San Diego got their bye for the first round and Philip Rivers still has a perfect December record.

Tennessee lost their bid to make NFL history along with their dream of a post season. They looked more like the team starting out their season at 0-6.

Philip Rivers passed for two touchdowns and LaDainian Tomlinson had two running touchdowns, as the Chargers defeated the Titans on Friday night 42-17 and became the No. 2 seed in the AFC and got a bye in the playoffs first round.

Rivers said, it’s nice getting the number two seed. Also keeping our December streak going and positioning ourselves for the post season. It really says a lot about coach Turner and our guys.

The champs of the AFC West won their 10th consecutive game, tying the 1970-74 Dolphins with the most consecutive victories for a month. They have won 18 games in a row during the month of December since 2006. Miami won 18 consecutive games during November.

Running back Darren Sproles ran for two touchdowns and also caught a pass for a touchdown to help the Chargers (12-3) shatter the dreams of the Titans to become the first team in the NFL to start 0-6 for the season and then make it into the playoffs. The Titans (7-8) were hoping to beat what the Chargers were able to do in 1994 when they made it to the playoffs after starting the season 0-4.

The Chargers were on a roll, out gaining the Titans 425 to 270 total offensive yards and held the football for 39 minutes. Turner gave credit to his offensive line, featuring the return of Nick Hardwick at center after he had been out since the opening game, with allowing Rivers to play.

Turner said, he does it well. Our guys obviously right now are playing with lots of confidence. A run of 10 wins, I don’t think we’ve felt that we are on a 10 game winning streak. We’ve been winning our games one by one. It’s a cliché, I know, but that’s what we have done. I am most proudest of that.

The quest by Chris Johnson to become just the sixth player in the NFL to ever run for 2,000 yards during one season is alive. It’s the only goal Tennessee has left. Johnson had one running touchdown and 142 yards rushing to give him 1,872 yards. He has the season finale in Seattle remaining. Johnson also had his tenth 100 yard running game in a row, trailing only Barry Sanders with 14 games and Marcus Allen with 11.

Johnson is only 234 short of the single season rushing record held by Eric Dickerson at 2,105 yards.

Johnson said, anything is doable. I think I can do that.

Jeff Fisher, Titans coach, hasn’t beat San Diego yet.

Fisher said, this team had life. Lots of life. We kind of just lost it.

Tennessee who was missing starting linebackers David Thornton and Keith Bullock due to injuries, fell apart. Vince Young did run to get a touchdown. However the Chargers were able to get 21 points off of Young’s three turnovers. The Titans also had a season high nine penalties in the game.

Young said, I had too many turnovers. That was definitely pretty much it. Every time we started to get into any kind of rhythm, I had a turnover. I can’t do that.

Rivers, a native of Alabama, had a cheering section of his own of approximately 70 friend and family. Rivers gave them lots to celebrate over.

Rivers, who was playing only two hours from his childhood home said, it had a feeling of playing in my own backyard.

The Chargers quarterback passed for 264 yards, going over the 4,000 yards passing mark for the second season in a row. He led San Diego to touchdowns on six drives out of seven before he left the game early fourth quarter. The only exception was when he kneeled down to close out the first half. The third rate passer in the NFL was able to pick apart the Titans defense, which is ranked next to last for yards allowed in the NFL.

Rivers said, our rhythm was as good as we’ve had all year. It’s like a guy hitting a few 3 point baskets in a row or something.

Tomlinson scored two touchdowns on runs from one yard out. The first score gave the Chargers a 7-3 lead. They never lost it. It was also the 137th rushing touchdown for Tomlinson this decade, surpassing Emmit Smith’s 136 touchdowns for most in one decade that he made during the 1990s. The second touchdown for Tomlinson gave him 138.

On the first touchdown drive for San Diego in the game, three Titan players received neutral zone penalties. The Titans also received two 15 yard penalties on the same play during another San Diego touchdown drive. William Hayes, defensive end, shoved Rivers late. The officials then flagged Chuck Cecil, Titans defensive coordinator, for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Fisher said, Philip does a great job with his snap count at the line, but there is any need for that. It’s borderline selfish. All we need to do is play football. When the ball starts to move, then move. Don’t just guess.

Since Young came off the bench, he had been almost perfect playing at home. He had a 7-1 record starting and had just four turnovers. On successive drives during the second quarter he turned the ball over twice. First Brandon Siler intercepted a pass on the 19 yard line of the Titans. Then he fumbled while scrambling at midfield.

After both of the mistakes by Young, Rivers made Tennessee pay. After scrambling he spotted a wide open Antonio Gates to a touchdown pass of 36 yards. The score was upheld by a review. Fisher challenged the play questioning whether Rivers was over the line when he threw the ball. After the fumble by Young, Rivers threw a touchdown pass of 3 yards over to Sproles.

