Antonio Gates caught his 54th & 55th career TD passes today against the Chiefs, moving past Wesley Walls (1989-03) and into fourth-place for most career TD catches by a tight end. Walls played in 196 games and had 54 TD catches during his career. Sunday’s Chargers-Chiefs game was the 104th of Gates’ career. Former Chief and current Atlanta Falcon Tony Gonzalez (1997-09) is the all-time leader among TEs with 81 career TD catches. Gonzalez played in his 201st career game on Sunday.
 
Today was Gates’ 11th career multi-touchdown game and his second of 2009.
 
Philip Rivers threw both touchdowns to Gates. It marked Rivers’ eighth-straight game with a touchdown pass. His career best for consecutive games with a touchdown pass is nine. He’s done it twice (2007 and ’08).
 
Rivers completed 75.0% of his passes today (21-of-28) for his third consecutive game with a completion percentage of 75%-or-higher. In his last three games, Rivers is 58-of-75 (77.3%) with five touchdowns and no interceptions.
 
Rivers also posted a season-high 135.6 passer rating today. His combined rating for the last three games is 127.3.
 
LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for 39 yards today and moved into 10th place on the NFL’s all-time rushing list with 12,257 yards. He began the day ranked 12th and moved past Marcus Allen (12,243) and Edgerrin James (12,246).
 
Tomlinson scored two touchdowns today on carries of one and three yards. They were the 133rd and 134th rushing touchdowns of his career, second all-time to Emmitt Smith (164). They were also the 148th and 149th total touchdowns of his career, third all-time behind Smith (175) and Jerry Rice (208).
 
Today’s was Tomlinson’s third multi-touchdown game of 2009 and the 42nd of his career (including playoffs).
 
The Chargers’ offensive line did not allow any sacks today in 29 passing plays. It’s their second-straight game allowing no sacks. During the Chargers’ current six-game winning streak, the offensive line has allowed only five total sacks in 172 pass plays.
 
Nate Kaeding’s 55-yard field goal in the third quarter was his longest-ever at Qualcomm Stadium.
 
Quentin Jammer had two of the Chargers’ season-high four takeaways today (one interception and three fumbles). The Chargers scored touchdowns off each of the Chiefs’ turnovers, plus linebacker Tim Dobbins forced an intentional grounding penalty against Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel that resulted in a safety, crediting San Diego’s defense today with a hand in 30 of the Chargers’ 43 points.
 
The Chargers’ 40 points today were a season high and it was their most since Dec. 28, 2008 vs. Denver (52).
 
The Chargers’ 43 points today against the Chiefs was their most in a game in the series since 1967 when the Bolts scored 45 in a 45-31 win.
 
With today’s win, the Chargers finish the 2009 regular season 5-1 in AFC West play. It’s the fourth year in a row the Chargers have gone 5-1 in the division.
 
Injuries reported today: Eric Weddle (knee), Shawne Merriman (foot) and Kevin Burnett (concussion)

TODAY’S INACTIVES
SAN DIEGO CHARGERS vs. KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
Qualcomm Stadium (70,000) – San Diego, California
Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009 – 1:05 pm PST

San Diego Chargers Inactives

6 QB Charlie Whitehurst (3rd Quarterback)
24 CB Dante Hughes
29 RB Michael Bennett
41 FS C.J. Spillman
61 C Nick Hardwick
79 T Jon Runyan
84 WR Buster Davis
93 DE Luis Castillo

Chargers Starting Lineup Changes from the Flip Card

#70 Alfonso Boone will start at DE for #93 Luis Castillo
#59 Brandon Siler will start at ILB for #99 Kevin Burnett

San Diego Chargers Roster Changes from the Flip Card

None

Kansas City Chiefs Inactives

15 QB Matt Gutierrez (third quarterback)
29 RB Dantrell Savage
50 LB Mike Vrabel
52 LB David Herron
55 LB Justin Rogers
62 C-G Andy Alleman
85 TE Jake O’Connell
89 TE Sean Ryan

Kansas City Chiefs Starting Lineup Changes from the Flip Card

None

Kansas City Chiefs Roster Changes from the Flip Card

The Chiefs have added #14 WR Quinten Lawrence to their active roster. Lawrence (6-0, 184) was a sixth-round pick (175th overall) by the Chiefs in 2009. Lawrence attended McNeese State University.

