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SAN DIEGO – Two things seemed to work against San Diego’s prolific passing offense Sunday.

The Rams sacked Philip Rivers seven times, and tight end Antonio Gates (leg) and starting receivers Malcom Floyd (hamstring) and Legedu Naanee (hamstring) weren’t on the field late in the game.

Patrick Crayton did his best to compensate for one of those.

Crayton, who played in place of the injured Naanee, caught six of the seven passes thrown his direction for 117 yards. He made multiple catches on both of San Diego’s touchdown drives.

Those numbers, of course, sounded more like fingernails on a chalkboard to Crayton after the game.

“You hate it. It’s a horrible feeling. Regardless of any individual performance, the end result (needs to be) a ‘W’ for the team,” Crayton said. “If you don’t get that, you can take away all my catches or anybody else’s catches. If we don’t get the ‘W’ it doesn’t matter.”

Down to Crayton, Buster Davis and Richard Goodman at receiver, the Chargers found ways to move the ball in the second half.

Davis made two 17-yard catches along the left sideline on a fourth-quarter drive that reached the St. Louis 17 but ended in a blocked field goal. Darren Sproles caught five passes for 48 yards and continues to be a catalyst during two-minute drives.

“You just go. You keep grinding,” Rivers said of his mindset minus his top three targets. “You don’t have a lot of time to think about it or talk about it because you’ve got to go. Certainly as the dust settles, those two guys go down in the game and those are two impact players.”

Though focused on the result and staunchly avoiding a discussion of his own performance, Crayton felt good about the receivers and tight ends that played for Gates, Floyd and Naanee.

"That’s why you’ve always got to be ready," Crayton said. "You’re always one play away. We stepped in and filled in. I think we did an OK job."

STREAK ENDS: Gates will have to settle for a tie.

His streak of nine consecutive games with a touchdown catch ended Sunday as a leg injury kept him out of the second half.

Gates entered the game tied with Lance Alworth for the longest streak in Chargers history.

The tight end caught two passes for 12 yards in the first half.

MOVING UP: Rivers passed Stan Humphries for third all-time in completions.

Rivers hit Darren Sproles in stride for an 11-yard gain in the third quarter to set up a Mike Tolbert touchdown, completing the 1,336^th pass of his career. Humphries completed 1,322.

Dan Fouts leads the Chargers with 3,297 career completions.

QUIETLY SOLID: Ryan Mathews has been nursing an ankle injury since Week 2 against Jacksonville.

Although he hasn’t carried the ball as much, he’s been quietly productive during the last three weeks. He rushed 12 times Sunday against the Rams and averaged 5.3 yards per carry.

On the second play from scrimmage, he eluded two tacklers in the backfield and transformed what appeared to be a sure loss into a seven-yard gain up the left side. His long of 19 also came during the first quarter.

BOLTS: Eric Weddle made 12 tackles Sunday to pace the Chargers. He also stepped in front of a Rams receiver for a would-be interception that caromed off his chest … Left tackle Marcus McNeill started his first game of the season. McNeill became eligible to join the active roster this week … Goodman played in his first NFL game. He made two tackles on special teams and played at receiver as well … Outside linebacker Antwan Barnes played extensively for the Chargers after signing with the team this week … One first-half sequence when the Rams had possession resulted in four straight pre-snap penalties, two by each team.

GAME WEATHER: 80 degrees.