PLAYER OF THE GAME

Philip Rivers is in rare company. But not just because he leads all NFL quarterbacks in passer rating. Rivers, who completed 21 of 31 throws for 287 yards and a career-best four touchdowns Sunday, is one of only two quarterbacks to leave a game against the Bucs at Raymond James Stadium this year with a better passer rating than he had going in. Rivers came into the game with a 101.4 mark. In beating the Bucs he posted a mark of 136.7 and he did so rather effortlessly. Aided by a rushing attack that kept the Bucs off-balance and perhaps by a defense that played a little soft in coverage, Rivers moved the ball around to a variety of receivers and quickly drove the Chargers downfield in drive after drive. Scouts will tell you Rivers has a tendency to run hot and cold and that he sometimes tightens up in big games. Maybe they're right. But Rivers was as hot as could be and there was nothing tight about him.

UNSUNG HERO

LaDainian Tomlinson is no longer the engine that drives the Chargers train. Philip Rivers is. The Chargers lean more on Rivers' arm than on Tomlinson's legs but that doesn't keep Tomlinson from playing a key role in the offense. He's still the guy defenses have to worry about first and foremost because he's still as good a runner as there is in the league. He proved that again Sunday, when he ran 21 times for 90 yards. The numbers aren't the kind that will make a fantasy owner happy but they're the kind that help real teams like the Chargers win. When Tomlinson runs the way he did Sunday he forces defenses to devote more players to the run. That opens up more passing lanes for Rivers. Rivers is good enough to beat a lot of defenses without the aid he gets from Tomlinson, but when he has a day like he did Sunday, Tomlinson makes that job a lot easier.

KEY DECISION

A lot of teams would have been content to take a 17-10 lead into the locker room at halftime, but the Chargers weren't. With just 10 seconds to play in the second quarter, they took another shot at getting points and it paid off. San Diego probably doesn't take that chance if Darren Sproles doesn't return a kickoff 28 yards to the Chargers 36, but once he did the Chargers threw deep in an effort to get into field goal range. Philip Rivers' throw of 25 yards to Vincent Jackson moved them to what seemed to be the edge of field goal range, but Nate Kaeding's 57-yard kick split the uprights with plenty of room to spare.

QUIRKY PLAY

The Chargers really outsmarted themselves on the kickoff that came in the wake of their first touchdown. Ahead 7-0 and looking to avoid putting the ball in the hands of Bucs return man Clifton Smith, they called for kicker Nate Kaeding to drill a low bouncer. He succeeded in that attempt, but the ball still wound up in the hands of Smith, who fielded it at his own 17. Given that head start and a couple of good blocks, Smith turned the squib kick into a big play for the Bucs, returning the ball 72 yards to the San Diego 11. Four plays later the Bucs tied the game.

CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS

Antonio Bryant's 71-yard TD reception in the third quarter was the longest play from scrimmage for the Bucs this year. ? DL Jimmy Wilkerson recorded his fifth sack of the season in the second quarter. Wilkerson, a part-time player, is tied with Greg White for the second-most sacks on the team this season. ? PK Matt Bryant's 49-yard field goal was his 31st this season. He needs two more to break Martin Gramatica's team record, set in 2002. ? QB Jeff Garcia's 7-yard TD run in the third quarter capped a 13-play, 78-yard drive that took 7:19 to complete. In terms of time, it was the longest drive of the year for the Bucs. ? P Josh Bidwell tied Mark Royals for the most punts in team history. Both have 414.

INJURY UPDATE

QB Jeff Garcia suffered a nasty gash across the bridge of his nose, but the injury should not affect his ability to play Sunday. Of greater concern is his sore right calf, but Garcia came away from the game reporting no new damage, so a week of limited practice time should allow him to continue.

OUR TAKE

There will be a lot of talk about the Bucs offense today, about how the running game has suddenly been halted and how the Bucs failed to keep pace when they got into a shootout with the Chargers. The problem with the Bucs, though, is not offense, it's defense. The Bucs got to 9-3 largely on the play of their defense. Now they're 9-6 and it's largely a result of the play of their defense. The Chargers moved the ball at will against the Bucs on Sunday, and it was the third time in as many weeks a team has done that to them. That's almost unheard of in these parts. Time was when all the Bucs needed to win a game was 17 points from the offense. That's pretty much how it was earlier in the year, but not anymore. The Bucs can still get to the playoffs and win a game or two once they get there, but they won't do it if their defense doesn't improve.

LISTEN IN

"We definitely are not in our groove. We are not flowing the way we should. We are not doing the things we should. We are not executing, we are not making plays and we need to change that."

--Bucs C Jeff Faine

"This is where pride and character take over. Those are the principles that this team was built on and now we just have to go out there and show everybody that we have it."

--Bucs LB Barrett Ruud

Roy Cummings

(CHART) Chargers 41, BUCS 24

1st Quarter

Score: Chargers 7, Bucs 7

Passing Rushing Time of possession Momentum meter

Chargers 95 36 8:44 X

Bucs 25 21 6:16

2nd Quarter

Score: Chargers 20, Bucs 10

Passing Rushing Time of possession Momentum meter

Chargers 99 19 9:58 X

Bucs 46 16 5:02

3rd Quarter

Score: Chargers 20, Bucs 24

Passing Rushing Time of possession Momentum meter

Chargers 39 23 6:26

Bucs 128 32 8:34 X

4th Quarter

Score: Chargers 41, Bucs: 24

Passing Rushing Time of possession Momentum meter

Chargers 47 12 5:43 X

Bucs 32 42 9:17

(CHART) KEY PLAY

The Bucs entered the game ranked 31st in the league in red-zone touchdown production, but play-caller Jon Gruden got a bit creative Sunday when the offense got close to the end zone in the third quarter. The result was a rushing touchdown by quarterback Jeff Garcia (7) that pulled the Bucs to within 20-17.

Facing third-and-2 from the Chargers 7-yard line, the Bucs used a jumbo formation that included three tight ends and a fullback. Reserve linemen Sean Mahan (79) and Jeremy Zuttah (76) added even more bulk to the blocking scheme, with Mahan lined up at tight end on the right side of the formation and Zuttah at fullback. Everything about the formation suggested a handoff to short-yardage back B.J. Askew (35).

That was Tampa Bay's intention. Garcia faked the handoff to Askew, who dove over the pile. The fake drew every member of the San Diego defense toward the line of scrimmage. By the time the Chargers saw Garcia roll out to the left on a naked bootleg, it was too late to recover. Tight end John Gilmore (88) was a potential receiving target, but Garcia instructed Gilmore to block cornerback Antonio Cromartie (31), giving Garcia a clear path to the end zone.

Tribune graphic by ANGUS SHAFER; Text by JOANNE KORTH

Photo credit: Tribune photo by JOSEPH BROWN III

Photo: Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers gave the Bucs fits throughout the game, completing a career-high four touchdown passes Sunday.

Photo credit: Tribune photo by CLIFF McBRIDE

Photo: San Diego running back LaDainian Tomlinson had a quiet 90 yards on 21 carries as Tampa Bay had trouble stopping him.

Photo: Jeff Faine

Copyright ? 2008, The Tampa Tribune and may not be republished without permission. E-mail library@tampatrib.com