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San Diego, California - The San Diego Chargers, winners of seven of their last nine games, host the Detroit Lions in a pivotal late-season game for both teams on Sunday Dec. 16 at 1:15 p.m. PST at Qualcomm Stadium.

 

The Chargers are in control of their postseason destiny and none of their last three opponents – Detroit (6-7), Denver (6-7) or Oakland (4-9) – has a winning record. The Chargers are one of the NFL’s hottest teams. They’ve won three straight, two in a row on the road and seven of their last nine overall. Their most recent win was a thrilling 23-17 overtime win in Tennessee, which featured a 14-point fourth-quarter comeback. Two Philip Rivers touchdown passes in the final 7:29 of regulation and a game-winning 16-yard touchdown run by LaDainian Tomlinson in overtime highlighted the finish.

 

Tomlinson is the NFL’s third-leading rusher (1,195 yards) and he’s five yards away from joining Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson as the only players in NFL history to begin their careers with seven straight 1,200-yard seasons. Tomlinson also comes into the game with 125 career touchdowns, tied with Walter Payton for eighth place on the NFL’s all-time list. He and Payton are just one score behind the NFL’s seventh-leading scorer, Jim Brown (126).

 

The Chargers have won seven straight games in the month of December and are 12-4 in December since 2004. The Chargers (35) and Lions (33) rank 1-2 in the NFL in takeaways. San Diego’s 22 interceptions lead the league as do Detroit’s 17 opponent fumble recoveries. Chargers Pro Bowl candidate Antonio Cromartie leads the NFL with nine interceptions and needs one more to set a new team record.

 

Linebacker Shawne Merriman, the NFL’s third-leading sacker with 11.5, is out for Sunday’s game with a knee injury.

 

Detroit is hoping to remain in playoff contention by improving to 7-7 on the season after a heartbreaking 28-27 loss against the NFC leading Dallas Cowboys last weekend at Ford Field.

 

These two teams have met only eight previous times with the Chargers leading the series 5-3. Detroit won the first three meetings, all in the 1970s, while San Diego has captured the last five. In a matchup that has been infrequent throughout NFL history, the Lions have not defeated the Chargers since a 31-14 win in Detroit on October 22, 1978. The last meeting between the Lions and Chargers was on December 7, 2003 where the Chargers came away with a 14-7 victory in their first and only trip to Ford Field. Detroit is 0-3 against San Diego on the road. This will mark as Detroit’s first trip to San Diego since 1996.