NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Chargers have their first-round bye, and Philip Rivers is still perfect in December.
Tennessee’s bid for NFL history? The Titans lost that right along with their postseason dream, looking like a throwback to the team that started the season 0-6.
Rivers threw two touchdowns passes, LaDainian Tomlinson ran for two scores and the Chargers beat the Titans 42-17 last night to grab the AFC’s No. 2 seed and that first-round bye in the playoffs.
“It was nice to get the two seed and keep the streak going in December and positioning ourselves going into the postseason,” Rivers said. “It says a lot about our guys and [coach] Norv [Turner].”
The AFC West champs streaked to their 10th straight win and tied the 1970-74 Miami Dolphins for most consecutive wins in a month with their 18th in December dating to 2006. The Dolphins won 18 in a row in November.
Darren Sproles caught a TD pass and ran for two more scores to help San Diego (12-3) squash the Titans’ dreams of becoming the NFL’s first team to start 0-6 and rebound to make the playoffs. Tennessee (7-8) had hoped to top what the 1994 Chargers did in reaching the postseason after an 0-4 start.
San Diego rolled, outgaining Tennessee 425-270 in total offense while holding the ball for 39 minutes. Turner credited his offensive line, which featured Nick Hardwick back at center after being out since the opener, with letting Rivers play.
“And he does it well,” Turner said. “Obviously, our guys are playing with great confidence right now. The run of 10, I don’t think our guys have felt we’re on a run of 10. I think it’s been winning 10 games, one at a time. I know that’s a cliche, but that is what they’ve done. That’s probably the thing I’m proudest of.”
Chris Johnson’s quest to become only the sixth NFL player to run for 2,000 yards in a season remains alive as the only goal left for Tennessee. He ran for a TD and 142 yards to put him at 1,872 with the season finale at Seattle left. He also notched his 10th straight 100-yard rushing game, putting him behind only Barry Sanders (14) and Marcus Allen (11).
He is 234 yards shy of Eric Dickerson’s single-season record of 2,105 yards.
“Anything’s doable,” Johnson said. “I feel like I can do it.”