Passing Game Keeps Chargers' Hopes Aloft

Jan 07, 05:00 AM

SAN DIEGO -- Maybe this is the reason it is called a wild-card game.

LaDainian Tomlinson, the NFL rushing champ, runs for 42 yards. Antonio Gates is carted off in the second quarter with a toe injury.

And there's that little San Diego Chargers habit of losing home playoff openers. The writing was on the wall for another deflating finish.

Yet Philip Rivers, walking wild card, refused to let this happen.

The Chargers quarterback struck the Tennessee Titans with a barrage of big passes that sparked a second-half rally that propelled San Diego to a 17-6 win and a divisional playoff game at the Indianapolis Colts.

Rivers was the man the Titans dared to win the game.

Be careful what you wish for.

With 100-yard games from both starting receivers, Chris Chambers and Vincent Jackson, the passing game carried the load as Tomlinson's daylight was blacked out by a fast and bruising Titans defense that was hellbent on stopping him.

Rivers completed 19 of 30 passes for 292 yards, with a 92.6 passer rating and a laser-like 25-yard TD throw to Jackson in the third quarter that gave San Diego its first lead. Beneath the raw numbers, he made the Titans pay for their insistence on taking away the running game by often positioning an eighth defender near in the box.

Young and prone to bouts of inconsistency, Rivers expects this. "I think that's been the strategy for the 34 games that I've been here," he said, "and I don't think that strategy's going to change as long as 21 (Tomlinson) is playing here."

Rivers undoubtedly grew up a bit when he faced the Titans in a gritty 23-17 overtime victory in Nashville on Dec.9. In that game, he had 37 passing yards through three quarters but finished with 228 yards as the Chargers rallied from a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit.

In the rematch, his second playoff start, he matured even more. The task was indisputably more difficult after Gates, the all-pro tight end, was injured after he landed awkwardly on the slippery turf and suffered a left toe sprain. His status is uncertain for next week.

Then there was the early sputtering that left the offense trying to dig out of numerous long-yardage holes. On the first series, Rivers fumbled (recovered by Tomlinson). The next drive was hampered by a Kris Dielman chop-block. An interception on a deep throw to the end zone killed another possession. Another failed when Nate Kaeding missed a 40-yard field goal.

This left the Chargers, who struggled during a 1-3 start but scored more points than any team in the NFL during the six-game win streak they carried into the playoffs, lucky they were trailing just 6-0.

Tennessee blew chances to build a bigger halftime lead when Shaun Phillips pressured Vince Young into a third-down incompletion from the Chargers' 12-yard line that left the Titans settling for a field goal and Shawne Merriman jarred a fumble from Chris Brown that was recovered by Phillips on another drive to the 12.

Through this ebb and flow, the oft-fiery Rivers kept his cool.

"Really, the main thing was the scoreboard," Rivers said. "You look up, and it's 6-0. ... We were saying in the locker room (at halftime), 'If we score one time, we're in the lead. So let's not panic.'"

Rivers came in 25-8 as a starter, but, as with his team, the gaffes committed in a meltdown loss to the New England Patriots in a divisional playoff game lingered.

Tomlinson, for one, saw a different quarterback than the one who made his playoff debut a year ago. He said he picked up on the poise and confidence early in the game.

Tomlinson described one exchange as such: "What do you see out there? What are they doing," the running back asked.

Rivers: "Oh, they're just playing Cover 3. A little bit of (Cover) 1. That's all I see."

"For him to say that, to diagnose already the coverages," Tomlinson said, "I was impressed."

That was only the beginning. Rivers torched Tennessee with his six biggest completions, which averaged 28.3 yards. The TD to Jackson came on a deep double cross as Rivers looked off a safety. "He was just kind waving his hand out there like a left fielder," Rivers said of Jackson (five catches, 114 yards).

In the fourth quarter, he found Chambers (six catches, 121 yards) for a 29-yard completion on third-and-10 that set up the leaping 1-yard TD from Tomlinson with 8:45 remaining that sealed the outcome.

This was the stamp on the Chargers' first playoff win in 13 years.

When times got tough, along came a quarterback.

"I don't think the guys in the locker room felt the 13 years," Rivers said. "We felt, more than anything, last year. ... But it's this year's team. We fought through a lot and got a playoff win. And now we get to move on." (c) Copyright 2005 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. Passing Game Keeps Chargers' Hopes Aloft
Back to Current Headlines