After Philip Rivers put his right throwing arm to some good use, he also proved he has wheels.

During the week while watching film Rivers had picked up on something and was able to score on a scramble from five yards late third quarter, as the Chargers defeated the Dolphins 23-13 on Sunday. Early second half Miami also lost their quarterback Chad Pennington when he injured his shoulder.

It was only Rivers’ second rushing touchdown of his career.

Rivers said, getting a score on the run isn’t something I’m used to. He had 303 yards passing a week after he threw for 436 yards, his career high, during a loss to the Ravens. He had no interceptions or touchdown passes.

On third down and goal from the shotgun, Rivers wasn’t able to find a receiver as the pocket collapsed. However there was a hole up the middle. Rivers was able to sprint into his end zone to give the Chargers the lead at 10-6.

Rivers said that the Chargers video staff had put clips together of Miami’s defense from inside the 20.

Two or three of the plays were quarterback draws. A few others happened just like this one. All week it was in my mind.

During the week Rivers mentioned it to Norv Turner, Chargers coach.

Turner said, Rivers said if it opens up, I will take off running. I said I hope it’s from the 3 yard line instead of the 8.

The touchdown run by Rivers capped a drive of five plays and 75 yards. It also included a 47 yard pass from Rivers over to Malcolm Floyd as well as a razzle play in which Darren Sproles got the hand off and then ran to the right before throwing a pass backward to Rivers who then hit Antonio Gates, tight end, on a 19 yard pass.

Eric Weddle, safety, intercepted Chad Henne, backup quarterback for Miami, and returned the ball 31 yards to score a touchdown with under six minutes remaining.

It’s the first time San Diego (2-1) has been over .500 during the regular season since 2007. For Miami it’s the third time out of six seasons that they’ve been at 0-3.

Tony Sparano, Miami coach said, I explained to the guys inside the locker room that you can’t pout for too long.

The game was lackluster quite often. At halftime the score was tied 3-3. The Chargers had to settle for three Nate Kaeding field goals after getting to inside the 10 yard line of Miami.

Turner said, we are having major problems inside the red zone. Most of those problems are self inflicted.

The only touchdown from Miami came on a run of 14 yards from Ricky Williams, native of San Diego, with 2:51 remaining.

Rivers, a week after he threw for 436 career high yards in San Diego’s loss to Baltimore, went 18 for 33 for a total of 303 yards passing.

On Miami’s first possession in the second half, linebacker Kevin Burnett hit Pennington on third down and seven after he threw an incomplete pass from the 40 yard line of Miami. He got up slowly, and once he was back on the sideline took his shoulder pads and helmet off and put an ice bag on his shoulder.

The extent of Pennington’s injury wasn’t known.

Pennington has a history with shoulder injures. He said he was shocked.

Pennington said, I’m very disappointed knowing the kind of work I have put in as well as the work the team has done.

Miami ran from the wildcat formation seven times and gained 42 yards. On their first drive, they used it three times. However, although the drive was impressive, it didn’t result in any points.

On the drive, Miami used up 9:29 of the play clock on their 17 play, 94 yard drive. Then on second down and goal at the one yard line, Ronnie Brown missed Pennington’s hand off and fumbled the football. It wound up in the end zone. Justin Smiley, Dolphins guard, was able to recover the ball. However he touched the end line. The play was ruled as a touchback.

Brown said, it was there. I might have closed down there a bit early. It’s an area we need to focus on and be better on. It’s just fundamentals.

Watching the football bounce away was tough, said Brown.

He added, to be in the situation where you have driven the ball 94 yards and been effective and then be in the position to score then not take advantage, that’s tough.

Then Rivers led the Chargers down to the 8 yard line of Miami. However their drive stalled and a field goal of 25 yards was booted through by Kaeding.

Mid second quarter, Joey Porter sacked Rivers and he fumbled. Phillip Merling recovered the ball at the 17 yard line of the Chargers’. On the 5 yard line the Dolphin had first down and goal. However Brown was stuffed twice by the Chargers. Dan Carpenter hit a field goal from 24 yards to tie the score at 3-3.

Right before halftime, San Diego had first down on the 15 yard line of Miami. However Kris Dielman, guard, received a personal foul penalty, moving the football to the 30 yard line. In three plays San Diego only gained 8 yards. Then Kaeding missed a field goal attempt of 41 yards wide right.

Ray Lewis decided to take a chance. It was a very big chance.

On fourth down and 2, the star linebacker for the Ravens shot the gap, meeting Darren Sproles of the Chargers head on during the closing seconds of the game. Brute strength beat out shiftiness and speed.

In a game that appeared it would be decided by the Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, it instead got sealed by the Ravens’ Lewis. On Sunday his big play preserved Baltimore’s 31-26 victory over San Diego.

