SAN DIEGO ---- On Kris Dielman's personal list of turn-ons, romantic walks on the beach at sunset and working to establish world peace don't carry a high priority.
Dielman, the starting left guard for the Chargers, does take special delight in gashing an opponent's defense, though. Unilateral nuclear disarmament, that would be a nice. But stuffing the ball down a defense's throat, that really turns Dielman on, lifts his spirits, kind of makes him feel tingly all over.
"Me personally, I love it when we run the ball," Dielman said after the Chargers rushed for 119 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-23 victory over Philadelphia at Qualcomm Stadium on Sunday. "I love to run the ball and when we have games like that, hell yeah, it's going to build all of our confidence."
LaDainian Tomlinson, the Chargers' franchise back, had one of his best games in the last two seasons, rushing for a season-high 96 yards on 24 carries. Although he came up a little short of his first 100-yard rushing game in over a year, Tomlinson's workload was significant. He had exceeded that number of carries just once in the previous 25 games.
"We found some plays that worked," Dielman said, "and we ran with them. We kept calling them and kept gashing (the Eagles)."
The gashing wasn't exactly a bloodbath. More like death by a thousand cuts, as the Chargers rushed the ball 28 times for an average of 4.3 yards against a defense that shuffled all of its starting linebackers due to an injury to Akeem Jordan, but entered the game squarely in the middle of the NFL's defensive statistics.
During one first-half drive, Chargers left tackle Marcus McNeill could be seen pointing to his biceps after a "gashing" of the Eagles' front. It was one of those days.
"We definitely like to run the ball, and that's one of the things we pride ourselves on," McNeill said. "We wanted to come in and be physical up front."
The running game, and Tomlinson's relative health and fitness, have been heated topics of conversation surrounding the Chargers this season, as Philip Rivers and the passing game clearly have become the focus of the offense.
The absence of Pro Bowl center Nick Hardwick, who injured his ankle in the season opener and has not played since, has certainly been a factor. But there was a fear that Tomlinson, who was slowed by a toe injury last season but did play in all 16 games, has not just lost a step, but possibly two steps.
Chargers coach Norv Turner thought that Tomlinson's second touchdown run against the Eagles, a 20-yard streak off right tackle that put the Chargers up 21-6 in the third quarter, was evidence that his running back ---- No. 21 as he occasionally refers to him ---- is back in tip-top shape.
"Put that on tape with a touchdown from four years ago," Turner said, "and I defy you to tell me the difference."
It should be noted that Chargers right tackle Jeromey Clary left the game in the third quarter with an ankle injury. Reserve Brandyn Dombrowski stepped in and finished the game.
"You have a sense that you have somebody down," right guard Louis Vasquez said. "But when (Dombrowski) comes in, we didn't skip a beat. We do our job and you see the result ---- we had great success."
And it made Kris Dielman one happy man.
