• Chargers win to clinch home field, cap record 14-2 season
• Milestones mark start of road to Super Bowl

January 1, 2007

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The best regular season in team history is history, having given way to what has always mattered most.

“What a great year,” team President Dean Spanos said as he walked from the field with a smile that could light up a New Year's Eve sky. “So far.”

Philip Rivers limped for the better part of the afternoon, then rested along with LaDainian Tomlinson for the final quarter, the two stars watching the Chargers finish off a 27-20 victory over the Arizona Cardinals yesterday in the regular-season finale.

Marty Schottenheimer's 200th regular-season victory finished off a perfect run through eight home games, a first for the franchise, was the Chargers' 10th straight victory and their team-record 14th overall.

SEAN M. HAFFEY / Union-Tribune LaDainian Tomlinson gets pulled into a Heisman Trophy pose by Arizona LB Monty Beisel but pulls away for an 11-yard gain en route to winning the NFL rushing title. PHOTO GALLERY

On a day when Tomlinson ran just 16 times for 66 yards to secure the first NFL rushing title by a Charger and a team record was set as the Chargers upped their season points total to 492, there was a modicum of concern.

Rivers sprained his right foot when he was sacked in the first quarter. But while he was obviously uncomfortable throughout the game and limped afterward, Rivers and others in the organization said it appears he will be fine when the Chargers play their first playoff game on Jan. 13 or 14.

That being so, the most significant thing to happen yesterday was the Chargers securing home-field advantage for as long they are alive in the AFC playoffs.

For all the records that fell amid the success of the past four months, only January matters now.

THE PLAYOFFS The Chargers have one of the two AFC byes (with Baltimore) in the wild-card round. They open the playoffs in the divisional round on either Jan. 13 or 14. A look at this weekend's games and the Chargers' prospective opponents: Saturday Kansas City at Indianapolis,1:30 p.m., Ch. 7/39 Dallas at Seattle, 5 p.m., Ch. 7/39 Sunday N.Y. Jets atNew England,10 a.m., Ch. 8 N.Y. Giants at Philadelphia,1:30 p.m., Ch. 6 Chargers opponent: If Kansas City beats Indianapolis, the Chargers play the Chiefs at Qualcomm Stadium. If Indianapolis wins, the Chargers play the winner of the New York Jets-New England game at Qualcomm. The day on which the Chargers will play has not been determined.

“We're 0-0 again,” Rivers said.

“It will be a disappointing season if we don't take care of business like we're supposed to,” safety Marlon McCree said.

“We've got to take it to another level now,” linebacker Shawne Merriman said.

“We were able to accomplish something minor,” tight end Antonio Gates said. “Now it's time to accomplish something major, which would be the Super Bowl.”

While he will likely take it easy when the Chargers practice three days during their upcoming week without a game, Rivers has no doubt he will be the quarterback who leads them in that quest.

Rivers had his foot bent sharply upward when Chike Okeafor dragged him down. He missed the final snap of the first quarter before returning for the start of the second and completing 9 of his 10 passes, two for touchdowns, before halftime.

He gave way for good to backup Billy Volek with 1:26 to play in the third quarter. That is when Tomlinson sat as well.

“To me, it'll be a nonissue,” said Rivers, who after the game was able to fit his slightly swollen foot into a loafer. “Obviously, it's something I've got to get taken care of, but it will be a nonissue come two weeks from now. . . . I'll be fine. That's the least concern in my mind. Our team accomplished a lot today . . . most importantly, wrapping up (the fact) everything has got to come through San Diego.”

CHARGERS SUPERLATIVES The team 14-2 Best record in NFLthis season Best regular-season record in team history Most regular-season victories in team history 8-0 Best home record in team history 492 Most points in team history LaDainian Tomlinson 31 NFL record for TDs 28 NFL record for rushing TDs 186 NFL record for points 1,815 Most rushing yards in NFL; team record Shawne Merriman 17 Most sacks in NFL  LT No. 1: LaDainian Tomlinson becomes the first Charger to lead the NFL in rushing, finishing with 1,815 yards, and acknowledges that the achievement is gratifying. MORE

As the No. 1 seed in the AFC, and owners of the best record in the league, the Chargers will host the lowest seed that remains after this weekend's wild-card games. The date of the Chargers' first playoff game should be announced by midweek.

As the Chargers look forward to a healing and refreshing week, they also know they will have to play better in the postseason than they did yesterday, particularly on defense. They gave up more yards (444) to the Cardinals (5-11) than in any game this season save for that numbing November game at Cincinnati.

“We had a couple of mental errors that cannot happen in the playoffs, or we're going to be eliminated in the first or second game,” McCree said.

The game actually got close when the Cardinals scored with 3½ minutes remaining. But the Chargers ran down the clock, the last of their five running plays a 43-yard streak by fullback Lorenzo Neal.

And so they escaped, exhausted after 14 straight weeks of practice and games.

“We expected to win this game,” McCree said. “Honestly, this game was a big challenge for us. We would all rather have preferred to not play this game, sat down and let the backups play. But it was too important.”

They will return just less than two weeks from now, emboldened by their newfound invincibility at home. Exactly a year earlier, they walked from here dejected, having suffered their fourth home defeat to finish off a supremely disappointing season.

Now, Qualcomm Stadium is warm and inviting to them. They call it “comfortable” for them and bask in the discomfort other teams are beginning to experience here.

“This is the loudest it's ever been in the four years I've been here,” guard Kris Dielman said. “These last four weeks, these have been the loudest four games I've ever heard.”

They will count on that edge as they go forward.

“That was one of our many goals was to go undefeated (at home),” Gates said “We've accomplished that. Now it's time for us to accomplish our next goal.”

Kevin Acee: (619) 293-1857; kevin.acee@uniontrib.com