After being on the losing side of many hard-fought defeats, the San Diego Chargers weren't going to let another game slip away.
Despite being down 17 at one point, the Chargers rallied and ultimately walked out of the Georgia Dome victorious in a thrilling 33-30 overtime win.
Throughout the day, the team had full faith they would prevail. Quarterback Philip Rivers had seen this show before and shades of the past certainly drove him and his team to get the win.
"We flipped the script, Rivers said. "It wasn't quite the 17-point deficit that Kansas City had with 10 minutes to play but it was a 17-point deficit none the less. I know it's easier to say this after a win, but we came in at halftime and I must have said it seven or eight times, that we're going to win the game. Of course, I say that now, but I really was saying that. I think it was kind of that no panic, really believe that somehow we were going to find a way. In the years that we've been on runs and been a good team, we've done that."
"I can't give enough credit to the entire team" said Head Coach Mike McCoy. "Being down the way we were at halftime, there was no panic; nothing. It was just you have to believe in what we are doing, and it's just one play at a time I couldn't be happier the way our guys worked. These guys deserved this type of win, and I think when we have the type of leaders we have, it says a lot about our team. The leadership and the young players stepping up; (I) just couldn't be happier for our entire football team."
Leading up to Sunday's win, Rivers made one thing clear: stringing together consecutive wins was of the utmost importance. With two in a row, San Diego will now look to make it three and continue this roll.
"We haven't won two games in a row in a long time," Rivers said. "We haven't had a road win in a long time, and we've lost a lot of games that have been close. A lot of games like this we've lost, and not the disastrous ones we've had this year, I just mean close games like this; somebody has the ball late in the two-minute drive, we've lost those games the last two years. So it was huge."
As for what the victory will do for the team's spirit? With the fight to come back, the ability to make enough plays and the belief in their play and one another, the team is optimistic this can propel them for the rest of the season.
"We're just starting to believe," Brandon Mebane said. "We have a very young team and we're starting to believe in each other. When you win, it just boosts up so much confidence all around the team."
"We just won two in a row against some of the best teams in the NFL," Joey Bosa added. "It was just an amazing moment…. We definitely have momentum. We have belief in ourselves that we could be a great team which we did these last two weeks. Just winning like this brings the team only closer and closer and we're excited to get this thing rolling and keep it going."
