<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'> SAN DIEGO -- LaDainian Tomlinson learned that it was much easier to run against the Chicago Bears in the Nike commercial than in real life. But while stuffing the Chargers' star on the ground, the Bears forgot about that potent right arm that wasn't featured in the advertisement.Tomlinson's seventh career touchdown pass represented his most damage-inflicting play of the day as the Chargers forged past the Bears 14-3 on Sunday before 67,837 at Qualcomm Stadium in the season-opening contest for both teams.</p> Tomlinson's 17-yard heave to tight end Antonio Gates in the final minute of the third quarter put the Chargers ahead for good. A rock-solid defense protected the lead to wrap up its dominating performance in Norv Turner's first game as Chargers' head coach and Ted Cottrell's first outing as defensive coordinator.</p> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="right"> <tbody><tr> <td class="photo" align="center"></td> </tr> </tbody></table> On a day in which reigning NFL MVP Tomlinson rushed for just 25 yards, the Chargers forced four turnovers and limited Chicago to 202 yards. The defense pressured Bears quarterback Rex Grossman all game and rattled a player who often vanishes when the heat is on."I think that after that first hit that Shaun Phillips put on him, he was looking over his shoulder the rest of the game," safety Marlon McCree said, "and that played to our advantage."Despite suffocating a Grossman-challenged offense, this wasn't an easy victory by any means.The team that went 14-2 last season looked in danger of starting this campaign 0-1 while struggling to move the ball offensively. But three second-half lost fumbles by the Bears were the perfect tonic."These kind of games are more gratifying to win than winning games 35-3 and you have it won in the first quarter," quarterback Philip Rivers said. "These games are what you grow up dreaming about."The most crucial Bears mistake came with Chicago leading 3-0 with three minutes left in the third quarter. A short punt by the Chargers' Mike Scifres was disappointing -- until the 22-yard effort bounced off the right shoulder of Chicago's Brandon McGowan. Matt Wilhelm recovered, giving the Chargers the ball at the Chicago 29-yard line.Four plays later, on a first-down play from the Chicago 17, Turner called for the Tomlinson halfback pass. Rivers pitched the ball to Tomlinson and was originally worried when he saw the penetration of Bears strong safety Adam Archuleta. Rivers was unsure if Tomlinson would be able to locate Gates, who was darting to the right with only Chicago free safety Mike Brown in the vicinity.Rivers need not have worried."I knew it was going to be a good play as I rolled out and I saw Mike backing up and I saw Gates running his route," Tomlinson said. "I wanted to fake and hold on to it as long as possible, and I had someone closing in on me so I threw it in there as hard as I could."Gates squirted into the corner of the end zone for the Chargers' first score of the game. They added a fourth-quarter touchdown -- on Tomlinson's 7-yard run with 9:09 to play -- after Chicago's Adrian Peterson lost a fumble.Chicago would only see the ball one more time. That drive ended when Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner -- Norv's younger brother -- inexplicably tried to run the ball three consecutive times after the Bears had second-and-2 from the Chargers 36. Chicago (80 rushing yards overall) gained just 1 yard on the three plays.Then again, perhaps throwing the ball with Grossman (12-of-23 for 145 yards, one interception) was more risky than challenging the Chargers' front seven on the ground. After all, Grossman had made a major mistake in the first half that cost the Bears a chance to add to a 3-0 lead.On first-and-10 from the Chargers 32 with just over two minutes left in the half, a hurried Grossman opted to throw into double coverage rather than throw the ball away. McCree intercepted, ending the drive."It was mistakes that stopped our drives," Grossman said. "They did a good job and at times got to the quarterback, but it was mostly our fault why we didn't get in the end zone."Though Rivers completed 22-of-31 passes for 190 yards and Gates caught nine passes for 107 yards, it took more than 44 minutes for the Chargers to score the first points of Norv Turner's tenure.In the opening quarter, Nate Kaeding's 33-yard field-goal attempt was swatted down by Alex Brown's right paw and Rivers was intercepted when he tried to force a ball to Gates in double coverage.Mike Brown's interception and 27-yard return to the Chargers' 36 set up by a 27-yard field goal by Robbie Gould 47 seconds into the second quarter.But that would be the only score for a Bears team that would end the contest with more turnovers than points."We accomplished a mission, and we're going to get better on a lot of things," linebacker Shawne Merriman said. "We've been working so much to keep putting pressure on teams and keep going after the ball and getting turnovers because that is one thing that we did not do last year."</div></p> http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/09/10..._9_07.txt</p>
