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Tomlinson passes Payton on career TD list while leading Chargers to road win

By: MIKE SULLIVAN - Staff Writer | Sunday, December 2, 2007 11:16 PM PST ∞

KANSAS CITY, Mo. ---- LaDainian Tomlinson seldom gets caught up with setting records and surpassing milestones, but the latest achievement of his seven-year career even makes him take notice.

The standout running back rushed for 177 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday in pacing the Chargers to a 24-10 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. In the midst of his stellar performance, Tomlinson moved past boyhood idol Walter Payton on the NFL's career rushing touchdowns list.

Tomlinson now stands third with 111 career touchdowns list, one more than Payton scored during his 13-year Hall of Fame career with the Chicago Bears.

"It was an incredible day for me," Tomlinson said. "Just kind of disbelief, also, because of what he meant in my life."

Tomlinson's heroics helped the Chargers improve to 7-5 before an announced crowd of 74,874 at Arrowhead Stadium. Coupled with Denver's loss to Oakland, the Chargers have a two-game lead in the AFC West with four games to play.

The Chargers notched this victory with strong defense ---- they forced four turnovers and had eight sacks ---- and with a punishing running game that produced an average of 6 yards per carry.

The ground assault was led by Tomlinson, who tied Payton on the career touchdowns list with a 31-yard tie-breaking score in the third quarter and then passed him with a 28-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

"He gave me something to strive for, someone to look up to and doing it the right way," Tomlinson said. "I have so much respect for him, God bless his soul, because he allowed kids like myself to be able to dream. I just have so much respect for him and his family. It was a great moment."

Tomlinson has long patterned his career after Payton, who died in 1999 at age 45. Of all the honors Tomlinson has won over the years, none means more to him than sharing last season's Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award with former Chargers teammate Drew Brees.

Tomlinson also surpassed 1,000 yards for the season, making him just the fourth player in NFL history to top 1,000 yards in each of his first seven years, joining Barry Sanders (10), Curtis Martin (10) and Eric Dickerson (seven).

Though he has an NFL MVP award in his trophy case and is now ahead of Payton on the rushing touchdowns list, Tomlinson truly is awed to have his name mentioned in the same category as Payton.

"It's just amazing," Tomlinson said. "You have to understand ---- he's the whole reason why I wanted to even play football. Just seeing him.

"I remember watching everything that he did, even off the field. The way he talked to kids, the way he talked to people, the way he carried himself, the way he talked period. It was sweet. He's (nicknamed) Sweetness for a reason, because of the way he talked.

"It's an honor, definitely, just to be mentioned in the same breath as, in my opinion, the greatest running back to ever play the game."

Tomlinson reminded the Chiefs (4-8) why he himself is one of the game's top all-time backs by rushing 23 times for an average gain of 7.7 yards. The 100-yard outing was his third of the season and two have come against the Chiefs.

"We always want to get L.T. as many yards as we can," left tackle Marcus McNeill said. "They say he's been slowed this year, but this is a breakout game for him and I really think we can build upon our running game."

The Chargers had lost nine of their previous 10 games in Arrowhead before corralling the Chiefs on a cold, windy December afternoon. But the normally rabid atmosphere was replaced by a subdued Kansas City crowd that headed to the exits early as the Chiefs lost their fifth straight contest.

"This is a tough place to play," Chargers coach Norv Turner said. "Obviously, in the past the Chargers had struggles here. There was a mind-set today that we were going to go play and do whatever it took to find a way to win. That's what our guys did.

"We created turnovers, we protected the football, we pressured the quarterback extremely well, we ran the football and we got big plays."

Quarterback Philip Rivers had 157 yards passing, and three of the completions went for 40 (to Brandon Manumaleuna), 38 (to Vincent Jackson) and 37 yards (to Chris Chambers). The pass to Jackson tied the score at 10 with 3:29 left in the first half.

"We had the wind at our back and that was a big difference," Turner said. "I thought Vincent made a spectacular play because when the ball was thrown, you thought, 'Hey, there's no way he gets to it.' "

The scoring pass to Jackson erased momentum the Chiefs were riding after Kansas City defensive end Jared Allen lined up as a tight end on third-and-goal from the Chargers 2 and made a sensational catch of a floating corner route pass by quarterback Damon Huard to give the Chiefs a 10-3 lead.

Tomlinson scored both his touchdowns in the second half and the Chargers were celebrating just their second road win of the season. A modest two-game winning streak is now attached to their name as they prepare for next Sunday's road contest at Tennessee, but the Chargers claim that they aren't the least bit satisfied.

"We know where we stand and we know that we control our own destiny, but we can't breathe any easier because we're still not pleased with being 7-5," Rivers said. "We want to get on a roll and be hot come the end of December. It's certainly better to be where we are rather than looking up at someone, but we still have that sense of urgency."

