The Super Bowl-winning Steelers’ season was starting to unravel with consecutive losses in the final 15 seconds to the Bears and the Bengals. Determined to make sure their bad start didn’t last a moment more, they needed less than 15 minutes to effectively put away one of the AFC’s best teams.

SAN DIEGO - The San Diego Chargers go into their home opener against Baltimore with concerns on the offensive line after center Nick Hardwick and rookie right guard Louis Vasquez were hurt in Monday night’s win at Oakland. Hardwick sprained his left ankle and Vasquez sprained a knee in the 24-20 comeback win, the Chargers’ 12th straight against the Raiders. Running back LaDainian Tomlinson also sprained an ankle.

WILLIAMSBURG The young football players gathered at midfield, took a seat on the artificial turf and began singing “Happy Birthday” to LaDainian Tomlinson. Tomlinson smiled and began conducting the singers. But Tomlinson’s smile might have been misplaced. Yesterday was his 30th birthday, a milestone that has little impact on the lives and careers of most young men.