FOXBORO - The Patriots' struggles with red-zone defense, stopping an opposing team once it penetrates their 20-yard line, were legendary this season.

In a season of perfection in the won-lost column, the Patriots ranked at or near the bottom of the NFL in stopping teams from scoring on them when they'd get within range.

Sunday at Gillette Stadium, the Patriots were scored upon all three times the Chargers entered the red zone - but only nine points, and the Chargers' failure to score touchdowns instead of field goals is the reason why they aren't going to Super Bowl XLII, and the Patriots are.

"It was guys doing their jobs guys not stepping outside their job and making plays and trusting in their fellow teammates," safety Rodney Harrison said after the Patriots' 21-12 victory in the AFC Championship Game.

Harrison said the Patriots had to rededicate themselves to heady play in the red zone several times this year, but breakdowns kept happening. "We'd watch film and we'd see four guys doing their job and one guy doing his own thing," he said. "You can't have that when you play the type of defense that we play, where everything is assignment-oriented.

"You really have to make sure that you're doing your assignment and not trying to do someone else's job, and Junior made a great play down there," he said.

Harrison was referring to a third-and-1 stop by Junior Seau, his fellow ex-Charger teammate, with 9:22 left in the third quarter. With the Chargers looking for the go-ahead touchdown at the Patriots' 4 and a chance to get four more downs in which to achieve it, Seau broke through the line and dragged down Michael Turner for a loss of two yards, forcing Nate Kaeding's fourth field goal of the game.

"It was a combination of a lot of things," said Seau, going back to the Super Bowl for the first time since Super Bowl XXIX in 1994. "Obviously, the D-linemen did a great job of taking up the two guys. The call that was made was basically a call where I could shoot the gap.

"I don't know if (defensive coordinator Dean Pees) called it because he knew I was going to shoot it anyway, or he called it because he felt something, but it was a great call," Seau said. "I just ran through the hole and Mike was there and I wrapped him up."

Patriots' coach Bill Belichick was pleased that his players were able to not only stop the San Diego red-zone forays, but also deny the big play. Sore-kneed Philip Rivers threw for 211 yards on 19-37 passing, with interceptions by Asante Samuel and Ellis Hobbs contributing to the Chargers' struggles at putting points on the board.

"They didn't allow San Diego to score on some of those long-shot kind of passes, like on the 20-yard line before the half," Belichick said. "We were able to flush them out and coverage was good. And of course, we didn't let them run them in. There's nothing worse in the red area than letting them hand off the ball and run into the end zone."

"You talk time after time how offense puts people in the seats," Hobbs said, "but defense wins championships. Tonight you saw that, how those guys got into the red zone and time and time again we kept saying, 'no, no, not today."

San Diego coach Norv Turner came away with a different opinion of the Patriots' red zone defense than the numbers would seem to indicate.

"They're really talented and they're good in the red zone," Turner said. "We had a chance on third-and-1 and Junior makes a heck of a play. Almost all of those drives started first-and-goal at the 9, first-and goal at the 8 that's tough going." That's also going home, instead of to Glendale, Ariz., as a result.