Sudden change: Chargers tied for first in AFC West

Things change quickly in the NFL. Always have, always will.

In mid-October, the San Diego Chargers appeared to be in big trouble after losing to the Denver Broncos. The dismal home loss left the Chargers sitting at 2-3 and 3 1/2 games behind the undefeated Broncos in the AFC West.

The teams meet again next Sunday in Denver and first place will be on the line. The Chargers are now the red-hot team after beating the Philadelphia Eagles 31-23 on Sunday for their fourth straight win and the Broncos are now reeling after losing to the dysfunctional Washington Redskins for their third consecutive defeat.

The Chargers got two touchdown runs from LaDainian Tomlinson and two touchdown throws by Philip Rivers en route to building a 28-9 lead through three quarters. Donovan McNabb threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes as the Eagles drew close in hopes of pulling a Wyoming over San Diego State (http://mrsportsblog.wordpress.com/2009/11/15/aztecs-collapse-brings-back-memories-of-tuffys-tale/) from the previous night on the Qualcomm Stadium field.

But the Chargers finished strong with a 12-play clock-eating field-goal drive (Nate Kaeding hit from 29 yards with 30 seconds left) to defeat an NFC East team for the second straight week. The Chargers rallied to beat the New York Giants the previous Sunday.

In addition to the quality win, Tomlinson re-emerged and had his best game of the season. Tomlinson carried 24 times for 96 yards and passed Thurman Thomas and Franco Harris to move into 12th place on the NFL’s all-time career rushing-yardage list (12,145). Tomlinson also moved into third place on the all-time touchdowns list with 146, passing San Diego prep legend Marcus Allen (145).

In coming weeks — barring a major injury – Tomlinson will vault up to eighth place on the rushing list by passing Allen, Edgerrin James, Marshall Faulk and Jim Brown. Pretty lofty company.

Rivers threw 20-yard touchdown passes to Mike Tolbert and Legedu Naanee. The touchdown to Naanee was followed by an excessive celebration penalty as Naanee dropped to a knee to hand off the football to a Chargers cheerleader. The act was likely fueled by his former Boise State teammate Ian Johnson, who dropped to a knee and proposed to his cheerleader girlfriend after scoring the winning points against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl three years ago.

 Defensively, the Chargers frustrated the Eagles in the red zone during the first three quarters – was former San Diego State coach Tom Craft serving as Philadelphia’s red zone play-caller? —  before finally converting twice in the fourth quarter on short TD throws from McNabb to Jeremy Maclin and Brent Celek.

McNabb finished the game with 450 passing yards, primarily because the Eagles had no running attack after losing star Brian Westbrook to his second concussion of the season. The Eagles (5-4) are in big trouble if Westbrook has to miss most of the rest of the season.

As for the Chargers, they can seize control of the AFC West by taking down the Broncos next Sunday in Denver. Win that game and the current winning streak could eventually reach seven as Kansas City and Cleveland follow Denver on the schedule.