Flat on his back on the Lambeau Field turf, Philip Rivers arched his neck up briefly before lying back down and flailing his arms.
A milestone day for the San Diego quarterback ended in frustration. And defeat.
Rivers set career highs of 43 completions, 65 attempts and 503 yards passing, but the Chargers still lost 27-20 to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. Rivers' final pass was poked away near the end zone on fourth-and-goal at the 3 with 15 seconds left.
"Brutal loss, obviously, losing the way we did," coach Mike McCoy said.
It was a familiar feeling after San Diego (2-4) fell to Pittsburgh on the last play on Monday night.
Rivers walked to the microphone at his postgame news conference on Sunday and sighed.
"Gosh, I don't know. I just made a comment, 'Hey, you've got to laugh to keep from crying,'" he said. "Another one, another one that's tough."
Rivers threw for two touchdowns. His 43 completions were the most in NFL history in a loss; he needed one more, at least.
First-round draft pick Damarious Randall denied that as he lunged to poke away Rivers' short pass to Danny Woodhead near the front right pylon in the final seconds.
Packers fans erupted with a collective sigh of relief. Green Bay (6-0) survived its biggest scare of the year to stay unbeaten.
"Biggest play of the game," coach Mike McCarthy said. "Damarious is off to a great start."
The Packers started strong and finished barely in front. Running back James Starks had touchdowns on a 65-yard run and a 5-yard pass in the first quarter.
Green Bay went up for good after Aaron Rodgers found James Jones for an 8-yard pass in the corner of the end zone for a 24-17 lead with 40 seconds left in the third quarter. The defence bent and allowed Josh Lambo's 32-yard field goal with 11:14 left.
The stout pass rush finally caught up to Rivers in the second half. Datone Jones sacked Rivers on third-and-7 from the Packers 40 to end one drive. Until then, a Chargers line missing three starters held up well, with Rivers orchestrating a quick-strike offence and finding all the holes in the secondary.
It was the most porous outing of the year for the Packers' defence.
"We just didn't win the one-on-one matchups today," safety Micah Hyde said. "Thank God for our red-zone defence."
That's where the Packers came up with their most important stop in the closing seconds. Rivers was under pressure from linebacker Julius Peppers when he threw his final incompletion.
The ending overshadowed a career night. The 12-year veteran tied Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger (2009) for second on the list for most passing yards against the Packers. Only Detroit's Matthew Stafford had more, 520 on Jan. 1, 2012.
"Heck of a finish, really. What an atmosphere, what a game. Sure, they're more memorable if you win them, but there's no apologizing from this locker room as far as our effort," Rivers said.
For the Packers, it was another relatively choppy outing for the battered offence.
Rodgers was 16 of 29 for 255 yards. At one point, Rodgers had as many completions as San Diego's Keenan Allen had receptions midway through the fourth quarter.
"We'll take 'em any we can," Rodgers said. "They all count the same."
A hip injury kept Allen sidelined for much of the second half. He wound up with 14 receptions for 157 yards.
Rookie running back Melvin Gordon was benched in the second half after two fumbles. He finished with seven carries for 29 yards in a disappointing return to the state where he set records in college with the Wisconsin Badgers.
"He put it on the ground twice, and we've got to put a stop to that," McCoy said.
NOTES: Starks finished with 112 yards rushing on 10 carries. He started for Eddie Lacy, who had 3 yards on four attempts. Lacy, who sprained his right ankle earlier this season, played with his right foot heavily taped. ... Chargers S Eric Weddle left in the second half with an unspecified injury. ... TE Antonio Gates and WR Malcolm Floyd each finished with 95 yards receiving.
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