The Chargers have now lost seven games by a total of 28 points, four of them by a field goal or less.

At what point does it stop being bad luck or bad breaks?

"We're just not making plays in crunch time," running back LaDainian Tomlinson said. "For some reason, instead of stepping up and saying, `I'm going to make a play,' we get nervous. We try to hold on and hope we get it right."

Why is that?

"It's a little surprising, but who knows what the reason is?" Tomlinson said. "Sometimes when it happens over and over the lack of confidence in situations gets to you. It's human nature. Maybe there's a little of that going on . . . I'm just throwing it out there. I don't know if it is the reason, but it could be a possibility."

SLIPS THROUGH HIS HANDS

Tomlinson had one of those plays slip through his hands on what could have been a critical play, a second-and-15 situation from the Indianapolis 42 when a pass from Philip Rivers at the right sideline slipped through his hands.

Tomlinson appeared to lose his balance for a moment on the play before turning around and failing to catch the ball. If he'd caught it, he likely would have gotten a first down, and maybe the Chargers wouldn't have had to settle for the Nate Kaeding field goal that momentarily tied the game.

"I can make a little better throw, and he'll probably say he can make the catch," Rivers said. "Certainly there were other plays, but that was a big one."

HE WANTED TO GO FOR IT

Chargers coach Norv Turner said he called timeout before Kaeding's game-tying field goal because he wanted to verify how close tight end Brandon Manumaleuna had gotten to a first down on his third-and-15 catch.

"It was my mind-set to go for it, but I wanted to look at it," Turner said. "I didn't want to give them the ball back. Obviously, calling the timeout gave them extra time."

When he saw it was fourth-and-2, Turner felt he had no choice but to go for the tie with a little over a minute and a half left.

BIG (IF ILLEGAL) ASSIST

TV replays clearly showed that Colts receiver Marvin Harrison set an illegal pick on Peyton Manning's first-half touchdown pass to Anthony Gonzalez that tied up two defenders, Antonio Cromartie and Antoine Cason.

"We would prefer one of our defensive backs, a younger guy (Cason), to back off and not get in the position to get picked," Turner said. "He didn't recognize it soon enough."

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