Dicker's FG propels Chargers to 17-14 victory over Titans

Updated Dec. 18, 2022 7:48 p.m. ET

Associated Press

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Cameron Dicker connected on a 43-yard field goal with 4 seconds remaining, and the Los Angeles Chargers bolstered their hopes for a playoff spot with a 17-14 victory over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.

The Titans appeared to force overtime when Ryan Tannehill scored on a 1-yard QB sneak with 48 seconds remaining, but then the Chargers went 52 yards in six plays. Mike Williams had the key play on the drive with a 35-yard reception between two Tennessee defenders at the Titans' 20-yard line.

Justin Herbert spiked the ball with 15 seconds remaining, and Los Angeles then had a delay of game penalty and an incomplete pass. Dicker came on and booted his third game-winner of the season and second with the Chargers.

Herbert had his third straight 300-yard game. He completed 28 of 42 passes for 313 yards but didn't throw a touchdown for only the third time in 46 career games.

Austin Ekeler scored his AFC-leading 14th touchdown of the season early in the fourth quarter.

Ekeler finished with 70 scrimmage yards, including 58 rushing. Joshua Kelley also scored a touchdown as the Chargers moved into the sixth spot in the AFC after losses by Miami, New England and the New York Jets.

Derrick Henry rushed for 104 yards on 21 carries with a touchdown. The two-time NFL rushing champion also went over 8,000 career yards in his 100th regular-season game.

The Titans (7-7) have a one-game lead over Jacksonville in the AFC South but have dropped four straight games for the first time since 2015.

Tannehill was 15 of 22 for 165 yards. He injured an ankle on Tennessee’s first drive but only missed one possession.

After Tennessee's Randy Bullock was wide right on a 51-yard field goal attempt early in the fourth quarter, the Chargers went down the field and scored the go-ahead touchdown. Ekeler capped a six-play drive with a 3-yard run off right guard for his ninth rushing score of the year.

Henry tied the game at 7 in the second quarter when he scored from 4 yards out off a direct snap. Henry accounted for all 63 yards on the drive, including a 37-yard reception off a screen pass from Tannehill.

GRINDING IT OUT

The Chargers got their fourth touchdown on an opening possession this season when Joshua Kelley went 1 yard off right guard to cap a 14-play, 68-yard drive.

Los Angeles, which came into the game with the league's second-worst rushing game, ran it nine times for 33 yards on the series. That was their most yards on the ground on an opening series this season. It was also their most run plays to start a game since a late-season 2020 game against Atlanta.

TAKE IT AWAY

The Titans forced two takeaways for the first time since Week 7. They forced their first turnover in five games late in the second quarter when safety Joshua Kalu picked off Herbert's pass intended for Williams.

Cornerback Roger McCreary deflected the pass and then tapped the ball back in bounds to Kalu.

Kevin Byard also had a pick in the third quarter.

INJURIES

Titans: CB Terrance Mitchell (hamstring) and OL Dillon Radunz (knee) left in the second quarter. CB Josh Thompson was ruled out with a concussion in the third quarter.

UP NEXT

Titans: Host the Houston Texans on Saturday.

Chargers: At the Indianapolis Colts on Dec. 26.

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL