NFL: CHICAGO at SAN DIEGO <div class="pre">NFL TWO MINUTE WARNING, 2ND HALF CHICAGO 3 SAN DIEGO 14 SDG BALL ON CHI 24 YD LINE 2ND AND 8</div>
NFL: CHICAGO at SAN DIEGO <div class="pre">NFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL --- --- --- --- ----- CHICAGO 0 3 0 0 3 SAN DIEGO 0 0 7 7 14 FINAL SCORING SUMMARY 1ST QUARTER: NONE 2ND QUARTER: CHI - FG, ROBBIE GOULD 27 YD, 0:47. Drive: 8 plays, 27 yards in 3:54. Key plays: Brown 27-yard interception return to San Diego 36; Benson 11-yard run to San Diego 25; Peterson 3-yard run on 3rd-and-2 to San Diego 14. CHICAGO 3-0 3RD QUARTER: SDG - TD, ANTONIO GATES 17 YD PASS FROM LADAINIAN TOMLINSON (NATE KAEDING KICK), 14:15. Drive: 4 plays, 29 yards in 2:05. Key plays: Chargers' Wilhelm recovery of fumbled punt on Chicago 29-yard line; Neal 3-yard run to Chicago 17 on 3rd-and-1. SAN DIEGO 7-3 4TH QUARTER: SDG - TD, LADAINIAN TOMLINSON 4 YD RUN (NATE KAEDING KICK), 5:51. Drive: 8 plays, 56 yards in 4:36. Key plays: Rivers 13-yard pass to Gates to Chicago 43; Rivers 20-yard pass to Tomlinson to Chicago 24; Rivers 2-yard run to Chicago 13 on 3rd-and-1. SAN DIEGO 14-3 ATT:</div>
NFL: CHICAGO at SAN DIEGO <div class="pre">NFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL --- --- --- --- ----- CHICAGO 0 3 0 0 3 SAN DIEGO 0 0 7 7 14 FINAL SCORING SUMMARY 1ST QUARTER: NONE 2ND QUARTER: 0:47 CHI - FG, ROBBIE GOULD 27 YD. Drive: 8 plays, 27 yards in 3:54. Key plays: Brown 27-yard interception return to San Diego 36; Benson 11-yard run to San Diego 25; Peterson 3-yard run on 3rd-and-2 to San Diego 14. CHICAGO 3-0. 3RD QUARTER: 14:15 SDG - TD, ANTONIO GATES 17 YD PASS FROM LADAINIAN TOMLINSON (NATE KAEDING KICK). Drive: 4 plays, 29 yards in 2:05. Key plays: Chargers' Wilhelm recovery of fumbled punt on Chicago 29-yard line; Neal 3-yard run to Chicago 17 on 3rd-and-1. SAN DIEGO 7-3. 4TH QUARTER: 5:51 SDG - TD, LADAINIAN TOMLINSON 4 YD RUN (NATE KAEDING KICK). Drive: 8 plays, 56 yards in 4:36. Key plays: Rivers 13-yard pass to Gates to Chicago 43; Rivers 20-yard pass to Tomlinson to Chicago 24; Rivers 2-yard run to Chicago 13 on 3rd-and-1. SAN DIEGO 14-3. CHICAGO - SAN DIEGO Final Statistics TEAM STATISTICS CHICAGO SAN DIEGO FIRST DOWNS 11 19 Rushing 4 8 Passing 7 9 Penalty 0 2 THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 3-11-27% 8-17-47% FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY 0-1-0% 1-1-100% TOTAL NET YARDS 202 263 Total offensive plays 52 71 Average gain per play 3.9 3.7 NET YARDS RUSHING 80 77 Rushing attempts 26 36 Average gain per rush 3.1 2.1 Tackles for loss-yards 2-4 5-15 NET YARDS PASSING 122 186 Times sacked: Number-Yards 3-23 3-21 Gross passing yards 145 207 PASS ATTEMPTS-COMPLETIONS-HAD INTERCEPTED 23-12-1 32-23-1 Avg gain per pass play 4.7 5.3 KICKOFFS: Number-In End Zone-Touchbacks 2-1-0 3-1-0 PUNTS: Number and Average 6-40.7 6-40.7 Had blocked 0 0 Net punting average 40.7 40.8 TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE (Not including kickoffs) 27 1 Number-Yards: Punt Returns 1-0 1--1 Number-Yards: Kickoff Returns 3-70 2-37 Number-Yards: Interception Returns 1-27 1-2 PENALTIES: Number-Yards 4-38 3-20 FUMBLES: Number-Lost 3-3 3-1 TOUCHDOWNS 0 2 Rushing 0 1 Passing 0 1 Interceptions 0 0 Other (blocked kicks, etc.) 0 0 EXTRA POINTS: Made-Attempts 0-0 2-2 Kicking: Made-Attempts 0-0 2-2 Passing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0 Rushing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0 