2006: Chargers Overcome 21-Point Deficit to Defeat Bengals in Offensive Battle

The San Diego Chargers were 6-2 as they traveled to Cincinnati’s Paul Brown Stadium to take on the Bengals on November 12, 2006. Head Coach Marty Schottenheimer’s team had outstanding talent on both sides of the ball. Third-year QB Philip Rivers (pictured at right), taking over for the departed Drew Brees, was exceeding expectations in his first season as a starting quarterback. RB LaDainian Tomlinson was at the height of his game, and the defense, featuring LB Shawne Merriman and NT Jamal Williams, was solid.

The Bengals, coached by Marvin Lewis, made it to the postseason in 2005 after a 15-year absence, but were struggling thus far. They were 4-4 and had lost four of their last five games. The offense could score points, with QB Carson Palmer (pictured below left) having outstanding wide receivers in Chad Johnson (who legally changed his name to Chad Ochocinco in 2008) and T. J. Houshmandzadeh to throw to and RB Rudi Johnson to carry the ball. However, the defense was below average and prone to giving up too many points.


It appeared that it would be Cincinnati’s day as the Bengals scored the first three times they got the ball. First, FB Jeremi Johnson ran for a three-yard touchdown to complete a six-play possession that covered 61 yards. After the Chargers had to punt a second time, the Bengals took 10 plays to go 89 yards with Rudi Johnson running the last seven for a TD. San Diego went three-and-out and, following a punt with just seconds remaining in the first quarter, Palmer connected with Chad Johnson on the first play for a 51-yard touchdown. It was 21-0 after the opening period.

The Chargers finally got on the board in the second quarter thanks to a nine-yard run for a TD by Tomlinson. But the Bengals responded with a long, 14-play drive that ended with another touchdown pass by Palmer, this one to WR Chris Henry from seven yards out. Cincinnati took a 28-7 lead into halftime.

In the third quarter, it was San Diego’s turn to score on three straight possessions. Tomlinson scored his second touchdown on a four-yard run to complete a six-play, 66-yard drive. After the Bengals went three-and-out and punted, Rivers immediately threw to WR Malcom Floyd for a 46-yard TD that narrowed the margin to seven points. Cincinnati responded with Palmer throwing to Chad Johnson for a 35-yard gain that led to a 21-yard field goal by Shayne Graham, making the score 31-21. But with Tomlinson running for 29 yards on three carries and Rivers throwing for 60 yards, including a nine-yard scoring pass to TE Brandon Manumaleuna, the Chargers closed the gap to 31-28.

The three-point margin didn’t last long as the passing combination of Palmer to Chad Johnson produced a 74-yard touchdown on the first play of Cincinnati’s next possession. The score stood at 38-28 in favor of the Bengals.

Following the Cincinnati touchdown, RB Michael Turner returned the kickoff 49 yards to the Bengals’ 40 yard line. Six plays later, the third quarter ended with the Chargers on the two. On the first play of the final period, Tomlinson ran around left end for a two-yard touchdown that again turned the contest into a three-point game.

Cincinnati got the ball at its own 20 after the ensuing kickoff resulted in a touchback, and on the first play Palmer fumbled when sacked by LB Shaun Phillips, who recovered for the Chargers at the Bengals’ nine yard line. On the next play, Tomlinson ran nine yards for his fourth touchdown, and in stunning fashion San Diego, twice down by 21 points in the first half, was ahead, 41-38.

The teams traded punts before the Bengals, helped by an 18-yard pass interference call, went back in front again with a 44-yard field goal by Graham. The Chargers responded with a methodical 12-play drive that was highlighted by a 27-yard pass completion from Rivers to TE Antonio Gates to the Cincinnati eight yard line. With third down at the five, Rivers scrambled for time and tossed a shovel pass to Manumaleuna for the game-winning touchdown.

The Bengals had one last chance and Palmer completed five passes to get down to the San Diego 15. But on fourth-and-ten with 49 seconds left to play, Palmer overthrew WR Glenn Holt, who was covered, and the Chargers could celebrate. The final score was 48-41.