Lewis, a former MVP of the Super Bowl, NFL Defensive Player of the Year two times and Pro Bowler 10 times said, probably that was one of my greatest plays in my career due to the fact that we did this as a team.

In order to get the win, San Diego need to score a touchdown. They had the football on the 15 yard line of Baltimore with 33 seconds remaining in the game. Lewis went through unblocked and was able to slam the Chargers’ running back for a loss of five yards. Baltimore (2-0) was then able to run the clock out.

Earlier in the game San Diego had run the play, but the first time Lewis missed on the tackle. Lewis knew what the consequences would be if the Chargers converted. He knew what he needed to do was shoot the gap, then locate the ball carrier.

Lewis said, with the game on the line, when Philip dropped down, that was when I shot in. Man, he was right there.

John Harbaugh, Ravens coach said, San Diego knows how to win games right at the last minute. I guess that Ray Lewis knows more. I guess he knows a bit better. That was the greatest play in football made that I have ever seen.

Almost single handedly Rivers was able to keep the Chargers (1-1), who were short handed, in the game. He passed for 436 yards, his career high, along with two touchdowns. However he also threw two interceptions, and four different times the Chargers ended up having to settle for a field goal when the ball was at the 10 yard line of Baltimore or closer.

According to Rivers, San Diego ran the play that they thought would give them the best opportunity for getting a first down.

Rivers said, you can’t just keep throwing the ball. Well, you can. We just didn’t execute the play. It’s tough ending the game like that.

Rivers tied Dan Fouts, Hall of Famer, for third most yards passing in a game.

The Ravens, only a week after accumulating 501 yards, their franchise record, in their victory over the Chiefs, weren’t able to fully put San Diego away. The Chargers were playing without LaDainian Tomlinson, running back, Nick Hardwick, center, and Louis Vasquez, right guard, due to injuries. On Saturday they placed Jamal Williams, defensive tackle, on the injured reserve list, which means he is out for the rest of the season.

Joe Flacco, Ravens quarterback, had two touchdown throws, while Willis McGahee had two rushing touchdowns.

What killed the Chargers was Rivers’ bad decisions and San Diego’s inability to score any touchdowns.

During the first half, San Diego got to Baltimore’s 1, 2 and 5 yard line. Each time they were forced to settle for Kaeding field goals.

The Chargers, trailing by the score of 21-13, on a Rivers pass of 24 yards over to Vincent Jackson got down to the one yard line. A replay upheld the play, but San Diego drew a delay of game penalty. Rivers threw two incomplete passes. Then Norv Turner on third down decided to kick the ball with 10 second remaining. That drew lots of boos from the crowd.

Kaeding made the field goal from 23 yards out to make the score 21-16. He had field goals of 22 and 29 yards as well.

Mid fourth quarter the same thing happened. Shawne Merriman hit Flacco and Antoine Cason picked off his pass. San Diego moved the ball down to the 10 yard line of the Ravens, then bogged down again. They also got another penalty for delay of game. Kaeding hit a field goal of 25 yards to make the score 28-26.

Rivers said, they applied a lot of pressure down there. You are trying to figure out how to block. On some of the plays they brought as many men as they could. It was more lack of execution I think than anything else. And the delay penalties really killed us.

With 2:54 remaining, Steve Hauschka, Ravens kicker, booted a field goal of 33 yards.

During the third quarter, while being pressured by Lewis on the 34 yard line of the Chargers, Rivers turned to the side and threw the ball blindly, attempting to throw it away. Dawan Landry, Ravens safety, intercepted the ball and then pitched it back to Ed Reed who returned the ball to the 22 yard line. Flacco, four plays later, threw a touchdown pass of 9 yards to Todd Heap, Ravens tight end, to give Baltimore the lead 28-16.

Rivers answered back, finding Jackson behind double coverage with a touchdown pass of 35 yards on third down and 18. With 2:26 remaining third quarter it pulled San Diego to within 28-22.

On the second possession for the Chargers in the game, the Ravens failed to cover Sproles. He was able to turn a Rivers swing pass into a touchdown of 81 yards to give the Chargers the lead at 7-0. Sproles was able to race down the sideline and then cut inside to beat Reed into the end zone. For the game the all purpose yards for Sproles was 278.

Flacco, a week after he had his career high in passing at 307 yards, went 17 for 26 for a total of 190 yards passing.

Philip Rivers was unfazed by yet another deficit in the fourth quarter as he entered the huddle. Instead he was poised and ready to prove why San Diego chose him as the team’s $93 million man.