Contact staff writer Mike Sullivan at (760) 739-6645 or msullivan@nctimes.com.

Charging over 1,000

LaDainian Tomlinson became just the fourth player in NFL history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in each of his first seven NFL seasons. Tomlinson has 1,049 rushing yards this season.

Player Streak Teams Years

Barry Sanders 10 Lions 1989-98

Curtis Martin 10 Patriots, Jets 1995-2004

Eric Dickerson 7 Rams, Colts 1983-89

LaDainian Tomlinson 7 Chargers 2001-07

The Chargers had eight sacks against the Chiefs on Sunday. Only four times have they had more in a game, including last year in the season opener against Oakland.

Opponent Date Sacks

Dallas Nov. 16, 1986 11

Green Bay Sept. 24, 1978 10

Oakland Sept. 11, 2006 9

Houston Sept. 15, 2002 9

Note: The Chargers eight sacks were on Sunday were the most ever allowed by the Chiefs.

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Pre-Registration Comments[-]Go to Top

jJoe wrote on Dec 2, 2007 3:54 PM:Good win against a bad team with a 4-7 record. Game ball to Merrimonster, Philips, "Leads the league in interceptions" Cromartie, Cooper and Geoff who made some huge blocks on the big runs. Is it more than coincindental that the offenstive line play has improved with Clary taking over for Olivia at right tackle? Rivers did just enough to win and managed the game well even though the interception was atrocious. He also missed seeing a wide open Jackson deep when staring down and throwing to a double covered Gates. Great catch again by Chambers . TOO MANY TACOS McNeil got beaten like a drum by Jared Allen on almost every play. Time for him to eat less and run more wind sprints. Nice to see V. Jackson catch the touchdown pass. Where was Legadu Naanee? Hopefully LT's "sacrifice" speech, after talking to Marty, has helped the Chargers turn the corner and they can continue to win enough to win the AFC WORST divison and get to the "tournament" and maybe even "make some noise". Go Chargers!

markus wrote on Dec 2, 2007 4:27 PM:winning in KC is one of lifes great treasures, no matter the state of affairs of either team.... a glass of Kentucky Bourbon and a wistful smile tonight

Sam wrote on Dec 2, 2007 4:55 PM:Enough with the wins "against bad teams"... There is really only one bad team in the NFL (Dolphins) everything depends on when you catch a team, are they playing well, and are they desperate, do they have a solid defense?...ask the Pats about the Eagles... Last two weeks Chargers played two desperate teams with good defenses...so these are not cheap wins...good wins...keep going... Cardinals take Browns down, Raiders take Broncos down, Vikings take down Lions, Free falling Titans take down improving Texans...which ones are the bad teams?...When you catch a team, are they playing well, are they desperate, do they have a solid defense?....

James wrote on Dec 2, 2007 4:58 PM:Rivers 7-5 Brees 4-7 Chargers 24 Chiefs 10 LT's guts Chiefs run defense (Edwards goes out with hamstring, at his age he should get used to these types of injuries) Looking for all the haters still pining away for Brees and Edwards...

260 bucks ??? wrote on Dec 2, 2007 5:46 PM:A big shout out goes to our loving rivals over in Oakland.. thanks for beating the Donkeys. As AJ says "it is what it is" & thats a Win, Chargers up 2.5 games. It looks like we`re going to have to anty up 260 bucks for playoff tickets.

Bobby wrote on Dec 2, 2007 6:25 PM:Cro and Flo looked great! Time to move Jam to SS and see if he could cover a def end? Hart can't

Joe wrote on Dec 2, 2007 6:53 PM:Sam, a 4-7 team which loses again at home to a 6-5 team and is now 4-8 in a very weak AFC Worst division is by definition a bad team. End of discussion. I do agree that any team can beat any team on any given day and am glad to see the Chargers apparently improving their play down the stretch. I am still looking for them to beat a playoff caliber team with a winning record on the road. The rest of the season and hopefully the playoffs should be interesting.

Roy wrote on Dec 2, 2007 7:16 PM:Thanks for making me wrong about this game! Thanks for the early Christmas present. Regardless of the KC record I see a little glimmer of hope in this team. That was Chargers football. It's been a while since I saw it in all phases in one game.

cargadores wrote on Dec 2, 2007 8:01 PM:Cromartie the Defensive player of the year. Ya he still needs to learn to tackle but he knows how to make big plays.

Sam wrote on Dec 2, 2007 8:40 PM:Okay Joe, until today, the Broncos looked on the rise, playoff worthy, threatening the Chargers, with Cutler playing good football. I don't know, I'd call a 41-3 defeat of the Broncos on the road a fairly convincing victory...NOW IT'S THE END OF DISCUSSSION...