FIELD GOALS: Made-Attempts 1-1 0-1 FGs - PATs had blocked 0-0 1-0 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY 0-1-0% 2-5-40% GOAL TO GO EFFICIENCY 0-0-0% 0-2-0% SAFETIES 0 0 TIME OF POSSESSION 22:57 37:03 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS CHICAGO SAN DIEGO RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- C BENSON 19 42 2.2 11 0 M TURNER 10 41 4.1 11 0 A PETERSON 7 38 5.4 11 0 L TOMLINSO 17 25 1.5 10 1 L NEAL 4 12 3.0 5 0 P RIVERS 5 -1 -0.2 3 0 PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- R GROSSMAN 12-23-145 1 0 24 P RIVERS 22-31-190 1 0 20 L TOMLINSO 1- 1- 17 0 1 17 Sacked-Yards Lost: R GROSSMAN 3-23. Sacked-Yards Lost: P RIVERS 3-21. RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- B BERRIAN 5 83 16.6 21 0 A GATES 9 107 11.9 19 1 D CLARK 3 38 12.7 24 0 L TOMLINSO 7 51 7.3 20 0 J MCKIE 2 5 2.5 4 0 V JACKSON 3 28 9.3 10 0 C BENSON 1 11 11.0 11 0 C DAVIS 2 15 7.5 10 0 M MUHAMMAD 1 8 8.0 8 0 B MANUMALE 1 4 4.0 4 0 L NEAL 1 2 2.0 2 0 INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- M BROWN 1 27 27.0 27 0 M MCCREE 1 2 2.0 2 0 PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- B MAYNARD 6 244 40.7 1 1 46 M SCIFRES 6 244 40.7 0 1 54 T = Touchbacks, I = Inside 20 PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- B MCGOWAN 1 0 0.0 0 0 C DAVIS 1 -1 -1.0 0 0 KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- D MANNING 2 41 20.5 21 0 D SPROLES 1 22 22.0 22 0 D HESTER 1 29 29.0 29 0 M TURNER 1 15 15.0 15 0 KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------- R GOULD 0/0 1/1 N KAEDING 2/2 0/1 Dist.: 27 Dist.: (33) O-D O-D FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ C BENSON 1 1 0 0-0 P RIVERS 1 1 0 0-0 A PETERSON 1 1 0 1-0 C DAVIS 1 0 0 0-0 R GROSSMAN 1 0 0 0-0 J CESAIRE 0 0 1 0-0 M BROWN 0 0 0 0-1 J WILLIAMS 0 0 1 0-0 S COOPER 0 0 1 0-1 C HART 0 0 0 0-1 M WILHELM 0 0 0 0-1 T DOBBINS 0 0 0 1-0 DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ H HILLENMEYER 9 8 1 0-0 S COOPER 8 7 1 0-0 L BRIGGS 8 7 1 0-0 M WILHELM 5 4 1 0-0 A ARCHULETA 7 7 0 0-0 L CASTILLO 5 3 2 0-0 C TILLMAN 6 6 0 0-0 M MCCREE 5 2 3 0-0 B URLACHER 6 5 1 0-0 J WILLIAMS 4 4 0 0-0 A OGUNLEYE 5 5 0 1-2 C HART 4 4 0 0-0 M ANDERSON 4 4 0 1-11 Q JAMMER 4 4 0 0-0 M BROWN 4 2 2 0-0 E WEDDLE 3 3 0 1-5 A BROWN 3 3 0 0-0 S MERRIMAN 3 3 0 0-0 B MCGOWAN 3 3 0 0-0 D FLORENCE 3 3 0 0-0 N VASHER 2 2 0 1-8 I OLSHANSKY 3 2 1 0-0 T HARRIS 2 2 0 0-0 J CESAIRE 2 1 1 1-12 D MANNING 2 2 0 0-0 R BINGHAM 2 1 1 0-0 D DVORACEK 2 1 1 0-0 S PHILLIPS 1 1 0 1-6 D WALKER 2 0 2 0-0 I IDONIJE 1 0 1 0-0</div>
By Tim Powers PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer SAN DIEGO (Ticker) -- LaDainian Tomlinson could not run the ballagainst the Chicago Bears defense, but he had no troublethrowing it. Tomlinson completed a 17-yard touchdown pass to tight endAntonio Gates, leading the San Diego Chargers to a 14-3 victoryover the defending NFC Champion Bears on Sunday in the seasonopener. The stout Chicago defense, which allowed the third-fewest pointsin the league a season ago, held Tomlinson to 13 yards on 13carries late into the third quarter before the reigning MVPburned them with his arm. San Diego took advantage of fortuitous field position gainedwhen Mike Scifres' punt bounced off Brandon McGowan's leg andwas recovered by Matt Wilhelm to give the Chargers the ball atthe Chicago 29. Quarterback Philip Rivers pitched the ball to