Bolts overcome gaffe, edge Raiders

By: JAY PARIS Staff Writer | Sunday, November 26, 2006 8:12 PM PST ∞

Chargers' Jamal Williams and Derreck Robinson team up to sack Raiders' quarterback Aaron Brooks during the fourth quarter.
Don Boomer
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SAN DIEGO ---- They're not pulling rabbits from hats. No one was sawed in half.

But something supernatural might be percolating in Mission Valley.

"It seems like it is magical,'' Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson said, "the way things are happening for us.''

The Chargers were up to their tricks Sunday before 66,105 at Qualcomm Stadium.

Their old fall-behind-come-storming-back-act thrilled the patrons and delivered a 21-14 victory over the Oakland Raiders.

"I might have a heart attack here pretty soon,'' Tomlinson said.

Do that and Charger Nation will clutch its chest. But for the third straight week the Chargers (9-2) showed heart, yanking not a rabbit, but a triumph from seemingly thin air.

On this day, Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers looked every bit like a first-year starter. Their high-powered offense was coughing and wheezing like an old jalopy with just three first-half first downs. The defense couldn't impose its will on the Raiders, who looked more 8-2 than 2-8.

But the Chargers stayed the course and, of course, stayed with Tomlinson. He responded by rushing for two touchdowns and throwing for another as the Chargers' AFC West cushion ballooned to two games over the Broncos and Chiefs.

"This was just another day at the office,'' Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer said with a smile.

The coach had reason to grin. His 200th career regular-season victory came despite the Chargers being on the wrong end of a 14-7 count midway through the third quarter.

"Wasn't our best effort,'' said Rivers, after completing 14-of-31 passes for 133 yards and an interception. "It's the sign of a great team when you can have a guy that touches the ball every play, not play very good, and still win.''

Rivers was talking of his afternoon, but other players had blemishes, too. But the real face of the Chargers, Tomlinson, was his usual smooth self.

He lofted the tying touchdown pass to Antonio Gates early in the fourth quarter, then went around the left end for 10 yards for the go-ahead score with 3:39 remaining.

But it was the series that ended with Tomlinson's sixth career touchdown pass, including three against the Raiders, that earned a spot in Chargers-Raiders lore.

"I didn't know what was going on,'' said Tomlinson, and he wasn't alone.

On fourth-and-2 at the Oakland 40, Rivers hit Vincent Jackson with a 13-yard pass. A hyped Jackson fell to the ground, got up and propelled the ball forward with a spinning motion, thinking he was down by contact and the play was dead.

Wrong.

"That's a call that I don't know if it's been made in the history of the game,'' Jackson said.

But referee Mike Carey, after both teams' offenses had come on and off the field, said it wasn't a fumble.

"Because he intentionally threw the ball, it is either a forward or backward pass,'' Carey said. "In that case, it was forward.''

Which translated into a 5-yard penalty for an illegal forward pass. Even with the markoff, the Chargers had enough for a fresh series.

And the cellar-hugging Raiders had a fresh way ---- they thought ---- to get wronged.

"I learned that you can catch the ball in the NFL, run right down the middle of the field, turn and throw it in the stands and the only thing they can do is mark where you threw it from, move it back 5 yards and give you a first down,'' Oakland defensive tackle Warren Sapp said.

"You're talking about a team, on the 20-something yard line, where it's our ball. I don't know what kind of football you've been watching over the years, but that's a big strain right there.''

It became a big pain four plays later when the Raiders bit on a pitch to the right to Tomlinson, who threw a 19-yard pass to a wide open Gates.

"They were thinking it was a run play,'' said Tomlinson, who rushed for 109 yards, his fifth straight 100-yard game. "And Gates just slipped right through them. You could see the cornerbacks kind of had a 'oh-no' feeling.''

Tomlinson felt the open air on the next series, rumbling 44 yards to help arrange the game-winner.

The Raiders had one last gasp. But Drayton Florence's third interception of the season ensured Oakland would lose its seventh straight to the Chargers and the Bolts would win their fifth consecutive game.

"It's a really magical season right now for the Chargers, and that's all I can say,'' Chargers defensive tackle Jacques Cesaire said.

Added Tomlinson: "Even with the injuries we have had, things are still going right. Let's just hope it ends in a magical season.''

Contact staff writer Jay Paris at jparis8@aol.com. Comment at sports.nctimes.com.