| Tomlinson leads Chargers over Bears in defensive battle
San Diego, CA (Sports Network) - LaDainian Tomlinson ran for a touchdown and threw another as the San Diego Chargers overcame the Chicago Bears, 14-3, in a mistake filled season opener for both clubs.
Tomlinson ended with only 25 yards rushing, but added 51 yards on seven receptions, as San Diego won in the debut of head coach Norv Turner with the club. Antonio Gates had a touchdown and 107 yards receiving for the Chargers (1-0), who turned three second-half turnovers into 14 points and the win.
Philip Rivers ended 22-of-31 passing for 190 yards with an interception and a lost fumble for San Diego, which overcame three turnovers of its own to win its 11th straight regular-season game.
"We had some adversity out there during the game multiple times," said Philip Rivers. "But you fight through that adversity. This was a championship type game. This was a game we didn't win last year. We didn't win like that at Baltimore and Kansas City and New England. These are the kind of games you have to win."
Rex Grossman was held to 12-of-23 passing for 145 yards with an interception for defending NFC champion Chicago (0-1), which committed a total of four turnovers in the game. Cedric Benson was held to just 42 yards on the ground and Adrian Peterson ran for 38 yards for the Bears, who failed to mount much offense.
After a first half that saw only three points scored and two turnovers, the sloppy play continued in the third quarter.
Benson lost a fumble for the Bears on the first possession of the second half.
Philip Rivers then fumbled the snap at the Chicago one-yard-line, costing the Chargers a chance at points. The signal-caller argued that Chicago was offsides on the play, causing the fumble.
The first points in the half came later as the Chargers turned another Chicago turnover into seven points. After the Bears forced a Mike Scifres punt, the ball hit Chicago's Brandon McGowan as he attempted to block down field. Matt Wilhelm recovered for the Chargers at the Chicago 29 and four plays later San Diego found the end zone for the first time.
Tomlinson took a handoff and broke for the right edge. He stopped shy of the line of scrimmage and tossed the ball to Gates for the 17-yard score with just 45 seconds left until the fourth.
San Diego turned another Chicago turnover into points shortly thereafter as well. On Chicago's ensuing possession backup Adrian Peterson lost the ball at the San Diego 44.
This time, Tomlinson ended the ensuing eight-play drive with a seven-yard touchdown run for a 14-3 lead with 9:09 remaining in the contest.
Chicago ended up turning the ball over on downs at the San Diego 35 with six minutes to play and the Chargers ran out the rest of the clock from there.
"We shot ourselves in the foot," said Grossman. "They played well. It wasn't our day. We'll learn from it and hopefully get better."
Tomlinson took the final drive off as Michael Turner did the bulk of the work. Turner ended up leading the Chargers with 41 rushing yards.
San Diego had a possible scoring chance stymied in the first quarter when Nate Kaeding had a 33-yard field goal attempt blocked with 4:53 left.
Chicago later came up with another big play, as Mike Brown intercepted Philip Rivers and returned the ball to the San Diego 36. The play set up a 27-yard field goal by Robbie Gould just 47 seconds into the second quarter.
As it turned out those would be the only points for the Bears, who had a golden opportunity taken away from them later in the half.
The teams exchanged punts for the rest of the half until Grossman was picked off by Marlon McCree on the doorstep of the end zone. It appeared Grossman and intended receiver Bernard Berrian were on different pages, as the throw went to the outside and the receiver broke inside. As a result, McCree came away with the easy pick at the one-yard-line.
Game Notes
Tomlinson's TD pass was the seventh of his career...Brown left the game in the second half with a knee injury...Berrian led Chicago with five catches for 83 yards...San Diego's Darren Sproles left the game after the opening kickoff with a concussion.
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