Lightning Strikes Same Spot Again

Philip Rivers and the Chargers have won five straight games.

(Monday, December 24th)

Final Score: San Diego 23, Denver 3

San Diego, CA - LaDainian Tomlinson set the tone and took over the NFL rushing lead with 107 yards and a touchdown, as the San Diego Chargers continued their fight for the No. 3 playoff seed in the AFC with a 23-3 rout of the Denver Broncos.

Philip Rivers completed 17-of-25 passes for 189 yards and a score for the Chargers, who have won five straight and nine of 11 since a stunning 1-3 start.

“We executed very well,” Rivers said. “I thought our defense was outstanding We want to continue playing hot when the playoffs roll around.”

Nate Kaeding kicked three field goals for the Chargers (10-5), who held the ball for nearly 37 minutes and swept the Broncos in dominating fashion.

Tomlinson, the league’s reigning MVP, rushed 19 times and has 1,418 yards this season, overtaking injured Pittsburgh running back Willie Parker (1,316) for the NFL lead. With Parker out for the season, Tomlinson, trying for his second straight rushing title, is well ahead of Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson (1,305) and Philadelphia’s Brian Westbrook (1,291).

If the Chargers finish as the No. 3 seed that would mean they wouldn’t have to play at New England in the divisional round, assuming San Diego wins its opening-round game. Instead they would play at Indianapolis. The Chargers though have lost four consecutive postseason contests, last winning one in 1994, the year they fell to San Francisco in the Super Bowl.

The AFC West champions can clinch the No. 3 seed with a win Sunday at Oakland or if Pittsburgh loses at Baltimore. The No. 3 seed will face Tennessee or Cleveland in the first round.

If San Diego finishes as the No. 4 seed, its first-round home game would be against Jacksonville.

“I was pleased with the way our guys came out and played and were ready to play,” Chargers coach Norv Turner said. “Obviously each of these games means an awful lot to us. I liked what we did in terms of balance offensively. Defensively I think we keep getting better.”

Denver suffered its worst home loss at Invesco Field earlier this season by falling to the Chargers, 41-3, on Oct. 7. They lost in another blowout, this time on Christmas Eve with their starting quarterback, ironically, born in Santa Claus, Ind., struggling against a swarming San Diego defense.

Jay Cutler completed 14-of-32 passes for 155 yards, but was picked off twice for the Broncos (6-9), who established their first losing season since 1999.

“We were frustrated all game long, struggled on third down, struggled on turnovers, struggled in the red zone,” Cutler said. “Offensively, we can’t play like that and win.”

Cutler drove the Broncos deep into Chargers territory on the game’s initial series, but he was stripped of the ball by Igor Olshansky on a scramble and San Diego recovered at its own 16.

Tomlinson gained 29 yards on the ensuing drive, which led to a Kaeding 40-yard field goal.

Tomlinson then scored on a 17-yard run to the left side, as he eluded cornerback Domonique Foxworth, on the way to the end zone with 1:51 left in the first quarter.

Kaeding kicked a 23-yard field goal with 3:43 left in the second quarter, culminating a short drive thanks to a 33-yard punt by Paul Ernster.

A 31-yard kick by Ernster, who was signed earlier in the week to replace the released Todd Sauerbrun, preceded another Chargers score. Rivers completed a pair of passes on 3rd-and-11 sequences to move the chains, including a 16-yard connection to Chris Chambers to move the ball to the 11 with nine seconds left in the half. Kaeding split the uprights from 29 yards away on the final play of the half for a 16-0 margin.

Rivers engineered an 11-play, 84-yard drive at the start of the second half, capping it with a 14-yard TD strike to Chambers over the middle. The Chargers ate up 7:04 off the clock.

It only got worse for Cutler, who drove his team deep in Chargers territory, but was then picked off by Clinton Hart near the goal line when the ball deflected off tight end Tony Scheffler.

Rivers then exited the game in favor of Billy Volek, who fumbled on a bad center exchange and Denver recovered at the San Diego seven. However, they moved just two yards before Jason Elam kicked a 23-yard field goal with 2:47 left in the quarter.

San Diego’s defense denied Denver on a goal-line stand early in the fourth quarter when Cecil Sapp was stuffed up the middle on a 4th-and-1 from the two- yard line.

“You’ve got to convert in the red zone and you can’t run the football like we did today,” Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said. “And if you don’t do that, you lose.”

The next time Denver had the ball, Cutler threw four straight incompletions, and Denver could not get out of its own territory the rest of the game. Cutler was picked off by Quentin Jammer inside of two minutes left, and the Chargers ran out the remaining time.

Game Notes

San Diego has won the last four meetings…Tomlinson has four straight games of at least 100 yards rushing…Tomlinson has 128 career TDs in the league, seventh all-time…This marked the first time in a season Denver didn’t score a touchdown against an opponent from its own division…Elam (235) passed John Elway for the most games played in Broncos history…Chambers had four catches for 71 yards, while Brandon Marshall had six receptions for 75 yards for Denver.

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