On Monday night, Rivers was able to answer Oakland’s two go-ahead scores with two touchdown drives. With 18 seconds remaining, Darren Sproles ran the ball in from 5 yards out to score the game winning touchdown to give San Diego a 24-20 victory and their 12 consecutive win in a row over Oakland.

This win might have been the hardest one of all. With 2:34 remaining JaMarcus Russel had put the Raiders ahead 20-17 with his touchdown pass of 57 yards to Louis Murphy, rookie wide receiver. However despite the fact that the Chargers were playing with two backup linemen, Rivers was able to lead the Chargers calmly down the field to get the winning score.

Rivers said, one thing I do know for sure is no other team in this league practices two minute drills as much as our team does. It is different executing them at Murphy Canyon Road than in Oakland. When we were in the huddle I just said we have done this millions of times before. Let’s go get a score. We just need three points.

On the Chargers winning drive, Rivers went 6 out of 7 for a total of 79 yards passing before the crowd was silenced by Sproles when he ran up the middle to score. It marked the 11th loss in a row for the Raiders in prime time. It may have been their most painful loss, considering how close to winning they came in this game.

As he was leaving the field Cornell Green, Raiders offensive lineman, let the frustration of Oakland’s out with an outburst full of expletives, screaming how lucky the Chargers were to get the victory.

Tom Cable, Raiders coach said, our team played their guts out, but we didn’t finish this game. That is the bottom line.

Early fourth quarter the Raiders took the lead at 13-10 on field goal of 35 yards from Sebastian Janikowski. Rivers answered with a touchdown pass of 15 yards to Vincent Jackson. After that the fourth down pass from Russell to Murphy appeared it would end their losing streaks in emphatic fashion. Instead it became a mere footnote to the Raiders 73rd league worst loss since the 2003 season.

For most of the game San Diego’s offense appeared to be over matched against the Raiders defense and recently acquired defensive end Richard Seymour. Third quarter injuries to Nick Hardwick, center, and Louis Vasquez, guard, made it even tougher for San Diego to move the ball. One drive was thwarted when the Chargers frustration led to Rivers committing a personal foul.

However, the last two Chargers drives showed why San Diego gave Rivers that big contract extension last month of six years and $38 million guaranteed. Rivers went 24 out of 36 for a total of 252 yards passing. He played his best at the time that it counted the most.

Norv Turner, Chargers coach said, people like to talk about quarterbacks who can handle pressure, who can respond and lead when their team is behind. He had done that over and over again. He’s done that in some very tough situations like tonight. Getting the win here is great.

With one pass over to Murphy Russell was almost able to overcome his rough night. Russell went 12 out of 30 for a total of 208 yards passing and threw two interceptions, including a desperation throw after the touchdown by Sproles.

Seymour gave the Raiders a big boost. He arrived two days ago from New England. He didn’t have time to even go through one full practice with the Raiders. During the first half Seymour sacked Rivers twice, helping to keep LaDainian Tomlinson, a longtime nemesis of Oakland’s, under control.

Tomlinson coming into this game had averaged 119 rushing yards a game versus the Raiders. He only managed to get 55 yards in 13 carries and ended up rolling his ankles. However Sproles had two long returns on kickoffs to help out, along with five receptions for 43 yards as well as scoring the winning touchdown.

Nnamdi Asomugha, Raiders cornerback and Pro Bowler said, it was like there were two different games. There was what we did to start the game and then there were the last two drives. We were good on the run and pass. During the fourth quarter though we had a few breakdowns. That hurt us.

During the first half play was dominated by the Raiders. Oakland out gained San Diego 217 yards to 74 yards. However due to two turnovers along with a replay review unfavorable to the Raiders, the score was still tied 10-10.

With Oakland’s offensive line being able to create big holes, Michael Bush and Darren McFadden ran the football down field during the Raiders opening drive until Russell was intercepted by Quentin Jammer on San Diego’s 25 yard line.

On Oakland’s second drive they were able to finish the job. Russell threw a pass of 30 yards to Zach Miller, setting up a 4 yard run by Bush. During the next drive McFadden fumbled, setting up a one yard run by Tomlinson to tie the score. It was Tomlinson’s 20th rushing touchdown of his career versus the Raiders.

Late first half, Oakland lost a replay review. An apparent touchdown pass of19 yards to Murphy got overturned. It was ruled that ball had come loose as Murphy hit the ground. With 40 seconds remaining first half the Raiders had to settle for a field goal of 37 yards by Janikowski.

Carl Cheffers, referee told reporters, in the rule book by definition when he is going down to the ground, he must maintain possession throughout the full act of catching the ball. In this particular case, the player lost possession of the ball and it hit the ground. So it was an incomplete pass.

The ensuing kickoff was returned 59 yards by Sproles, setting up a field goal of 47 yards by Nate Kaeding on the last play in the half.