Patriots' Phillips enjoys "sweet" victory over former team Chargers

The New England Patriots' Adrian Phillips relished the opportunity to "stick it" to his former team as the Patriots beat the Los Angeles Chargers.

The Patriots moved to 4-4 this season with a 27-24 triumph at SoFi Stadium on Sunday, with ex-Chargers safety Phillips making a decisive impact.

Phillips revels in "sweet" experience of starring against Chargers

Phillips intercepted two Justin Herbert passes, his second pick returned for a touchdown that effectively served as the telling blow by putting the Patriots 27-17 to the good late in the fourth quarter.

"Everybody always wants to kind of stick it to their former team, and this is a great organisation that we played against today," said Phillips.

"Just to be able to go out there and play against them and end up having the game that I had, it was sweet. I loved it.

"Great teams win the close games. And we need to keep stringing these along."

Herbert: "It is going to sting for a while"

Herbert's pick-six came on an apparent mix-up between himself and tight end Jared Cook, with last year's Offensive Rookie of the Year taking the blame after the Chargers dropped their second successive game to fall to 4-3.

"Just a miscommunication [between him and Cook]. I've got to be smarter about that," said Herbert, who will hope to help the Chargers avoid a third straight defeat against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 9.

"I've got to move on to the next read. But that's one of those plays you'll have to watch and get better from and as tough as it is, you're gonna have to get better from it.

"That is one of the good things about film tomorrow. It is going to sting for a while, but it is on to the next week and we have got another tough competitor next Sunday, so we are going to watch film and get better from it."