SAN DIEGO — Standing in the corner of the far end zone, as only a team president can, Dean Spanos could not contain his glee.
It was late in the fourth quarter and San Diego Chargers cornerback Drayton Florence had just intercepted a pass from Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young. Spanos leaped for joy, suit and all.
He knew what everyone at Qualcomm Stadium knew, that Florence’s pick had clinched the Chargers’ muscle-aching, rain-drenched 17-6 victory against the tenacious Titans. Not just any victory, of course. It was San Diego’s first playoff win in 12 years.
It also meant once-beleaguered coach Norv Turner just accomplished something Marty Schottenheimer never did — win when it mattered most.
It was Spanos who had to make the final decision in the in-house philosophical feud between team architect A.J. Smith and Schottenheimer. Spanos picked Smith. Schottenheimer was let go, replaced by Turner.
The decision was made after the Chargers’ 14-2, then-one-and-done season of 2006. Spanos, Smith, the general manager, and especially Turner didn’t look so smart early in 2007 when the Chargers started 1-3 and the home crowd chanted, “We want Marty!”
“Usually new coaches don’t come into teams that had winning records like we had,” said Spanos, who runs the Chargers’ daily operations for his father, owner Alex Spanos. “In some ways that was more difficult than coming into a team that hasn’t been winning. There was a lot of pressure on him, and we talked about it in the beginning of the year that if we started off slowly, there would be even more pressure. And unfortunately, we started off 1-3.
“But I have to give Norv a tremendous amount of credit for staying the course. He never wavered, hung in there, the team stayed behind him.”
Breaking the playoff hex would not happen easily. The Chargers were down 6-0 at the half.
Not until Turner gave up on feeding the ball to star running back LaDainian Tomlinson did the Chargers’ offense start moving.
With Tomlinson taken out of the game by the Titans’ rugged defense, and San Diego’s star tight end Antonio Gates getting carted off the field with a toe injury, Philip Rivers did what the Titans dared him to do — beat them with his arm. Not only did he throw for 292 yards, he threw to his wide receivers.
Chris Chambers caught six passes for 121 yards and Northern Colorado alum Vincent Jackson had five catches for 114 yards, including a go-ahead 25-yard TD in the third quarter.
Winning through the air vindicated Turner. He caught considerable early guff not only for losing, but losing while not getting Tomlinson his share of touchdowns.
But that was part of the plan to taking the next step that is January football.
“In terms of what we wanted to become, we didn’t want to be a one-dimensional team that depended on L.T. every single game and if L.T. wasn’t going, we weren’t going,” Turner said. “And today, we couldn’t get L.T. going early, but it didn’t keep us from getting done what we wanted to do.”
Afterward, while addressing his team, Turner became emotional. His eyes were red during his postgame press conference.
“It was probably rain,” he said.
Tomlinson was asked if he was happier for Turner, or Rivers, who has dealt with his share of criticism this season.
“If I had to pick, it would probably be Norv a little bit more,” Tomlinson said. “Norv was brought in here in an odd situation. It was either get us back in the playoffs and win a game in the playoffs or he would be a failure.
“So I felt a little bit more for Norv. I felt like he got the raw end of the stick. Especially early on when people started booing and yelling ‘Marty,’ that was kind of unfair to him.”
No wonder Dean Spanos leaped.
Super Chargers
Down 6-0 at halftime, San Diego took charge in the second half and won 17-6.
What happened
This was a rare example in which Tennessee was clearly the superior team at the line of scrimmage, but didn’t win. Why? The Titans just didn’t have enough firepower at the skill positions. LenDale White ran tough but doesn’t break long runs, and QB Vince Young is an exceptional talent who isn’t a downfield thrower.
What it means
The Chargers finally broke their playoff hex. They had lost their previous two home playoff games, including last year as the No. 1 seed. They had not won in the postseason since 1995.
What’s next
The Chargers must beat Peyton Manning and the Colts on Sunday at the RCA Dome. The last time these teams met, on Nov. 11, Manning had the worst game of his career, throwing six interceptions in a 23-21 loss. But that was during a downpour in San Diego, not in the temperature-controlled Indy dome.
QUARTER BY QUARTER
First quarter: Amid the din of a hostile crowd, Tennessee immediately took control with a game-opening, 13-play drive for a short field goal. The Titans’ defense then stopped the Chargers on a three-and-out. The Titans had six first downs in the quarter. The Chargers had none.
Second quarter: The Titans employed their Woody Hayes attack with 11 runs in a 12-play drive. In the end, though, the conservative style killed Tennessee as Chris Brown fumbled it away at the Chargers’ 9.
Third quarter: With LaDainian Tomlinson unable to run — 15 yards on 14 carries through the third — and TE Antonio Gates out with a sprained left toe, the Chargers finally decided their wide receivers would have to move the ball. North Colorado’s Vincent Jackson was huge in this quarter, catching four passes for 82 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown.
Fourth quarter: Once the Chargers took the lead, the Titans didn’t have the type of offense to play catch-up. RB LenDale White got just 8 of his 69 yards rushing in the second half. QB Vince Young was only 5-for-10 in the second half for 46 yards.
Mike Klis: 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com
