Chargers taking it 1 game at a time!

Kansas City, MO

On a cold Sunday morning in Missouri where the temperatures reached the low-60's at kickoff, and fell to the mid-20's by games end, the Chargers were able to hold on to a win over the Chiefs. This was the 2nd win for San Diego in as many weeks. The victory came in the closing seconds of the game, as Chiefs kicker Conor Barth missed wide left on a 50 yard attempt. Barth was 9 for 9 on the year before missing a 34 yard try in the first half and the game winning try with time expired. With Barth's miss, San Diego snuck out of town with  22-21 victory. The win was bigger for the players themselves than the coaching staff or fans, as they still could have been eliminated from playoff contention with a Broncos win later in the day. This Chargers team has really shown some character these past few weeks. With back to back wins in the division, San Diego is keeping morale high. The Bolts are committed to playing hard, and playing complete games. Despite such an unexpectedly poor season, with expectations set high from the jump, this team is sticking together. After falling to the Patriots in last years AFC championship game and starting slow this year, the Chargers have yet to really unravel. This speaks volumes for the guys in the locker room. It shows commitment to team above self and tells us that they enjoy playing together, and more importantly, for each other. Many teams facing these hard times would begin to internally combust. Just this past week in Dallas, we've seen a rift between teammates Jason Whitten and Terrell Owens over who's getting more targets from QB tony Romo. That kind of stuff, especially when garnering all the media coverage it does, is so disruptive for a team. The Chargers stray from those loose cannons and remain a tight knit squad.

"There have been so many doubts and we've fallen so short of the expectations," said Philip Rivers. "The way we've bounced back these past two weeks in our division and won says a lot about our guys. It is big for our locker room and team, no matter what plays out the rest of the day." Tackle Marcus McNeill added, "We never stopped believing. I think (the Chiefs) thought they had the game won when the clock was low in the fourth quarter. But we knew if we got another chance that we were going to go down there and score."

That is exactly the kind of confidence a winning team should display. Unfortunately for today's winning team, they still have a ways to go, and they will need help from other teams after digging their hole so deep. With another win and Broncos loss next weekend I could easily see this confidence turn to a swagger that could carry the Chargers through Denver in the season finale and into the playoffs.

The Chiefs looked like a hungry team getting off to an early lead and really getting to quarterback Philip Rivers. After scores from Gonzales, Bowe, and Thigpen, Kansas City led 21-3 in the third quarter. Rivers, the leagues top rated passer (102.0) coming into the game, stepped up again. He threw for 348 yards and two touchdowns to lead his team on a fourth quarter charge to victory. Going 34-for-48 Rivers helped the Chargers to score 12 points in the fourth quarter, after the team struggled offensively for most of the game. L.T.'s diving score in the third quarter was the 123rd of his career. He has passed Marcus Allen for second all time and now only trails Emmitt Smith with 164. TE Antonio Gates, who led the Bolts with 7 receptions on the day is now just 26 shy of 5,000 yards on his career. Stephen Cooper also recorded an end zone interception. It was his third pick in the last two games. 

The Chargers now head east to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-5) at Raymond James stadium next Sunday. West coast teams have only won 1 game when traveling to the east coast this season. The Charger have 12 consecutive wins in December and hope to make it a lucky 13 to prolong their playoff chances. Denver will play host to Buffalo (6-8) coming off a 31-27 loss to the N.Y. Jets.