By the time San Diego was able to breathe, they had clinched the AFC West title for the fourth year in a row and pulled a dramatic win out over a grieving Bengals team.

Late Sunday afternoon at Qualcomm, it was crazy there for several minutes.

With three seconds remaining Nate Kaeding booted a field goal of 52 yards, and San Diego rallied to defeat the Bengals 27-24, who just 51 seconds earlier had gotten a field goal from 34 yards from Shayne Graham to tie the game.

After the Chargers (11-3) won their game, a few minutes later with thousands of fans still inside the stadium, San Diego clinched their division title when the Broncos lost to the Raiders.

Kaeding said, it’s all a blur. Dean Spanos, team president, walked by and gave the kicker his division championship cap as he talked to reporters.

Some of the Charger players were watching the television as Denver, who on October 19 led San Diego by a margin of 3 ½ games, lost to Oakland 20-19.

Shawne Merriman, outside linebacker said, this feels incredible.

San Diego improved their December record since 2006 to 17-0.

The winning kick from Kaeding came after Rivers had led San Diego down field 46 yards in just 51 seconds without having any timeouts and after Dennis Norman, the backup center came into snap after starter Scott Mruckzkowski sprained his ankle.

Rivers said, we did what we need to do to get things done. For the game Rivers had three touchdown passes, with two of them going to Vincent Jackson.

Kaeding said, Philip is the man, adding that had been one of the biggest kicks for him. I wouldn’t want anyone else in there under center for us.

In that type of situation, there was lots of adrenaline with everything coming right down to the last minute to go for the win. Once it went off my foot, then I knew it would be good. From there the mayhem ensued.

Due to other results, before halftime the Chargers had a playoff spot clinched already.

The Bengals (9-5) for the second week in a row failed to clinch the title for the AFC North. They were playing just three days following the death of Chris Henry, their receiver. He died on Thursday, the day after he fell from the back of a truck in Charlotte, N.C. while in the middle of what was described by police as a domestic dispute between him and his finance. Henry had been on the injured reserve list for the season.

Andre Whitworth, Bengals tackle said, the main thing that we’d people to understand is Chris is someone who was able to turn his life around. Our football team did the same thing. He is a symbol of what we after.

Early third quarter after Chad Ochocinco scored a touchdown on a pass of 49 yards from Carson Palmer giving Cincinnati a lead of 10-7, Ochocinco got down on his knees and with his right hand touched his heart.

Ochocinco said, it was an empty feeling. Without him it was more than football. I was playing today with an extra heart, extra pair of legs, and extra two hands.

The Bengals wore No. 15 decals, Henry’s number, on their helmets. Bengals fans had signs to remember Henry, including one that said RIP 15.

Carson Palmer, Bengals quarterback, said he had never experienced a stretch of four days like that before. He said that having Henry die and then having to play was surreal. He said until the team attended the funeral for Henry on Tuesday that it wouldn’t sink in.

It appeared that the Bengals were driving to get the go-ahead touchdown. However they ended up being lucky just to get a field goal to tie the game.

On first down and 16 from San Diego’s 25 yard line, Palmer connected on a pass with Andrew Caldwell. Eric Weddle hit Caldwell then Tim Dobbins, linebacker, knocked the ball out with his helmet. The football sailed backwards to the 45 yard line. Palmer recovered the ball and then with two completions got Cincinnati to within field goal range.

Mid third quarter, with the Bengals trailing 14-13, Palmer missed on a pass intended for Ochocinco with the ball going straight to Quentin Jammer, Chargers cornerback. Jackson two plays later was able to get behind Leon Hall, cornerback, and caught a touchdown pass of 34 yards to give San Diego a lead of 21-13.

A field goal of 33 yards was added by Kaeding to increase the Chargers lead to 11 points.

Early fourth quarter Philip Rivers was intercepted by Keith Rivers, setting up a touchdown pass of 2 yards from Palmer to Laveranues Coles. Palmer than ran the ball in for the two point conversion to make the score 24-21.

At halftime, the Chargers had a 14-13 lead. Rivers had touchdown passes to Antonio Gates for 3 yards and Jackson for 21 yards.

Ochocinco had his 49 yard touchdown catch. Twice the Bengals were forced to settle for Graham field goals after having drives get bottled up while inside the 10 yard line of the Chargers.

The December trends are holding: the Chargers and Philip Rivers are perfect, and the Cowboys and Tony Romo are miserable during the regular season’s most important month.

