Chargers' Monday feels like a winner

By: JAY PARIS - Staff Writer
Moodiness of 3-game skid disappears with victory over Broncos | Tuesday, October 9, 2007 1:07 AM PDT ∞

SAN DIEGO -- The sun was out, the mood was light, and it was laughs and giggles again at Chargers Park on Monday.

Yep, the Good Ship Lollipop was back bobbing in the water following the Chargers' 41-3 shellacking of the Broncos on Sunday.

"It feels obviously good to smile,'' LaDainian Tomlinson said.Ý "But I want a lot more smiles after a game.''

Tomlinson looked crestfallen the previous three Mondays, as the Chargers ran up a three-game losing streak. He didn't apologize for his demeanor -- that's just L.T. being L.T.

"The hardest thing is when you are losing it kind of puts you in a bad mood,'' said Tomlinson, who garnered 140 total yards on Sunday. "It is so hard to win, I understand that. I take a lot of pride in trying to win and I hate to lose, so at times when I lose, even with my family and my wife, I get in a bad mood.

"I don't like it, but I've always been like that with losing.''

But this Monday came under the label "Victory Monday". That meant no practice and little second-guessing about their Sunday's showing, which improved their record to 2-3.

The Chargers' beatdown of the Broncos came at a critical time. Was it a must win? Of course not this early in the season with the team only a game out of first place.

But quarterback Philip Rivers said it had the feeling of one.

"We weren't going to quit should we be sitting here 1-4, and still, the way this division was, you wouldn't be out of it,'' Rivers said. "It was as close to it as it gets. And I think now we find ourselves right in the middle of this division. It's going to be crazy and come down to the wire. You can tell already.''

It's easy deciphering what Sunday's first win in nearly a month meant. One could see it in Tomlinson's grin, Rivers' body language and coach Norv Turner's expression.

"I feel a little better,'' Turner said, "than I did a week ago."

But Tomlinson warns not to get too giddy. Not with the first-place and well-rested Raiders visiting this weekend.

"I don't want us to get all happy and patting ourselves on the back after one win,'' Tomlinson said. "It's a long season, and we definitely need to make sure that we stay focused on continuing to build on this.

"No doubt getting that win in Denver was big for us, but now we have to turn our attention to Oakland and build on what we did.''

While confidence builds, so does the laughter surrounding Rivers' first NFL rushing touchdown. His deliberate jaunt to the end zone was far from a world-class sprint.

"I've took more heat in the locker room in this last hour than you could believe about that,'' Rivers said about his 2-yard scoring run. "I said, 'Hey, I'm glad you're all having a little fun with that.' "

Tomlinson heard from more people about Rivers' scoot than one of his.

"I got so many phone calls about that run, obviously for how slow he was going,'' Tomlinson said. "The funny thing is Philip was really trying to get there, and he just looked horrible.

"I know Philip can run faster than that, but because it was his first touchdown rushing ... sometimes they say when running track to stay loose and don't get tense because it will slow you down. I think it was obvious Philip was very tense at that moment, and you can tell."

Yep, nothing but good times on Monday.

"Now you win a game you kind of release a little bit because you are not in such a bad mood,'' Tomlinson said. "But at the same time you can't help but think, OK the next game you don't want to go back into that same pattern: lose a game and be in a bad mood and not want to smile.

"But it feels good right now to get that feeling back when you win games.''

Chargers notes

WR Vincent Jackson (shoulder) and DE Jacques Cesaire (ankle) were the only injuries from Sunday's game. They are expected to play Sunday against the Raiders, although their practice time could be compromised. Ö RB LaDainian Tomlinson said the offensive line came through again against Denver. "That's two weeks in a row where we've kind of offensively hung our hat on our play of our offense line, and once again those guys have come through,'' said Tomlinson, on the Chargers' season-high of 214 rushing yards. "It shows us and tells us whenever we hang our hat on those guys they are going to step up to the challenge and control the line of scrimmage.'' ... All signs point to QB Daunte Culpepper starting Sunday for the Raiders as he tries to break the team's seven-game losing streak against the Chargers. Four of those losses came in 2004-05 when current Chargers coach Norv Turner directed the Raiders.

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