San Diego – If it had been, say, the Super Bowl, Philip Rivers and LaDainian Tomlinson would have played on.
Both were on the sideline, though, as the San Diego Chargers finished their most remarkable regular season with a 27-20 win Sunday over the Arizona Cardinals.
Rivers sprained his right foot, which didn’t keep him from throwing two touchdown passes. Tomlinson, the record-setting running back, had already wrapped up his first NFL rushing title when someone stepped on one of his legs.
The Chargers (14-2) clinched home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. They already had earned a first-round bye, which will give their stars time to rest.
“Now we can put the record thing behind us and just get on to playing football,” said Tomlinson, the front-runner for the league MVP award.
San Diego heads into the playoffs with a 10-game winning streak and its first perfect home record since 1963. The Chargers’ 14 wins and eight home victories are club records.
Tomlinson ran for 66 yards, giving him 1,815 and the league rushing title. He beat Kansas City’s Larry Johnson, who had 1,789.
San Diego coach Marty Schottenheimer won his 200th regular-season game, joining Don Shula, George Halas, Tom Landry and Curly Lambeau in that exclusive club.
Dennis Green might have coached his last game for Arizona (5-11). He is 16-32 in three seasons.
