Gameday: Chargers set to host Patriots

NFL.com: Patriots at Chargers | Your Take

With the AFC's No. 1 seed and an 8-0 home record during the regular season, the Chargers appeared in good position to secure a postseason win since the 1994 season. But too many mistakes against a playoff-tested team sent San Diego to a 24-21 loss to the New England Patriots in the divisional playoffs on Sunday and into the offseason much sooner than the team had hoped. The Chargers led 21-13 late in the fourth quarter but allowed two straight Patriots scoring drives that put New England ahead before Nate Kaeding's 54-yard field goal on the final play fell short. LaDainian Tomlinson had 187 total yards and two touchdowns, but the Chargers were done in by four turnovers. "I thought we were going to take control of it," Tomlinson said. "But they stepped up and made more plays at the end of the game than we did."

Game Notes

• LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for 123 yards against the Patriots, his first-career 100-yard game in the playoffs.

• Tomlinson’s 58-yard catch-and-run on a screen pass in the second quarter was the longest pass play in the postseason in team history…it was also the fifth-longest reception of his career.

• Tomlinson finished the game with 187 total yards from scrimmage, the most by a Charger in a postseason game since Keith Lincoln’s team-record 329-yard performance in the 1963 AFL Championship Game against the Boston Patriots on Jan. 5, 1964.

• Tomlinson scored two touchdowns today on rushes of two and three yards…he’s the first player in team history to score two rushing touchdowns in a playoff game…it’s only the fifth time in team history that a player has scored two touchdowns in a playoff game…the last time it happened was Jan. 9, 1983 when Kellen Winslow caught two touchdown passes in an AFC Wild Card Playoff game at Pittsburgh.

• Michael Turner also scored the first playoff touchdown of his career today.

• Mike Scifres’ seven punts today tied the team’s playoff record set by John Kidd on Jan. 10, 1993 at Miami...Scifres landed five punts inside the 20-yard line, tied with Kidd for the most in a playoff game in team history…Kidd had five in the AFC Wild Card Playoffs against Kansas City on Jan. 2, 1993.

• The Chargers intercepted three passes today, tied for the second-most in a playoff game in team history and the most since the Bolts intercepted Buffalo quarterback Joe Ferguson three times on Jan. 3, 1981.

• The Chargers tied the team playoff record for rushing first downs in a game (12 – Jan. 8, 1995 vs. Miami).