Tomlinson, whoswung right before lofting the pass to a wide-open Gates whojust managed to stay inbounds and crossed the goal line, givingSan Diego a 7-3 lead with 52 seconds left in the third. Tomlinson added a fourth-quarter score on a 4-yard run to pushthe advantage to 14-3. Coming off a record-setting season in which he scored 31touchdowns, Tomlinson tallied just 25 yards on 17 carries inthis one, in addition to the two touchdowns. He also caughtseven passes for 51 yards. Gates led the San Diego receiving corps with nine receptions for107 yards, including the go-ahead score. Chicago quarterback Rex Grossman completed 12-of-23 passes for145 yards with one interception. Bears running back Cedric Benson ran for 42 yards on 19 carries,while backup Adrian Peterson added 38 yards on seven carriesbut fumbled twice. The opening-day loss was Chicago's first one following a seasonin which they won a division title. The Bears had gone 8-0 insuch situations entering this season.
NFL: CHICAGO at SAN DIEGO <div class="pre">NFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL --- --- --- --- ----- CHICAGO 0 3 0 0 3 SAN DIEGO 0 0 7 7 14 FINAL SCORING SUMMARY 1ST QUARTER: NONE 2ND QUARTER: 0:47 CHI - FG, ROBBIE GOULD 27 YD. Drive: 8 plays, 27 yards in 3:54. Key plays: Brown 27-yard interception return to San Diego 36; Benson 11-yard run to San Diego 25; Peterson 3-yard run on 3rd-and-2 to San Diego 14. CHICAGO 3-0. 3RD QUARTER: 14:15 SDG - TD, ANTONIO GATES 17 YD PASS FROM LADAINIAN TOMLINSON (NATE KAEDING KICK). Drive: 4 plays, 29 yards in 2:05. Key plays: Chargers' Wilhelm recovery of fumbled punt on Chicago 29-yard line; Neal 3-yard run to Chicago 17 on 3rd-and-1. SAN DIEGO 7-3. 4TH QUARTER: 5:51 SDG - TD, LADAINIAN TOMLINSON 4 YD RUN (NATE KAEDING KICK). Drive: 8 plays, 56 yards in 4:36. Key plays: Rivers 13-yard pass to Gates to Chicago 43; Rivers 20-yard pass to Tomlinson to Chicago 24; Rivers 2-yard run to Chicago 13 on 3rd-and-1. SAN DIEGO 14-3. CHICAGO - SAN DIEGO Final Statistics TEAM STATISTICS CHICAGO SAN DIEGO FIRST DOWNS 11 19 Rushing 4 8 Passing 7 9 Penalty 0 2 THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 3-11-27% 8-17-47% FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY 0-1-0% 1-1-100% TOTAL NET YARDS 202 263 Total offensive plays 52 71 Average gain per play 3.9 3.7 NET YARDS RUSHING 80 77 Rushing attempts 26 36 Average gain per rush 3.1 2.1 Tackles for loss-yards 2-4 5-15 NET YARDS PASSING 122 186 Times sacked: Number-Yards 3-23 3-21 Gross passing yards 145 207 PASS ATTEMPTS-COMPLETIONS-HAD INTERCEPTED 23-12-1 32-23-1 Avg gain per pass play 4.7 5.3 KICKOFFS: Number-In End Zone-Touchbacks 2-1-0 3-1-0 PUNTS: Number and Average 6-40.7 6-40.7 Had blocked 0 0 Net punting average 40.7 40.8 TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE (Not including kickoffs) 27 1 Number-Yards: Punt Returns 1-0 1--1 Number-Yards: Kickoff Returns 3-70 2-37 Number-Yards: Interception Returns 1-27 1-2 PENALTIES: Number-Yards 4-38 3-20 FUMBLES: Number-Lost 4-3 2-1 TOUCHDOWNS 0 2 Rushing 0 1 Passing 0 1 Interceptions 0 0 Other (blocked kicks, etc.) 0 0 EXTRA POINTS: Made-Attempts 0-0 2-2 Kicking: Made-Attempts 0-0 2-2 Passing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0 Rushing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0 FIELD GOALS: Made-Attempts 1-1 0-1 FGs - PATs had blocked 0-0 1-0 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY 0-1-0% 2-5-40% GOAL TO