Tomlinson’s hat trick scores fifth win for Chargers

Sunday, Oct 29, 2006
By Casey Pearce, Chargers.com

He ran with vigor, caught with splendor and even recovered an onside kick that killed the final hopes of the St. Louis Rams.

LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for 183 yards and two touchdowns and caught three passes for 57 yards and another score as the Chargers routed St. Louis, 38-24, at Qualcomm Stadium Sunday.

From the opening kickoff, the Chargers were determined to set the tone on the ground.  Their opening drive saw runs on eight of 12 plays and culminated with a two-yard scoring plunge by Tomlinson.  

“It was kind of a mentality thing,” center Nick Hardwick said.  “We ran our bread and butter plays twice in a row on that first drive and let them know that we were going to run the rock.  It’s good for offensive linemen to get some runs in early and strike the blow first.”

In recent weeks, the Chargers talked about how close they were to breaking several long runs, which came to fruition Sunday.  Tomlinson averaged 7.7 yards per carry and had runs of 51 and 38 yards on the day, the 38-yarder coming on the Bolts’ second drive of the afternoon to make it a 14-0 contest early.

“They’re a very fast team (defensively),” Head Coach Marty Schottenheimer said.  “They tend to run to the ball.  The cutback was what we were looking to get.  They are so fast to chase the ball that it gives you some avenues behind the point of attack and we were able to get to those.” 

St. Louis was not short of big plays of their own.  The Rams gained 412 yards of total offense, just seven less than the Chargers.  But like they have throughout the season, the Bolts’ defense delivered the big play when needed. 

The Rams were just 5-of-12 on third down.  Shawne Merriman tied a career-high with three sacks, and with the Rams threatening to tie the contest in the third quarter, safety Marlon McCree returned a Stephen Davis fumble 79-yards for a touchdown to make it 21-7 game. 

“I went in there fully believing that they were going to move the ball because they move the ball on everybody,” Schottenheimer said.  “They’ve got offensive weapons.  They were able to do some things, but we just stayed the course.” 

While Rivers spent most of the day watching Tomlinson from the best seat in the house, he also delivered when called up.  He was a perfect 3-for-3 on the opening drive and finished 15-for-23 for 206 yards and a touchdown. Moments after the Rams made it a two-possession game midway through the fourth quarter, his picture-perfect 25-yard floater to LT made it a 38-17 contest.

“Offensively, we did some good things in the passing game,” Schottenheimer said.  “Our protection was good.  I thought Philip played extremely well for us today.  At the end he made some big throws.” 

Antonio Gates led the Chargers with five catches for 66 yards.  Linebacker Donnie Edwards posted a team-high 13 tackles.  Michael Turner added a 14-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, his second score of the season. 

The win allowed the Bolts to improve to 5-2 on the season and a perfect 3-0 at home, where they’ll return next Sunday to host the Cleveland Browns.

“The bottom line for us is that our players understand how important it is to win at home,” Schottenheimer said.  “They stepped up and made the plays that you have to make.”