With their backs to the wall, and possibly their season on the line, the San Diego Chargers responded with a big win at home on Sunday, Oct. 12 night over the New England Patriots. From Philip Rivers’ three touchdown passes to a defense that stopped the Patriots cold on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line, the Chargers were on their game in a 30-10 rout. The Chargers evened their record at 3-3, moving one game behind AFC West, leading Denver, which lost to Jacksonville. “This was obviously a big game for us,” Rivers said. “It was big because of the situation we are in, because it gets us back to .500 before we go on this world tour here the next couple of weeks.” The world tour Rivers refers to is a game at Buffalo on Sunday, followed by a trip to London to play New Orleans on Oct. 26. Rivers, who went 18 of 27 for 306 yards, threw TD passes of 49 yards to Malcolm Floyd, four yards to Vincent Jackson and one yard to Antonio Gates. The icing on the cake was beating the Patriots, who the Chargers lost to in the AFC Championship game last season. New England had won three straight over the Chargers, including twice in the postseason. New England (3-2), which is playing without injured quarterback Tom Brady for the remainder of the season, scored its fewest points since a 21-0 loss to Miami on Dec. 10, 2006. The Chargers defense punished Brady’s backup, Matt Cassel, by sacking him four times and intercepting him once. “We knew that there was going to be a lot of energy in the stadium tonight,” Cassel said. “We knew that they were gonna come out and try to shut us out early. They did a good job.” New England’s regular-season road winning streak was snapped at 12 with the loss. Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson, who has been hobbled with a sprained toe this season, became the 17th running back to rush for more than 11,000 career yards. Rams get first win: Don’t give up on the St. Louis Rams quite yet. They pulled off a 19-17 upset win at Washington on Sunday, ending their eight-game losing streak over two seasons. The Rams cooled off the Redskins, who were seeking their fifth straight win. St. Louis forced Washington into committing its first three turnovers of the season. Josh Brown’s 49-yard field goal on the last play of the game won it. Did the Redskins overlook the Rams? “We hadn’t thought ahead all season long until this week,” Redskins running back Clinton Portis said. “The previous four games, the focus was there.” All it takes is 11 seconds: The Chicago Bears may have celebrated their comeback prematurely on Sunday at Atlanta. And many Falcons fans left too early. After Kyle Orton’s 17-yard touchdown pass to Rashied Davis gave the Bears a 20-19 lead with :11 left to play, all there was left to do was to run out the clock. But a short squib kick was followed by a 26-yard pass from Matt Ryan to Michael Jenkins on the sideline to stop the clock with 1 second left. Then Jason Elam connected on a 48-yard field goal to give the Falcons a 22-20 win. “We have to play a full game,” Orton said. “We didn’t.” Week 6 Leaders: Passing Matt Schaub, Texans, 22-42, 379 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs Tony Romo, Cowboys, 24-38, 321 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT Drew Brees, Saints, 26-30, 320 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT Rushing Clinton Portis, Redskins, 21 carries, 129 yards, 2 TDs Maurice Jones-Drew, Jaguars, 22 carries, 125 yards, 2 TDs Warrick Dunn, Buccaneers, 22 carries, 115 yards, 0 TD Receiving Andre Johnson, Texans, 10 catches, 178 yards, 1 TD Braylon Edwards, Browns, 5 catches, 154 yards, 1 TD Patrick Cobbs, Dolphins, 3 catches, 138 yards, 2 TDs Tackles Channing Crowder, Dolphins, 13 Jon Beason, Panthers, 13 Sacks Kevin Williams, Vikings, 4.0 Robert Mathis, Colts, 3.0 Interceptions Quentin Jammer, Chargers, 1 22 others with 1 each Quotable: “I can’t remember one that was this crazy.” — Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner on 30-24 OT win over Dallas. The Cardinals had a kickoff return for a touchdown to start the game and won it on a blocked punt for a touchdown in overtime. Sidelines: With Cincinnati at 0-6 for the third time in eight years, Bengals fans are trying to unload their tickets. At least 4,000 tickets remain for home games against Jacksonville, Baltimore, Washington and Kansas City. About 3,000 tickets remain for this week’s game against Pittsburgh…Detroit has lost 11 straight games at the Metrodome in Minneapolis…Andre Johnson had a Houston Texans franchise-record 178 yards receiving with a touchdown in a 29-28 win over Miami…Arizona’s six-game home winning streak is its longest since 1975-76.