Joe wrote on Dec 2, 2007 9:23 PM:Not only are the Chiefs a bad 4-8 team they also have a bad quarterback, unless somebody, like Sam, thinks the #15th rated quarterback (Chiefs quarterback Hurard) out of 17 (lowest 12th percentile) is a good quarterback on a good team. That was before todays game so he could be rated even worse by tomorrow. According to Sam you have to be 0-12 to be considered a be a bad team. I guess the 1-15 Chargers team was not a bad team after all.

Joe wrote on Dec 2, 2007 10:32 PM:Nice Joe, no answer for the Broncos win huh?......Like how you skipped over that...Oh guess what...Rivers is rated lower then Huard does that make Rivers a bad quarterback? According to Joe the Chargers haven't beaten anyone this season. The Broncos beat the Steelers, the Bengals drilled the Titans...who are the bad teams Joe?..Another thing unless you have the Dophins in your division no division road game is an easy game...all division road games are tough in all divisions...no matter the record! Have you ever played a down of football in your life besides co-ed Itramural flag football...!@#$%%%

Joe wrote on Dec 2, 2007 11:35 PM:Nice try Sam. Please do your homework. The NFL stats have Rivers ranked in the middle of the pack in the AFC and, like I said, Huard is ranked #15 out of 17. I was not debating your "interpretation" of good or bad teams as to when which team plays which team. You called me out for calling the Chiefs a bad team and it was therefore necessary to enlighten you to the fact that the Chiefs ARE a bad 4-8 team with a bad quarterback. Yes, division games are always tough because the teams know each other so well. And yes, I played 9 years of organized competitive football including starting every game at defensive right end (#85) on the #4 team in the state of Florida at the highest level of competition my junior year when we beat Coral Gables High which had won the high school NATIONAL championship before. I also started and played some for the University of Florida with a few guys who played in the NFL including a quarterback. Go Gators! I think that qualifies for "a down" of football. C'mon Sam, we're both Chargers fans so stop calling out other posters and trying to be insulting; especially when you don't have the facts. Truce. Go Chargers!

What wrote on Dec 3, 2007 5:02 AM:Has Merriman ...? He actually looked like the Merriman from last year a couple of times yesterday. His little lights out, stupid hand jesters, are giving away the fact that he doesn't like all of the negative attention focused his way because he has been acting like a baby this year. ...

Fan Maybe wrote on Dec 3, 2007 5:05 AM:CONGRATULATIONS to LT! You are the man! You still have more words of praise for others then yourself! I, for one, point my kids your way for as a role model! Keep up the great work!

Bolt Doctor #14 wrote on Dec 3, 2007 11:27 AM:LT IS THE DISTINCTION OF "ROLE MODEL" AS WAS PAYTON...KEEP ROLLING... GO CHARGERS!!!!

Richard wrote on Dec 3, 2007 11:38 AM:Still think Turner and Cattrell got to go I will say this every week

Sam wrote on Dec 3, 2007 2:40 PM:"Forgive" me for not playing close attention to stats...I saw a couple of weeks ago where Rivers was wallowing around 18th in the entire NFL and Huard was above him. Stats are ridiculous...Vince Young is below Huard...are the Titans a bad team? The Chargers rank 20th and 21st in D and O...are they a bad team?...Don't use Huard's rating to guage KC's level of competency...Just a few weeks ago they were a threat to the Chargers...were they a bad team then...Fact is there are more good teams who aren't playing well than there are bad teams...KC at home is not a bad team...Denver at home is not a bad team....The Saints at home are not a bad team...The Vikings, Bills, Bengals,Skins at home are not bad teams...these are dangerous teams among others...Don't degrade a division win on the road in probably the toughest place to play in the league...When you were at Florida I'm sure you would agree that most of your conference foes on the road were not easy outs...When I was at Colorado no conference team on the road was an easy out...You think the Cowboys think the Eagles or the Skins are bad teams?...Fact is...the Chargers beat a dangerous opponent with a good defense who's lost some close games...so let's not diminish their accomplishment...Sure it's not the Pats but in no way are the Chiefs an easy out! TRUCE...GO CHARGERS!

Sean C. wrote on Dec 3, 2007 6:37 PM:Tomlinson is definately one of the good guys & I wouldn`t trade him for any other back in the league. Rivers is 25 yrs old he is only going to get better but 21-7 ain`t a bad start for a QB. It doesn`t bother me that he plays with a lot of passion. I wasn`t one of the boo birds at the last home game, I go to cheer on my team. I`ll be cheering them on as long as they`re still alive. Perhaps the coaching staff is figuring things out....fingers crossed

Let Me Know wrote on Dec 3, 2007 8:08 PM:When he cures cancer ... Then I'll be impressed!

Huh? wrote on Dec 3, 2007 9:11 PM:To let me know.. If he cures cancer there will be too many people on this overcrowed planet & our social security system is already running on empty. If you`re not a football fan, what are you reading football articles for? LT is a good man & They should replace the Cardiff 'surfer' statue with one of LT crossing into the enzone

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