Feeling no sprain: Rivers ignores injured knee, leads Chargers' stunning overtime victory

By: MIKE SULLIVAN - North County Times | Monday, December 10, 2007 12:41 AM PST ∞

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - There were doubts that Philip Rivers would come back into Sunday's game. Once that issue was resolved, he engineered a stellar comeback.

The Chargers' quarterback overcame 51 minutes of frustration with about 16 1/2 minutes of solid, pressure-packed play during a frantic comeback that saw the Chargers notch an improbable 23-17 overtime victory over the stunned Tennessee Titans.

The Chargers trailed by two touchdowns early in the fourth quarter before rolling off 20 consecutive points to disappoint the majority of the 69,143 fans at LP Field.

Rivers threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes, the second with 9 seconds remaining to Antonio Gates, while limping around on a sprained left knee that forced him to miss the final 11 minutes of the second quarter.

The winning points came on LaDainian Tomlinson's 16-yard touchdown run with 7:29 left in overtime as the Chargers (8-5) maintained a two-game lead over Denver in the AFC West.

While Tomlinson (146 rushing yards) put the final touches on the comeback against Tennessee (7-6), it was Rivers who ignited it with his play over the final nine minutes of regulation as the Chargers rallied from a 17-3 deficit.

Coach Norv Turner didn't expect to see Rivers again as he sprained his left knee in the second quarter and headed to the locker room. But there was Rivers in the second half playing on one good leg and overcoming two interceptions to throw scoring passes to Tomlinson (7 yards with 7:29 left) and tight end Antonio Gates (2 yards).

"Philip has a trait - he's very mentally strong," Chargers general manager A.J. Smith said in the victorious locker room. "Interceptions and bad things, he can focus on the very next thing. Just give him some time to operate. I saw that again today. Plus, he was beat up and he came back out.

"Some guys don't have that mental strength. They want to (have it), but they can't."

Rivers was injured when Tennessee defensive end Antwan Odom clipped his leg after Rivers handed the ball off on a running play. The Chargers' training staff determined that Rivers couldn't injure the ligament any further by playing, so he returned at the start of the second half.

"He is a tough sucker," center Nick Hardwick said.

"His knee is not good. I know it is hurting. He probably shouldn't have been playing in that game anyway, but he does. He just can't help himself. He wants to compete and he does it."

Rivers had 37 yards passing through three quarters. He finished with 228, much of it coming as he guided scoring drives of 48 and 80 yards over the final nine minutes of the contest.

All while favoring a very sore left knee.

"It was tough," Rivers said. "I don't want to make it sound more heroic than it is. There were a lot of guys playing banged up out there."

The Chargers appeared to be in a world of hurt after Tennessee went up 17-3 on LenDale White's 7-yard scoring run with 14:21 to play. To that point, the Chargers had just five first downs, 110 total yards and 21 net passing yards.

A chance to get back into the game early in the fourth quarter didn't come to fruition. The Chargers reached the Titans 21 before Kyle Vanden Bosch sacked Rivers twice in three plays, forcing a punt by Mike Scifres that was downed at the Tennessee 1 by Kassim Osgood.

But the Titans failed to get a first down and gave the ball back to the Chargers with 9:01 to play. Instead of sputtering, the Chargers moved 48 yards in four plays. Rivers hit Chris Chambers for 26 yards to start the drive and connected with Tomlinson to end it, pulling the Chargers within 17-10 with 7:29 remaining.

Tennessee then worked more than five minutes off the clock, but left the Chargers 2:24 with which to work after linebacker Matt Wilhelm, who had his back to Titans quarterback Vince Young, broke up a third-down pass by sticking out his left arm.

The Chargers took over possession at their own 20. On third-and-five, Rivers somehow avoided trouble and floated the ball to Tomlinson for a first down. But the play was reviewed and replays showed that Tomlinson failed to get his left foot in-bounds.

That brought up fourth-and-five, and that's when Chambers made a diving 19-yard grab to keep the Chargers' hopes alive. Replay officials reviewed that play as well, but none of the camera angles available provided a definitive look at whether the ball hit the ground or not, much to the dismay of Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher.

"I saw the ball on the ground," Fisher said. "That happens. He didn't get the look that he wanted. The only look he got was from behind; he didn't get anything from the front."

Two plays later, Rivers and Chambers teamed up on a 28-yard pass play that moved the ball to the Titans 28.

Eventually, the Chargers had first-and-goal at the Tennessee 2. Two incompletions ensued and just 13 seconds were on the clock as the Chargers lined up for a pivotal play.

The Chargers lined three receivers on the right side and flanked Gates out left. Rivers immediately knew where he was going with the football.

"I kind of went with my gut there with Gates," Rivers said. "You'd hate to turn down that matchup."

Rivers lofted the pass toward the left corner of the end zone, and Gates easily skied over Tennessee safety Michael Griffin to haul in the tying touchdown pass with 9 seconds left. Nate Kaeding's point-after attempt tied the score to force overtime.

Not long after, the Chargers were celebrating wildly when Tomlinson scooted for the winning points. It was the type of victory - on the road against a physical playoff-caliber team - that was previously lacking from the Chargers' resume, as they build toward a postseason berth.

"We haven't been winning on the road, and we've been struggling and inconsistent, and you come in here and you meet this challenge," Smith said. "Victories are nice, but I think it's a little bit extra, the way it went down.

"All wins are great, but when you win like this, I think it's kind of a win-plus."

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