GO EFFICIENCY 0-0-0% 0-2-0% SAFETIES 0 0 TIME OF POSSESSION 22:57 37:03 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS CHICAGO SAN DIEGO RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- C BENSON 19 42 2.2 11 0 M TURNER 10 41 4.1 11 0 A PETERSON 7 38 5.4 11 0 L TOMLINSO 17 25 1.5 10 1 L NEAL 4 12 3.0 5 0 P RIVERS 5 -1 -0.2 3 0 PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- R GROSSMAN 12-23-145 1 0 24 P RIVERS 22-31-190 1 0 20 L TOMLINSO 1- 1- 17 0 1 17 Sacked-Yards Lost: R GROSSMAN 3-23. Sacked-Yards Lost: P RIVERS 3-21. RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- B BERRIAN 5 83 16.6 21 0 A GATES 9 107 11.9 19 1 D CLARK 3 38 12.7 24 0 L TOMLINSO 7 51 7.3 20 0 J MCKIE 2 5 2.5 4 0 V JACKSON 3 28 9.3 10 0 C BENSON 1 11 11.0 11 0 C DAVIS 2 15 7.5 10 0 M MUHAMMAD 1 8 8.0 8 0 B MANUMALE 1 4 4.0 4 0 L NEAL 1 2 2.0 2 0 INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- M BROWN 1 27 27.0 27 0 M MCCREE 1 2 2.0 2 0 PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- B MAYNARD 6 244 40.7 1 1 46 M SCIFRES 6 244 40.7 0 1 54 T = Touchbacks, I = Inside 20 PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- B MCGOWAN 1 0 0.0 0 0 C DAVIS 1 -1 -1.0 0 0 KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- D MANNING 2 41 20.5 21 0 D SPROLES 1 22 22.0 22 0 D HESTER 1 29 29.0 29 0 M TURNER 1 15 15.0 15 0 KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------- R GOULD 0/0 1/1 N KAEDING 2/2 0/1 Dist.: 27 Dist.: (33) O-D O-D FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ C BENSON 1 1 0 0-0 P RIVERS 1 1 0 0-0 B MCGOWAN 1 1 0 0-0 C DAVIS 1 0 0 0-0 A PETERSON 1 1 0 1-0 J CESAIRE 0 0 1 0-0 R GROSSMAN 1 0 0 0-0 J WILLIAMS 0 0 1 0-0 M BROWN 0 0 0 0-1 S COOPER 0 0 1 0-1 C HART 0 0 0 0-1 M WILHELM 0 0 0 0-1 T DOBBINS 0 0 0 1-0 DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ H HILLENMEYER 9 8 1 0-0 S COOPER 8 7 1 0-0 L BRIGGS 8 7 1 0-0 M WILHELM 5 4 1 0-0 A ARCHULETA 7 7 0 0-0 L CASTILLO 5 3 2 0-0 C TILLMAN 6 6 0 0-0 M MCCREE 5 2 3 0-0 B URLACHER 6 5 1 0-0 J WILLIAMS 4 4 0 0-0 A OGUNLEYE 5 5 0 1-2 C HART 4 4 0 0-0 M ANDERSON 4 4 0 1-11 Q JAMMER 4 4 0 0-0 M BROWN 4 2 2 0-0 E WEDDLE 3 3 0 1-5 A BROWN 3 3 0 0-0 S MERRIMAN 3 3 0 0-0 B MCGOWAN 3 3 0 0-0 D FLORENCE 3 3 0 0-0 N VASHER 2 2 0 1-8 I OLSHANSKY 3 2 1 0-0 T HARRIS 2 2 0 0-0 J CESAIRE 2 1 1 1-12 D MANNING 2 2 0 0-0 R BINGHAM 2 1 1 0-0 D DVORACEK 2 1 1 0-0 S PHILLIPS 1 1 0 1-6 D WALKER 2 0 2 0-0 I IDONIJE 1 0 1 0-0 Officials: Referee-Peter Morelli, Umpire-Darrell Jenkins, Head Linesman-George Hayward, Line Judge-Charles Stewart, Field Judge-Jim Saracino, Side Judge-Jeff Lamberth, Back Judge-Keith Ferguson. Time of Game: 2:49</div>
By Tim Powers PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer SAN DIEGO (Ticker) - LaDainian Tomlinson could not run the ballagainst the Chicago Bears defense, but he had no troublethrowing it. Tomlinson completed a 17-yard touchdown pass to tight endAntonio Gates, leading the San Diego Chargers to a 14-3 victoryover the defending NFC Champion Bears on Sunday in the seasonopener. Norv Turner got his first victory as coach of the Chargers.Turner replaced Marty Schottenheimer, who was fired followinganother disappointing playoff defeat despite a league-best 14-2record. "When I got this job, he said to me, 'You know, I throw theball,'" said Turner of Tomlinson. "So, I thought it was a goodopportunity. We had been in the red zone, and we obviously hadstruggled. It