Shahid Khan may not own Wembley any time soon but Philip Rivers of the Los Angeles Chargers certainly does, for one week at least. The veteran quarterback led his explosive offence to a nailbiting 20-19 victory and left the Tennessee Titans in tatters as they gambled on a game-winning two-point conversion but rolled snake eyes on their debut in London.
The game fell on the Titans’ quarterback Marcus Mariota’s shoulders with 25 seconds left. His team, eschewing the chance to tie the game with an extra point after a one-yard Luke Stocker touchdown reception, were left heartbroken after a scrambling Mariota failed to find an open receiver.
His opposite number Rivers had a perfect afternoon rifling two touchdowns to Tyrell Williams and Mike Williams, and racking up 297 yards for LA who were missing their star running back Melvin Gordon with a hamstring injury.
“This was a gritty team win,” Rivers said. “That was as excited as I’ve seen the locker room in a while. It wasn’t our best game but we found a way and were efficient.
“We believed we had a good chance to get a big chunk on that first play and they played the defence we were hoping for and Tyrell did a great job getting into the endzone.”
Los Angeles appeared to have taken a slice of home with them as 84,301 sun-drenched fans were sent into raptures by Tyrell Williams’s early touchdown. Playing to such a full house was an alien experience for the Chargers who struggle for support at the StubHub Center after moving from San Diego last season.
Rivers described the atmosphere as “unbelievable”. He continued: “I remember it being good 10 years ago but not this good. It was awesome. They got to see a great game so hopefully they enjoyed it just as much as us.”
The Titans opened the scoring with a 28-yard field goal from Ryan Succop but it would be the only time they held the lead. The Chargers took over and never looked back. After one play and nine seconds they had six points. Rivers dropped back and hit Tyrell Williams while Tennessee’s Logan Ryan floundered. The wide receiver sprinted by the confused cornerback and into the endzone for a 75-yard touchdown. Mike Badgley kicked the extra point and duly added another three from 29 yards after a Tennessee punt to give them a 10-3 advantage.
Tyrell Williams said of his touchdown: “We knew it was going to be the opening call, and as soon as the ball was snapped I felt the defence shift to where we knew we wanted them and after that I just had to run in. It felt good.”
Tennessee were comfortable moving the ball on the ground and through the air but again had to settle for three points through Succop from 33 yards.
Then, after forcing LA to punt and as time ticked away in the first half, the Titans had a third touchdown opportunity. Just 10 yards away from taking the lead Mariota picked out Chargers linebacker Denzel Perryman and the half closed 10-6.
Los Angeles started the second-half exactly how they started the first. On just the third play Rivers sailed a perfect rainbow throw over the heads of the Titan’s defenders and into Mike Williams’s arms. Left all alone in the backfield, he jogged into the endzone for the 55-yard touchdown which Badgley converted stretching the lead to 17-6.
Tennessee responded by finally finding the endzone, after failing in their past two games, through Derrick Henry and Succop kicked the extra point. They were back in touching distance at 17-13.
Badgley was called into action again from 28 yards for LA after Tennessee’s defence refused to give up another touchdown to Rivers. The kicker easily made the chip shot to extend the lead to 20-13. His opposite number Succop failing to match him from 51 yards on the Titans next possession.
Mariota then threw his only touchdown to bring the Titans within one point but the failed two-point conversion gifted LA the victory.
As a result, Tennessee tumble to 3-4 while the Chargers surge to a fourth successive win. LA, with an archetypal gunslinger in Rivers, quietly putting together an MVP-level season, may just be eyeing a first postseason appearance since 2013 when the curtain raises.
