ATLANTA _ No heads were buried, only hugs exchanged. Players and coaches jumped instead of slumped. They ran off the field smiling, not stone-faced.
Mike McCoy, the coach so often derided by so many, did a victory lap of sorts, going out of his way to run along the edge of the Georgia Dome playing surface to wave and pump his fist toward Chargers fans who made the trip.
The locker room was a hip-hop concert, where a library stillness had been the postgame norm.
"Unbelievable," Philip Rivers said in a relative whisper amidst the mayhem. "Finally."
A different ending brought different reactions and kept the Chargers relevant in a season that had until the past two weeks been nothing but frustrating.
But, then again, they also said so many of the same things they had throughout.
"I've been saying it for a long time: I love this team," McCoy said after the Chargers beat the Atlanta Falcons, 33-30, in overtime on Sunday. "The way they show up every day, all they do is work their tails off; every player, every coach, everyone in the organization. We just show up and do it our way."
Cliches resonate so much more following a victory.
And, hey, the thing about cliches is that they are such because of the truth they carry.
The Chargers had played hard to the end in every one of their games _ through last season's 4-12 slog and this season's maddening 1-4 start. Not every losing team does. It might mean something going forward.
This team that is now a win from being .500 is flawed but ferocious.
Once again on Sunday, the Chargers (3-4) stumbled on special teams and floundered on offense for a period and allowed a team to gain yards and score points in bunches and lost players to injury.
And yet ...
They came on the road and beat a team with a winning record. They had a chance to win a game at the end _ and they did.
After losing 11 of their previous 12 road games, they won. After losing 11 of their previous 12 one-score games, they have now won two in a row.
The Chargers had lost games this season by six, four, one and three points. They had exhausted virtually every possible way to blow a lead and/or an opportunity to win.
"We flipped it," Rivers said.
Maybe it was playing from behind that gave them an edge. Sunday's 27-17 halftime deficit marked the first time the Chargers trailed at the half all season. After being outscored by a league-worst 40 points in the fourth quarter entering Sunday, the Chargers outscored their opponent (13-3) in the fourth quarter for the first time since Week 7 of last season.
Maybe it was the urgency a 2-4 record demands.
"This was must-win," Rivers said.
Or maybe it was what they have been saying all along. They believe they are good. They have unabashedly stated so after every loss.
After giving substance to the tenet that bad teams lose close games, they are exhibiting signs of the opposite principle.
What happened Sunday was not unlike the kind of victories that carried the Chargers through extended winning streaks during the seemingly forever-ago seasons of 2006 through '09, when they won the AFC West in succession. Many of those victories were not particularly comely for the first three-plus quarters. In fact, the word "Norvous" was spawned for the way Norv Turner's teams often performed.
"It was kind of that no panic, really believe that somehow we are going to find a way," Rivers said of Sunday's. "In the years we've been on runs and been a good team, we've done that."
The Chargers entered this stretch of games _ Denver, Atlanta and Denver again (next Sunday in Denver) _ three games back in the AFC West. Their victory over the Broncos on Oct. 13 helped them get to within two games of the lead. Sunday's win helped them keep that pace.
"It was huge, especially with Kansas City and Oakland winning," Rivers said. "There is a long way to go. I'm not necessarily trying to keep up every week ... but it keeps us right there."
That he can even talk about that with it mattering is remarkable.
But, then, it is Rivers' buoyancy that fuels the Chargers' resilience. He hollered several times at halftime for his teammates to hear: "We're going to win this!" Sure, he has said that in other dire situations and not had it prove prescient. But when trying to survive, as this team is, it's the thought that counts.
Veteran players had hoped holding on to beat Denver would be the start of something. The mood around Chargers Park this week suggested it might. Sunday lent further credence to the prospect.
"We are starting to believe," defensive tackle Brandon Mebane said. "We have a very young team, and we are starting to believe in each other. When you win, it boosts so much confidence around the team."
Can it be enough? Look, every team is flawed. Every coach makes crazy decisions (Atlanta played not to lose all second half and then went for it on fourth-and-one from its 45-yard line in overtime). The Chargers have proved to be a tough beat.
Playing at Denver _ with their head coach and offensive play caller on the sideline unlike last time _ will be tougher.
But there is at last reason to believe this team can win such a game.
