Patriots running back Kevin Faulk is upended by a host of Chargers’ defenders on this third-down run in the second quarter of last night’s game in San Diego.

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

SAN DIEGO — All of those New England Patriots positives after last week’s win against San Francisco?

Scratch half of them off the list.

The Patriots could do little to move the ball against the San Diego Chargers last night, leaving the defense on the field too long and leading to a 30-10 pasting at the hands of last year’s AFC title game runner-up.

The loss ended an 11-game winning streak in the month of October for the Patriots dating back to 2005.

The game turned irrevocably in San Diego’s favor in one stretch in the third quarter when the Pats, trailing 17-3, couldn’t punch it in on a first-and-goal from the 2-yard — their failure a combination of good plays by the Charger defense and bad execution/bad decision making by quarterback Matt Cassel — and the defense promptly allowed the Chargers to go 98 yards in four plays for a touchdown that made it 24-3 and put the game away.

“That was a big series there,” said head coach Bill Belichick. “[The failure to score], coupled with giving up a couple of long passes and them going 90-something yards [for a touchdown] on top of it. That was a big swing and we couldn’t afford that, not at that point.”

New England worked to improve its third-down offense and defense as well as its rushing offense and defense during its bye week, and all of those things looked better against the 49ers.

“We did a pretty good job on the running game and we did a pretty good job on third down,” said Belichick.

But against the Chargers, the Patriots struggled to convert third downs and keep drives going, and the run game didn’t give the team much, either. And the lack of long pass plays hurt.

New England did limit San Diego’s third-down conversions, but the Chargers had so many big plays that they didn’t face many third-down situations. The Pats did an admirable job of containing All-Pro running back LaDainian Tomlinson, but Philip Rivers, who has struggled against the Pats in the past, was able to beat New England with his arm.

“We didn’t do well in the red area and in [defending] the passing game,” said Belichick, “and that negates some of the positives.”

Rivers came into last night’s game with a 0-3 record, completion percentage of 52.5, five interceptions and just two touchdowns against New England. Last night, he completed two-thirds of his passes, topped 300 yards and had three touchdowns against no interceptions.

Were it not for a fourth-quarter fumble recovery by Ty Warren, the Pats might never have gotten into the end zone. Warren’s recovery was at the Chargers’ 46, by far the best start of the night for New England. With a series of small pickups, the Pats got into the end zone, on a one-yard run by Sammy Morris.

The game got off to an inauspicious start as San Diego won the coin toss, and its first play from scrimmage was a 48-yard pass from Rivers to Vincent Jackson, who had sprinted past Pats corner Deltha O’Neal.

The Chargers’ opening drive stalled at the seven-yard line, and they settled for a 25-yard Nate Kaeding field goal.

But that was about the last of the good news New England would have.

First, there were the first-half injuries to Jarvis Green (ankle), Ellis Hobbs (leg), Nick Kaczur (ankle) and Brandon Meriweather (hip/back). Only Hobbs and Meriweather returned to the game.

Then there was Stephen Gostkowski’s first missed field goal of the season, a 48-yard try at the end of New England’s first possession. Gostkowski had converted 17 straight in the regular season, dating back to last year’s December game against the Steelers.

Working with good field position after the miss, San Diego once again went for the deep ball. This time it was third-string wideout Malcolm Floyd beating O’Neal for a 49-yard touchdown. O’Neal was in on the jump-ball, but Floyd was able to come down with it, giving the Chargers a 10-0 lead.

San Diego had a chance to build its lead before the end of the opening quarter, but Kaeding hit the left upright on a 44-yard field-goal try, and the ball ricocheted wide.

New England could do little in the way of moving the ball on offense. There were no downfield tries to Randy Moss, as there were last week against the 49ers to stretch the defense, and Cassel took off frequently when pressure came too frequently.

Cassel looked to Moss near the goal line on a first-down play from the Chargers’ 36 on the Pats’ first possession, but as happened against the Jets a few weeks ago, Moss had to slow down for the ball, giving Quentin Jammer time to catch up and break up the pass.

The Patriots got on the board with a 47-yard Gostkowski field goal, but went into the locker room down, 17-3, after a Jerod Mayo facemask penalty on top of a 22-yard Darren Sproles punt return gave San Diego first-down at the New England 31.

Four plays later, they were in the end zone again, on a short pass to Jackson.

smanza@projo.com