Rivers broke a tie in the fourth quarter with a touchdown pass of 14 yards to Antonio Gates. After that he followed things up with a drive eating up over seven minutes of the game clock that ended with a field goal, as the Chargers defeated the Cowboys on Sunday 20-17 keeping San Diego on a roll and Dallas reeling as the playoffs approach.

The Chargers (19-3) won their eighth game in a row and are right on the verge to clinching another AFC West title. Since Rivers became San Diego’s starting quarterback, San Diego has a 16-0 record in the month of December.

Rivers said, in December you want to peak not fade out. During the past several years we’ve done that. We just haven’t been able to keep that going in January. This year hopefully we will keep things going into 2010.

The last ll wins in December for San Diego have come with Norv Turner as their coach, the man Jerry Jones, Cowboys owner, decided against hiring last time the Dallas head coaching position was open. Instead Jones selected Wade Phillips. In December he hasn’t gotten what he paid for. After this loss they are 3-7 in December. Over three Novembers, Octobers and Septembers he lost seven games in total.

All week the players talked about wanting to get a win to boost the job security of Phillips. However during key points in the game they failed on both defense and offense.

Dallas (8-5) now for the very first time during the season have consecutive losses. They head to New Orleans for their show down on Saturday night with the undefeated Saints. They may have to play without DeMarcus Ware, their star linebacker. In the fourth quarter Ware sprained his neck and was hospitalized.

Romo said, it might not appear we are playing our best football, but that can get turned around quickly. I think out football team can do that.

Although the game did get decided late, things did tilt in the favor of San Diego during the first half. San Diego held Dallas to just one field goal over drives featuring first downs at the 27, 16 and 3 yard lines.

The first good scoring opportunity for Dallas ended with the Cowboys scoring a field goal to give them a 3-0 lead. On the next long drive for the Cowboys, Marion Barber was able to get to the one yard line on first down. However on three straight runs after that he was stuffed. On fourth down, Dallas moved him to halfback from fullback. However no one was fooled.

Tim Dobbins, Chargers linebacker who was part of all of the three tackles said, they don’t pay him to block. We knew the play would be a dive or flip. I don’t know what the Cowboys were thinking. Do they watch game film?

Rivers was intercepted while throwing inside his end zone, giving the Cowboys another scoring opportunity. It was wasted when a field goal attempt of 42 yards was missed by Folk. It’s the fifth game in the row that Folk has missed a field goal. This season he’s missed more field goals than he did during the first two years of his career combined.

Phillips said, you need to make a good percentage of those. He isn’t making the percentage.

On the third quarter’s final play, Dallas tied the score 10-10. The 99 yard drive was capped by Romo throwing a touchdown pass of 6 yards to Miles Austin. Play was halted soon after that for several minutes when Ware lay out on the turf following him ramming his helmet into a San Diego lineman’s leg while running at full speed.

As the stretcher neared the ambulance, Ware flashed the “W” using his fingers. The crowd of 90,552 got so loud with their cheering that a false start was called on the Chargers.

Rivers on third down and 12 at the 47 yards line connected on a pass of 39 yards to Vincent Jackson, before throwing the touchdown pass for the go ahead score to Gates.

After Romo and the Cowboys failed to respond, San Diego iced the win with a drive of 15 plays that lasted 7:17 minutes. It was capped by a Nate Kaeding field goal from 34 yards. Nine of LaDainian Tomlinson’s 21 carries, along with 27 of his total 50 yards came on the drive.

Tomlinson said, there’s nothing that is more satisfying then doing it like that.

With 1:56 remaining in the game and trailing by 10 points, Romo did manage a touchdown. However the Cowboys didn’t score until there were only 2 second remaining in the game. Gates then caught the onside kick attempt to prevent the Cowboys from getting a last opportunity.

Jones said, this pill is a bitter one to swallow.

Rivers went 21 for 32 for a total of 272 yards passing and had one touchdown. It was the 100th touchdown of his career. His interception was the first for him in five games.

Gates had 44 receiving yards, passing the 1,000 yard mark for the second time, while Jackson had seven catches for a total of 120 yards.

Tomlinson got his 10th touchdown for the season, extending his NFL record to nine consecutive years that he’s hit the mark. It occurred in just his second game played in Dallas. Tomlinson is native of Waco and played his college ball in Fort Worth at TCU.

Romo went 19 for 30 for a total of 249 yards passing and had two touchdowns and no interceptions. His December record still went to 5-10.

He did fine as a holder on extra points and field goals for the very first time since the January 2007 playoff game when he had his infamous flub.

When LaDainian Tomlinson went back to the Chargers locker room, there was a special guest waiting for him that wanted to offer his congratulations.

It was Jim Brown.