Local TV blackout lifted;
Southern California to see Chargers-Chiefs

Enough tickets have been sold to lift the local television blackout and allow Southern California to see the CBS telecast of the Chargers-Chiefs game on Sunday, Nov. 29 at Qualcomm Stadium.  Kickoff is 1:05 p.m. PT.  The game will be televised in San Diego on KFMB-TV, Channel 8 and in Los Angeles on KCBS-TV, Channel 2.  Dick Enberg and Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts will call the play-by-play action.
 
A limited number of tickets, including Club Level tickets, are still available at the Chargers’ ticket office at Gate C at Qualcomm Stadium, at www.Chargers.com and through TicketMaster at 800-745-3000.
 
This weekend’s game is the 45th consecutive regular season or postseason Chargers home game to be televised live in Southern California, the longest streak in team history.  The last regular-season home game blacked out in the local market was on Nov. 7, 2004 versus the New Orleans Saints. 
 
The Chargers’ next home game is Sunday, Dec. 20 versus the Cincinnati Bengals.    
 
The Chargers are strongly recommending that fans attending Sunday’s game use mass transit or carpool, and arrive EARLY.  The parking lot at Qualcomm Stadium will open at 9:00 am for general parking and 8:00 am for those with pre-purchased permits. The lot is expected to fill and close early, so fans are encouraged to get to the stadium gates early to ensure that they are in their seats for kickoff.
 
To avoid heavy traffic around the stadium on Interstates 8 and 15, fans can reach the stadium via the Friars Rd. East exit off of Highway 163.

Chargers ticket office hours for Saturday, Nov. 28

In order to provide maximum opportunity for customers to purchase tickets on Saturday, Nov. 28, at the Chargers Ticket Office at Gate C at Qualcomm Stadium will be open from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Marines, Chargers wives collecting toys at Chargers game  

Fans attending Sunday's game can bring joy to local youngsters this holiday season by giving a new, unwrapped toy to the Chargers Wives 20th Annual "Toys for Tots" Toy Drive presented by Cymer, at the Chargers-Chiefs game at Qualcomm Stadium.
 
Toys and cash donations will be collected as fans enter the stadium by the San Diego Chargers players' and coaches' wives, along with servicemen and women from the United States Marine Corps. The toys will be distributed to deserving children throughout San Diego in time for the holidays through various charitable organizations.
 
For more information about the Toy Drive or for additional locations where toys are being collected, log on to the official Web site of the "Toys for Tots" Toy Drive, www.toydrive.com. ###

Chargers receive ANOTHER 24-hour extension The Thanksgiving holiday week along with the Chargers' strong sales efforts have prompted the National Football League to grant the Chargers an additional 24-hour extension in an effort to lift the local television blackout of this Sunday's Chargers-Chiefs game.  The team now has until 1:05 pm PT on Saturday to sell the remaining 1,350 tickets. 

Of the two most recent games to be granted 48-hour extensions - 2008 NFC Wild Card game, Philadelphia at Minnesota, and 2001 AFC Wild Card game, Baltimore at Miami, one sold out (at Minnesota) and one did not (at Miami).

The Chargers have sold enough tickets to lift the blackout of 44 consecutive regular season or postseason home games, tied for the longest such streak in team history with a streak set in 1979-84.  The last regular-season home game blacked out in the local market was on Nov. 7, 2004 versus the New Orleans Saints.   

Tickets are available now at the Chargers' ticket office at Gate C at Qualcomm Stadium, at www.Chargers.com and through TicketMaster at 800-745-3000.
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Tickets are available now at the Chargers’ ticket office at Gate C at Qualcomm Stadium, at www.Chargers.com and through TicketMaster at 800-745-3000.

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