was the perfect situation." The stout Chicago defense, which allowed the third-fewest pointsin the league a season ago, held Tomlinson to 13 yards on 13carries late into the third quarter before the reigning MVPburned them with his arm. San Diego took advantage of fortuitous field position gainedwhen Mike Scifres' punt bounced off Brandon McGowan's leg andwas recovered by Matt Wilhelm to give the Chargers the ball atthe Chicago 29. Quarterback Philip Rivers pitched the ball to Tomlinson, whoswung right before lofting the pass to a wide-open Gates whojust managed to stay inbounds and crossed the goal line, givingSan Diego a 7-3 lead with 52 seconds left in the third. "I knew from the jump that it was probably going to be a prettygood play," Tomlinson said. "I really couldn't tell, when Gatesmade his break, where he was. I just knew he was behind(safety Mike Brown). So, I wanted to hold and sell it as longas possible. I just tried just to throw it in there as hard asI could, and it worked out well." Tomlinson added a fourth-quarter score on a 4-yard run to pushthe advantage to 14-3. "That just shows you the kind of player (Tomlinson) is," Gatessaid. "When you've got a player like him, there is really noway to shut him down. He finds a way to win and finds a way tomake the other guys on his team better. That's what he didtoday. "Even though he wasn't successful running the ball, he stillmade plays to help us win the ballgame." Coming off a record-setting season in which he scored 31touchdowns, Tomlinson tallied just 25 yards on 17 carries inthis one, in addition to the two touchdowns. He also caughtseven passes for 51 yards. "I went into this game not expecting to have 150 yards oranything like that, especially with the kind of defense theyplay," Tomlinson said. "Their whole philosophy is to stop therun. My whole thing was to be patient and take what they giveme, and for the most part I did that." Gates led the San Diego receiving corps with nine receptions for107 yards, including the go-ahead score. Chicago quarterback Rex Grossman completed 12-of-23 passes for145 yards with one interception. "We kind of shot ourselves in the foot anytime we got a rhythymgoing," Grossman said. "They played well, but it just wasn'tour day. It was mistakes that stopped our drives and we failedto get into the end zone, which is extremely disappointing." "Our defense, not only did they contain and stop them, but wecreated the turnovers that decided the game," Turner said. Bears running back Cedric Benson ran for 42 yards on 19 carries,while backup Adrian Peterson added 38 yards on seven carriesbut fumbled twice. "We knew coming in that we were playing a good football team,and especially on the road, you have to stay away fromturnovers," Bears coach Lovie Smith said. "I liked the way weplayed defense today. But, in the end they made more plays thanwe did." The opening-day loss was Chicago's first one following a seasonin which they won a division title. The Bears had gone 8-0 insuch situations entering this season. "We had all the opportunities in the world," Grossman said. "Ourdefense gave us a chance to win this game. It's just toughbeing in the game and knowing that you were right there, butweren't able to win for whatever reason."
Re: NFL: CHICAGO (0-0) at SAN DIEGO (0-0) Well that was pretty awful... I caught a little big of it in the airport, and what can I say except I'm missing me some Thomas Jones.