Tomlinson, as he was heading for the team bus of the Chargers said, yes it was a perfect day. For a long time I have thought about this day coming. If I passed Jim I wanted it to happen in Cleveland. I wanted to be able to talk after the game inside the locker room with him.

Tomlinson stiff-armed the Hall of Famer from Cleveland from the eighth position on the NFL’s all-time career rushing list. He also scored the 150th touchdown of his career on a run of 4 yards as San Diego won their seventh consecutive game and 15th straight in December with their 30-23 defeat of the Browns on Sunday.

Tomlinson was able to fulfill a dream from childhood when he moved past Brown. It started out playing touch football games in Texas.

Tomlinson said, when I was playing football as a kid out in my back yard, I always look to those great running backs. Lots of days out there I would be Jim Brown out on the field. It’s extra special being able to do this right here in Cleveland. It’s hard to tell you what this means. It seems like it was meant to happen in Cleveland.

During the fourth quarter when Tomlinson passed by Brown with his run of 11 yards up the middle, the Chargers running back pointed at Brown sitting up in his luxury suite. Tomlinson patted his heart then saluted him.

Brown says, he’s a very classy guy. We really love each other. The reason I came to the locker room was to show my respect. It doesn’t matter what my position in history is to me. However the respect I give and get is very important to me. I couldn’t ever do what Hugh McElhenny or Walter Payton or Barry Sanders did. They were completely different from me. Trying to make moves like Barry Sanders would break my legs.

Antonio Gates had 167 receiving yards, his career high, for San Diego (9-3). They got off to a slow start and at halftime had only a 13-7 lead. However during the third quarter Philip Rivers led the Chargers on drives for touchdowns of 83 and 85 yards in nine minutes to open their lead up to 27-7.

With 5:58 remaining third quarter the touchdown by Tomlinson gave the Chargers a 20 point lead, and placed him in some elite company with some the greatest NFL players.

Tomlinson scored his 150th touchdown faster than anyone in NFL history, reaching that milestone during his 137th game played. It took Emmit Smith 160 games and Jerry Rice 167 games to reach 150 touchdowns scored.

Tomlinson said, scoring touchdowns is what I enjoy doing more than anything else. One of the reasons is because that’s how you win- by scoring touchdowns. What I always say if if I am scoring touchdowns, I think we are winning. That is special.

Tomlinson was asked if surpassing Brown or scoring his 150th touchdown was better.

Tomlinson said passing Jim Brown. I remember my father talked about Jim Brown when I was a kid. Dad really loved him. Everyone love Jim Brown. Rightfully so. Today even when you are talking about great running backs, most people say Jim Brown was the greatest.

Tomlinson rushed for 64 yards in 20 carries. He now has a total of 12,321 rushing yards in his career. In seventh place all time is Tony Dorsett with his 12,739 career rushing yards.

Rivers had two touchdown passes, both to running backs on short routes, as San Diego continues to surge after starting at 2-3.

With the Cowboys and Bengals looming on their schedule, the Chargers wouldn’t afford overlooking Cleveland (1-11), who has lost seven games in a row with injuries mounting.

At halftime the Chargers appeared to be in some trouble.

However, by the time the third quarter had ended San Diego didn’t have much to be concerned about.

Rivers said, the game got close. Close enough for us to be uncomfortable.

During the third quarter the Chargers dominated the Browns thoroughly. They out gained Cleveland 208 yards to 10 and in passing yards 164 to 0, as they held the football for 12:06 minutes.

During the third quarter Rivers went 7 out of 8 and had four completed passes to Gates for a total of 114 yards. The aerial assault of San Diego’s was highlighted when Gates, a former basketball star at Kent State, boxed Hank Poteat and Abram Elam out to grab the pass of 56 yards.

Tomlinson said, he never stops amazing me. He’s so dominant. He can’t be covered one on one. Antonio looks just like he did when playing basketball. His mindset when the balls’ in the air is it’s all mine.

For the Browns Brady Quinn had three touchdown passes. Cleveland has lost 10 home games in a row, a franchise record. They will need to prepare to play the Steelers, an angry team, on Thursday. On Sunday, Pittsburgh lost to Oakland at home 27-24.

David Bowens, Browns linebacker said, they made lots of big plays. That was key to this game. They’ve got lots of weapons. Gates made big catches and L.T. Is a really great player.

Cleveland, how during the first half had a very cost turnover, was able to make the score respectable when they scored 16 points during the fourth quarter. Quinn connected with Jerome Harrison, running back, on two touchdown scores.

A field goal of 49 yards from Phil Dawson made the score 30-23. However the onside kick was recovered by Tomlinson with 38 seconds left to play.

Tomlinson said, that was the most important play of the game. It sealed the victory.

Along with his perfect day.