Only once before, in 1983, had the Chargers ever overcome a 21-point margin to win. While they ran up 431 total yards, they were outgained by the Bengals, who had 545. But while Cincinnati outscored the Chargers 28-7 in the first half, San Diego significantly turned the tables in the second half, scoring 42 points to the Bengals’ 13.

In his best performance to date, Philip Rivers completed 24 of 36 passes for 338 yards with three touchdowns and none intercepted. LaDainian Tomlinson (pictured below) scored four TDs as he gained 104 yards on 22 carries and caught 6 passes for another 54 yards. Malcom Floyd had 109 yards and a touchdown on five pass receptions.


In defeat, Carson Palmer had the first 400-yard passing performance of his career as he went to the air 42 times and completed 31 for 440 yards with three TDs and no interceptions. Chad Johnson caught 11 of those passes for a club-record 260 yards and two scores. Rudi Johnson ran for 85 yards on 18 carries, including a TD.

The comeback was considered a key milestone in the development of the young QB Rivers, who demonstrated poise and leadership skills. “As he grows as a player, he's unbelievable,” said Antonio Gates. “He's doing a tremendous job leading this team. He was on the sideline saying they were going to need to score more than 28 points to beat us. What more could you ask for in a leader?”

As Marty Schottenheimer, a former AFL linebacker, summed up: “It took me back to the old AFL days where you just try to find a way to have one more point than they do.”

San Diego went undefeated through the rest of the regular season, finishing atop the AFC West with an NFL-best 14-2 record. However, it came to a bitter end when they lost to the Patriots in the Divisional round of the postseason. Schottenheimer, who had been at odds with GM A.J. Smith, was dismissed during the offseason. Cincinnati won its next four games, but then lost the last three to go 8-8 for the year, tied with the Steelers for second in the AFC North.

LaDainian Tomlinson led the league in rushing with 1815 yards on 348 carries (5.2 avg.) and 28 of his NFL-record 31 touchdowns. His 186 points scored broke the 46-year-old record of 176 set by Green Bay’s Paul Hornung in 1960. Tomlinson was named NFL MVP by the Associated Press, The Sporting News, and Pro Football Writers of America, and received the Bert Bell trophy from the Maxwell Club.

Philip Rivers made it into the top 10 in passer rating (92.0), passing yards (3388), touchdown passes (22), and yards per attempt (7.4). His 2.0 INT percentage was tied for sixth lowest – with the quarterback he had succeeded, Drew Brees.

Carson Palmer, a year following a serious knee injury, finished the season slowly but still threw for over 4000 yards (4035) and ranked second in the league with 28 touchdown passes. Both he and Rivers were selected to the Pro Bowl.

Chad Johnson (the future Ochocinco, pictured below) led the NFL with 1369 yards on his 87 pass receptions. He, too, was named to the Pro Bowl and also received consensus first-team All-NFL recognition.

2009: Chargers Defeat Colts in Overtime of AFC Wild Card Playoff

The San Diego Chargers had upset the Colts in Indianapolis in an AFC Divisional playoff game following the 2007 season, and on January 3, 2009 they again met the Colts, this time in a conference Wild Card playoff matchup at Qualcomm Stadium.

That the Chargers were in the postseason at all was a surprise. It wasn’t that Head Coach Norv Turner’s team hadn’t been considered a contender prior to the 2008 season, but they had gotten off to a slow start and stood at 4-8 at the end of November. Meanwhile, the Denver Broncos had started off at 4-1 and seemed likely to cruise to the AFC West title, but played erratically down the stretch. Still, they were three games ahead of San Diego with four to go and appeared to be a lock for first place. Instead, the Chargers rallied to win three straight and Denver went 1-2; when the teams met in the season finale at San Diego, it was a 52-21 blowout in favor of the Chargers. Both teams finished at 8-8, but San Diego went to the postseason on the basis of a better division record.

The Colts ended up in second place in the AFC South with a much more impressive 12-4 tally, a game behind the conference’s top-seeded Tennessee Titans (13-3). Moreover, Indianapolis was riding a nine-game winning streak. QB Peyton Manning, as usual, was the key to the offense – despite being hindered by a knee injury, he still ended up throwing for over 4000 yards (4002) for the third consecutive year and ninth time overall (up to that point) while completing 66.8 percent of his passes and tossing 27 for scores. WR Reggie Wayne, who emerged from the shadow of the declining Marvin Harrison as the top receiver, caught 82 passes for 1145 yards.

