Official Chargers Blog

· LaDainian Tomlinson had a 28-yard run during the Chargers second quarter touchdown drive…on that play, he became the team’s all-time total yards from scrimmage leader, passing Lance Alworth, who had 9,721 yards from 1962-1970…Tomlinson finished today’s game with 96 total yards, raising his career total to 9,755.

· Tomlinson’s second-quarter touchdown was his 20th of the season, breaking Chuck Muncie’s 24-year-old team record of 19 touchdowns in 1981. Muncie was in attendance at today’s game.

· Tomlinson’s second-quarter touchdown was the 80th of his career…he is tied with Emmitt Smith as the second-fastest player in NFL history (79 games) to score 80 touchdowns…the fastest to 80 was Jim Brown, who scored his 80th TD in his 76th career game.

· Tomlinson has now joined Seattle’s Shaun Alexander as the only players in the NFL to score 20 touchdowns this season…it is only the fifth-time in NFL history that two different players have scored 20 or more touchdowns in the same season…LT and Alexander are the first to do it since Priest Holmes (Kansas City) and Ahman Green (Green Bay) in 2003.

· Tomlinson finished the season with 1,462 rushing yards, the third-highest single-season total in team history…he had 339 rushing attempts this season, tied for the third-most in a season in team annals…his 1,832 total yards from scrimmage were also third-highest for a season.

· Tomlinson scored 120 points on the season, third-highest in team history.

· Shawne Merriman recorded his 10th sack of the season in the first quarter…they are the most sacks by a rookie since Chris Mims had 10 in 1992.

· Merriman’s 10 sacks are tied for the second-most in team history by a rookie. Leslie O’Neal recorded 12.5 as a rookie in 1986…Chris Mims (1992) and Burt Grossman (1989) each also had 10 sacks as rookies.

·Merriman is the first rookie in team history to finish the season as the team leader in sacks.

· The Chargers rushed for 91 yards today, raising their season total to 2,072...it marks the fourth-straight season the Chargers have rushed for more than 2,000 yards…it is the longest streak in team history and tied with Denver for the longest active streak in the NFL.

· Keenan McCardell had six catches today, raising his career total to 825…he took over sole possession of 10th place on the NFL’s all-time receptions list...he finished the season two catches shy of the NFL’s ninth-leading receiver, Larry Centers, who finished his career with 827 career receptions.

· McCardell finishes the season ranked 19th on the NFL’s all-time receiving yardage list with 10,680 yards…he finished the season 36 yards shy of the NFL’s 18th all-time receiver, Stanley Morgan, who finished his career with 10,716 yards.

· Drew Brees passed for 3,576 yards this season, sixth-most in team history…he is the only quarterback in team history other than Dan Fouts to pass for more than 3,500 yards…his 24 touchdown passes tied for the sixth-most in a season in team history…Brees’ .646 completion percentage was third-highest in team history…he attempted the seventh-most (500) and completed the fourth-most (323).

· Brees finished the 2005 season with a passer rating of 89.2 (323 of 500 – 3,576 yards – 24 TDs and 15 INTs)…over the last two seasons (2004-05) his passer rating is 96.1…it is the highest rating in team history in back-to-back seasons…his combined 2004-05 totals include 585 of 900 for 6,735 yards with 61 touchdowns and 22 interceptions…the previous two-season high was set by Dan Fouts (1982-83) who went 419 of 670 for 5,858 yards with 37 touchdowns and 27 interceptions for a rating of 92.2.

· Antonio Gates finished the season with 1,101 yards, the most by a Chargers tight end since Kellen Winslow had 1,172 yards in 1983.

· Gates’ 89 receptions this season tied the team record for receptions by a tight end (Winslow)…they were tied for the third-most receptions in team history.

· Gates finished the season with 10 touchdown catches becoming the first tight end in team history with back-to-back seasons with more than 10 TDs.

· Nate Kaeding finished the season 21 of 24 on field goals and 49 of 49 on PATs for 112 points, tied for the 10th most points in a season in team history…his .875 conversion rate was the third-highest in team history among kickers with at least 14 attempted FGs.

· 634,154 fans passed through the turnstiles this season for the Chargers 10 home games, including preseason, to set a new team record.