Chargers rally to beat Titans in overtime

Sunday, Dec 09, 2007
By Tom Shanahan, Chargers.com

The night before the Chargers played the Tennessee Titans Sunday at Nashville, Bolts head coach Norv Turner allowed his players to watch the boxing match between welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Ricky Hatton.

The message was clear: expect a 10-round slugfest against the Titans.

The Chargers absorbed several early blows to rally from a 17-3 fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Titans 23-17 in overtime.

"That was as physical of a game as you'll see in the NFL," Turner said after the game. "I told them in the locker room you win games like that with heart."

The Chargers (8-5) entered the game with a two-game lead over the Denver Broncos and a three-game lead over the Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders in the AFC West standings. A win by Kansas City would have clinched the division title for the Bolts, who return home Sunday to play Detroit at Qualcomm Stadium.

The Titans (7-6) needed a win to remain in contention for a wild-card berth in the AFC playoffs.

The game-winning score came on a 16-yard run by LaDainian Tomlinson around the left side on first down.

The Chargers won the coin flip to gain the ball first in overtime, but after gaining two first downs, they were forced to punt.

The result was field advantage that set up Tomlinson's touchdown run. Mike Scifres' 51-yard punt hit at the 6-yard line and Kassim Osgood downed the ball the 1-yard line and flipped it back to Antonio Cromartie before Osgood's momentum carried him to the end zone.

When the Titans failed to gain a first down, the Chargers regained possession with first down at the Titans' 48-yard line.

Rivers completed a third-and-5 pass to tight end Antonio Gates for 11 yards and a first down and a second-and-7 pass to wide receiver Vincent Jackson for a 12-yard gain and first down to the 16. Tomlinson, who finished with 26 carries for 146 yards and one touchdown, broke off his game-winning score on first down.

"Tennessee is a darn good football team, and they prepared well for us," Turner said. "But we made some adjustments and did a good job as the game went along."

The physical nature of the game knocked several players out of the game, with both Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers and Titans quarterback Vince Young knocked out of the game in the first half before they returned in the third quarter.

Two Chargers that were knocked out of the game in the second half were outside linebacker Shawne Merriman and fullback Lorenzo Neal.

Rivers played the second half with a brace on his left knee after he left the game. He finished the game completing 21-of-40 passes for 228 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

The Bolts' game-tying score came with nine seconds left in regulation time when Gates caught a 2-yard pass from Rivers. Gates was able to get both feet down in the left corner of the end zone on the lob pass he pulled down.

The Chargers had earlier trimmed the Titans' lead to 17-10 with 7:29 left in the fourth quarter when Tomlinson scored on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Rivers.

The only scoring in the first half was a 44-yard field goal by the Titans' Rob Bironas for a 3-0 lead with 5:19 left in the first quarter.

The Chargers tied the game in the third quarter when inside linebacker Matt Wilhelm intercepted a pass on the Titans' first possession of the second half to set up the score. The Bolts settled for a 25-yard field goal by Nate Kaeding.

But Tennessee was able to put together two touchdown drives' from the Chargers' half of the field to take a 17-3 lead.

Chris Brown scored on a 7-yard run to finish a four-play, 19-yard drive following an interception and LenDale White scored on a 7-yard run on a seven-play, 42-yard drive following a punt.

The Chargers limited the Titans to 240 total yards, with Young completing 13-of-21 passes for 121 yards and two interceptions. One of the picks was Cromartie's ninth of the year, which leads the NFL.

"This game shows the character of this team," said backup linebacker Marques Harris, who replaced Merriman, "This year and last year, we know as backups, when our time comes we've got to step up and do a great job. We always prepare like we'll be in every single game."