The Colts rolled to the first score of the game on an 81-yard first quarter drive that was capped by a one-yard run by RB Joseph Addai. Manning completed all six of his passes along the way. However, San Diego evened the score not quite five minutes into the second quarter on a three-yard TD run by RB LaDainian Tomlinson that was set up by a 30-yard pass play from QB Philip Rivers to TE Antonio Gates.

After Adam Vinatieri put Indianapolis back in front with a 43-yard field goal, the Chargers scored another touchdown on a 9-yard run by RB Darren Sproles with 42 seconds remaining in the half. By this point, Sproles was playing in place of the star running back Tomlinson, who had suffered a groin injury and would not return. Still, San Diego was in front at halftime, 14-10.

In the third quarter, Indianapolis regained the lead when Manning surprised the Chargers defense on a third-and-five play with a quick count and fired a pass to Wayne that resulted in a 72-yard touchdown, flying past CB Antonio Cromartie who was caught unprepared.

The Chargers responded by moving inside the Indianapolis 10 yard line late in the third quarter, but Sproles was hit at the two and fumbled into the end zone; Colts DT Raheem Brock recovered for a touchback. Another San Diego scoring threat was thwarted by the Colts defense with just over 12 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter as free safety Antoine Bethea intercepted a pass by Rivers at the goal line.


With time running down under three minutes, San Diego’s Mike Scifres boomed a punt 52 yards that went out at the Indianapolis one yard line. The Colts were unable to sustain a game-clinching drive, as Manning was sacked by LB Tim Dobbins – the only sack the Chargers registered all day – on a third down play that forced Indianapolis to punt from the one. San Diego got the ball back with excellent field position on the Colts 38 and Nate Kaeding tied the score with a 26-yard field goal with 31 seconds remaining.

The game went into overtime, and San Diego won the toss. With a ten-play drive that included three defensive penalties, the Chargers scored the winning touchdown on a 22-yard run by Sproles (making up for the earlier fumble). San Diego had thwarted Indianapolis in the postseason once again by a 23-17 tally.

The game marked the 25th overtime postseason contest in NFL history, going back to the 1958 Championship game; in this instance, the Colts lost by the same score that they won by on that day some 50 years earlier.

Darren Sproles (pictured at top) had an outstanding performance as he spelled Tomlinson and accumulated 328 total yards – 105 on 22 rushing attempts, 45 on five pass receptions, 106 on four kickoff returns, and 72 on three punt returns. Also noteworthy was the punter, Scifres (pictured above right), who punted six times for a 52.7-yard average and, more importantly, pinned the Colts inside their 20 yard line each time (51 yards to the San Diego 10, 58 to the 15, 50 to the 3, 67 to the 5, 38 to the 9, and 52 to the 1). As Colts RB Dominic Rhodes put it, “I think that their punter is the MVP of the game. He did a real good job of putting us deep in our territory, and their defense did a good job of keeping us there."


Also for the Chargers, Philip Rivers (pictured at left) completed 20 of 36 passes for 217 yards with one picked off. Antonio Gates, playing on a sprained ankle, led the team with 8 catches for 87 yards.

Peyton Manning (pictured leaving the field at bottom) threw 42 passes and completed 25 of them for 310 yards and a TD with no interceptions. Reggie Wayne, thanks to the long scoring catch, had 129 yards on four receptions. WR Anthony Gonzalez nearly reached the hundred-yard mark with 97 yards on 6 catches. TE Dallas Clark caught the most passes for the Colts with 7 (for 33 yards). The Chargers defense held the Colts running game to 64 yards on 22 carries; Joseph Addai led with 44 yards on 16 attempts.

The Chargers run ended the next week as they lost to Pittsburgh in the divisional round. For Indianapolis, it was the last game for Head Coach Tony Dungy, who chose to step down after seven years in which he accumulated a 92-33 record that included a 7-6 playoff tally with one Super Bowl championship.