Buried alive: Chargers survive 49ers in wild win

Buried alive: Chargers survive 49ers

Dec. 20, 2014 8:37 PM PT

SANTA CLARA —

The eulogy to the Chargers’ 2014 season began to be read Saturday night, the black hearse parked near black limos for a ceremony draped in black.

The game was dead. The season was dead.

Then, wide receiver Eddie Royal dragged across the field and dove for a fourth-down conversion. Wide receiver Dontrelle Inman converted another. Wide receiver Malcom Floyd celebrated in the end zone.

A rustle inside the casket. The sobbing speaker stopped.

Life.

Maybe the gutsiest drive of quarterback Philip Rivers’ career sent the Chargers into overtime, and kicker Nick Novak drilled the winning 40-yard field goal. Stop the ceremony. Send the mourners home. The team lived through a 38-35 stunner over the 49ers.

Levi’s Stadium needs a change in pants.

San Diego had flatlined. It’d been left for dead.

Everyone saw the 49ers bury it into the ground, the 365 rushing yards the most the Chargers allowed since the Vikings’ Adrian Peterson set an NFL single-game record with 296 in 2007. Every one saw running back Frank Gore steadily pound nails into the coffin. He had 158 yards. Quarterback Colin Kaepernick scampered for a 90-yard touchdown in the third quarter. He had 151.

The Chargers trailed 28-7 at halftime.

They were dead until they awoke.

A knocked-down defense found its footing, lineman Ricardo Mathews strip-sacking Kaepernick and end Corey Liuget recovering in the end zone in the third quarter. An offense that had stalled -- Rivers himself had three interceptions -- rose, tight end Antonio Gates catching two touchdowns in the second half.

And then the 80-yard drive.

Playing through a back injury that forced him Wednesday to miss his first practice since the 2007 playoffs, Rivers led an offense without running back Ryan Mathews, without running back Danny Woodhead, without wide receiver Keenan Allen, with its fifth center of the season, with rookie right guard Jeremiah Sirles making his NFL debut. He led that offense 80 yards in 14 plays over three minutes, ending with 29 seconds remaining.

A loss would’ve all but killed the Chargers’ season.

They entered the night with an 8-6 record, one game back of a wild-card spot with two weeks to go. Those were the stakes.

On the opening series of overtime, safety Eric Weddle forced wide receiver Quinton Patton to fumble. Nose tackle Sean Lissemore recovered, and the Chargers offense marched down the field.

Novak missed two field goals a Sunday earlier against the Broncos.

He was emotional afterward. He blamed himself for the loss.

He wanted redemption.

“I’d love to have a game end with a kick,” Novak said Thursday. “I love being in those moments. They’re always special.”

The Chargers are alive.

Stop the funeral. The Chargers are alive.