was once again a bit player in the road win in San Diego. LeGarrette Blount had seven carries for 39 yards on New England’s opening 89-yard drive to a field goal. But he finished with just 66 yards on 20 carries, with 23 yards coming on a single fourth-quarter run. New England’s offensive line got pushed around a bit by the Chargers’ front, evidenced by the 3.1-yard average.

–PASS DEFENSE: A-minus — New England’s Darrelle Revis-led pass defense has been building steam against a succession of impressive challenges and played its best game of the year against Philip Rivers and the Chargers. Revis completely shut down San Diego receiver Keenan Allen, holding the second-year player to just two catches for three yards. The rest of the coverage, including a physical Brandon Browner, allowed Rivers few windows to throw into. New England threw a variety of man and zone coverages at San Diego, while mixing in some twists and stunts up front. The effort held Rivers to 20-of-33 passing for 189 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. The Patriots also recorded four sacks and seven hits. Jamie Collins led the way with a couple of A-gap pressures that led to sacks. Overall, New England never let Rivers and the passing attack find its stride.

–RUSH DEFENSE: B-plus — The Patriots have done a decent job over the last two months, and that continued in San Diego even without middle linebacker Dont’a Hightower. New England held the Chargers to just 53 yards on 17 carries (3.1 average). Ryan Mathews led the way with 44 yards on 11 carries, but 17 of those yards came on one play. Jamie Collins stepped inside for Hightower and led the way with a game-high nine tackles, including eight solos. Vince Wilfork, Sealver Siliga (back from IR), Chris Jones and Alan Branch rotated through the tackle positions and played stout enough against a lackluster attack that never got going.

–SPECIAL TEAMS: B-plus — One of the biggest plays to swing the momentum toward the road team for the win in San Diego was Brandon Bolden’s blocked punt that set up a short field and eventual touchdown. Bolden beat Chargers right wing Donald Brown and said the blocked punt just kind of fell into his lap. New England punter Ryan Allen was solid with a 44-yard net on five kicks, including a long of 60 and four downed inside the 20. Stephen Gostkowski hit his trio of short field goal attempts (22, 22, 38) and was solid on kickoffs. Neither team did much in the return game and Bolden’s blocked punt was clearly the big play of the day and swayed the kicking battle, as it also knocked San Diego punter Mike Scifres from the game with a shoulder injury.

–COACHING: B — A week after getting outcoached and seemingly out-thinking themselves in the loss in Green Bay, Bill Belichick and his staff were back in winning form in San Diego. The successful week began with the decision to fly directly from Green Bay and spend the week preparing for the Chargers in San Diego. That helped the players bond, recover and rest without traveling back and forth across the country. Defensively, Matt Patricia drew up an impressive game plan and called a great game in stagnating Rivers and the Chargers’ passing attack — combining man, zone and pressure with near perfection. Offensively, there were some struggles, and Josh McDaniels was worthy of criticism, especially for a couple of passing plays from the Chargers’ 1 on the opening drive. Overall, though, New England’s coaches drew up winning game plans to pull off the road victory at the end of a West Coast work week.