Chargers win 14th, AFC playoffs go through San Diego

Sunday, Dec 31, 2006
By Casey Pearce, Chargers.com

It’s official.  The road to Miami will go through San Diego.

Two Philip Rivers touchdown passes fueled a 27-20 win for the Chargers in their regular-season finale, giving the Bolts the AFC’s top seed in the playoffs while allowing them to cap off a perfect 8-0 season at home.

“We came in here with one sole objective,” said Head Coach Marty Schottenheimer, who picked up his 200th regular season win of his career.  “That was to win home-field advantage and we have done that.  It’s a pretty good day for the San Diego Chargers.”

After seeing his completion percentage fall in recent weeks, Rivers ended the season on a high note, completing 19 of his 24 passes (79 percent) for 231 yards and two scores in just over two quarters of play. His only blemish Sunday came on the opening drive of the game when Cardinals linebacker Monty Beisel intercepted him, ending a streak of four-consecutive completions and halting a drive that had the Chargers on the verge of scoring.

Arizona capitalized on the miscue by putting together a 78-yard drive.  Edgerrin James’ eight-yard touchdown run gave the Cardinals an early 7-0 advantage, but the Chargers trailed for very little time Sunday. 

A 36-yard Nate Kaeding field goal made it a 7-3 moments later, and a stop by the Chargers defense allowed the Bolts to take their first lead early in the second quarter.  Rivers completed five of his six throws on the team’s first touchdown drive of the game, including a 33-yard strike to Antonio Gates for the score.  A 14-yard touchdown pass to Vincent Jackson on the Chargers’ next drive gave them a 17-7 advantage. 

During the week, the Chargers talked about the explosive capabilities of the Cardinals offense, and they saw them Sunday.  Arizona racked up 444 yards of total offense, the Bolts stood firm when it counted.  On five trips to the red zone, the Cardinals came away empty once and had to settle for field goals on two other occasions.

The Chargers got some help from their special teams Sunday as well.  Early in the third quarter, Mike Scifres bombed a 55-yard punt that Bryant Johnson tried to field at his own six yard line.  Johnson lost the handle, and Chargers linebacker Tim Dobbins fell on the ball in the end zone to push the lead to 24-7.  

Momentum swung a bit in the third quarter as Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner was able to hit a handful of long passes to get Arizona rolling.  Consecutive completions of 25 yards to John Bronson and 33 yards to Leonard Pope set up a 28-yard Neil Rackers.  A 44-yard throw to Johnson allowed Warner to hit Larry Fitzgerald for a nine-yard score that closed the gap to 27-17.

“When they said Warner was going to play it was going to be a shootout,” Schottenheimer said.  “He can throw the ball and he knows what to do.  We didn’t really get much pressure around him.”

A 20-yard Rackers field goal made it a one-possession game with just over three minutes remaining, but it was too little too late.  Michael Turner grinded out 19 yards on four carries on the ensuing drive to preserve the victory.  

With the Chargers needing a victory to assure home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, most of the team’s starters played throughout the game.  Rivers and LaDainian Tomlinson gave way to Billy Volek and Turner midway through the third quarter, but Tomlinson was on the field long enough to wrap up his first rushing title of his career. LT’s 66 yards Sunday gave him 1,815 on the season, 26 ahead of Kansas City’s Larry Johnson.

Wide receiver Eric Parker, who had missed the last two games with a neck injury, was the teams leading receiver.  He caught five passes for 62 yards.  Scifres had another brilliant day, punting three times for a net average of 42.7 yards per kick.  Linebacker Donnie Edwards led the way with 11 tackles.

Having secured a bye in the first round of the playoffs, the Chargers will be off next weekend before hosting a game in the divisional round in two weeks. 

“We accomplished a big goal today, but it’s just a start,” linebacker Shaun Phillips said.  “We’re all a little sore, but we’ve got some time to rest up and be ready to take care of business when it’s time.”