“My wife is pregnant!” A choked up and teary-eyed LaDainian Tomlinson revealed to the press following the San Diego Chargers (6-3) 31-23 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles (5-4). In the win, the Chargers showed that they are making vast improvements in the running game, red zone offense, and special teams. These are facets of the games that they struggled with through the first half of the season.

Going into the game, Tomlinson probably already had enough to motivate him. Several media sources last week published speculative articles that Tomlinson would likely retire after this season. That speculation was in large partly based on his performance this year through the first eight games of the season. Coming into this game, the Chargers were ranked last in the league in rushing the ball.

Prior to the game, Tomlinson discovered that his wife LaTorsha had left him a gift in the form of a small, wrapped box in his locker. LT thought it was necklace; it turns out it was a positive pregnancy test for what will be the Tomlinsons’ first child.

Chargers vs. Eagles at Qualcomm Stadium

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Tomlinson then took the field and turned out his best performance so far this season. He rushed for 96 yards on 24 rushes with 2 touchdowns. With this performance, Tomlinson finished the day with a career total of 12,145 yards, elevating himself over Thurman Thomas and Franco Harris into 12th place on the NFL’s all-time rushing list.

Tomlinson’s second touchdown, a 20-yard run up the middle, brought his career total to 146. This moved him past Marcus Allen into 3rd place on the NFL’s all-time touchdowns list.

Speaking about the Eagles defense and their performance, Tomlinson said, “This is a good defense. If you look at where they are ranked, they are in the top 10 in every category. So for us to run the ball as effectively as we did, that showed a lot. It showed that we can run the ball when we need to.”

Following the game, Norv Turner said, “I felt to beat them, we would have to play our most complete game, and there is no question that I feel we did that.” In playing a complete game, the Chargers showed that they are making improvements in the areas where they were desperately needed. In addition to the rushing game, these areas included eliminating big returns on kick return coverage and scoring touchdowns in the red zone.

Turner commented, “We did a great job kicking and punting the ball.” On Mike Scifres four punts, 1 was returned for 7 yards, 2 were returned for 3 yards, and 1 had no return. The Chargers special teams were also impressive in kickoff coverage. The longest return of the day was just 30 yards.

The most notable improvement in the Chargers' overall performance is in their red zone proficiency. Philip Rivers is now completing the passes when they count the most.

At first glance, Rivers did not have standout game. He never threw the ball deep down the field, and he only threw for a total of 231 yards while Donavan McNabb threw for 450 yards.

However, quietly Rivers had a career day. He was 20 of 25 for a career-high 80% completion percentage, and he had a season-high 131.8 passer rating.

This extremely proficient approach to the passing game paid off as it lead to touchdowns on the Chargers first four trips into the red zone. In addition to Tomlinson’s two rushing touchdowns, Rivers threw a touchdown to Legedu Naanee and Mike Tolbert. The touchdowns were the first in Naanee’s career and the first for Tolbert this season, indicating that the number of weapons that Rivers has at his disposal continues to grow.

Disappointed Eagles fan getting onto the trolley

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Conversely, the Chargers defense held McNabb to field goals in his first three trips into the red zone. This difference gave the Chargers the victory.

A month ago, the Chargers were 2-3 and 3 1/2 games behind the Denver Broncos in the AFC West. At that point in the season, they were ranked 29th in the NFL with a red zone efficiency of 35.3%. In the previous three weeks, they had lost 2 of 3 games while posting a red zone efficiency of 23.1%.

Now the Chargers have won four in a row, bringing them to 6-3 and tied with Denver. Currently, they are ranked 21st in the NFL with 45% red zone efficiency, and over the last three weeks, they have scored touchdowns 77.8% of the time they have been inside the 20 yard line.

Speaking to the state of the Chargers as a whole, Rivers said, “We just continue to improve.” If the Chargers can continue to improve as a team, then they can go into Denver next week to beat the Broncos, a victory that would give the San Diego Chargers sole possession of first place in the AFC West.