This time, a field goal wasn't going to be good enough. Steve McNair had to take the Baltimore Ravens into the end zone for a victory, and he had to cover 60 yards without any timeouts.
McNair brought the unbeaten Ravens back for the second week in a row, throwing a 10-yard pass to Todd Heap with 34 seconds left to defeat the San Diego Chargers 16-13 Sunday.
The Ravens (4-0) never led until Heap bulled his way over the goal line. Until that final drive, San Diego appeared poised to remain unbeaten.
One week earlier, McNair struggled before engineering a late drive that produced a field goal and a 15-14 win over Cleveland. He did very little against the Chargers (2-1), either, until it mattered most.
Showing precisely why they obtained him in an off-season trade with Tennessee, McNair went 4-for-5 for 43 yards and ran once for 12 yards during the final drive, which began after San Diego intentionally took a safety with 3:12 to go.
McNair never faced a third down during the march. After a 17-yard pass to Mark Clayton got the ball to the San Diego 35, McNair ran to the 23 and completed a 13-yarder to Clayton.
On second down, McNair found Heap for the game-winner, leaving the Ravens at 4-0 for the first time.
McNair finished 17-for-30 for 158 yards and two interceptions. He also threw two touchdown passes.
LaDainian Tomlinson ran for 98 yards on 27 carries for the Chargers, who got a touchdown on their first possession and never reached the end zone after that.
For 59 minutes, it appeared San Diego was going to win on the strength of a defence that yielded only one touchdown in its first two games.
The game appeared to turn on a fumble by Baltimore tight end Daniel Wilcox at the San Diego 1 with 5:18 left in the third quarter and San Diego up 13-7. Wilcox took a shovel pass from McNair and lost the ball after being hit by Stephen Cooper.
The play was particularly damaging to the Ravens because coach Brian Billick used the team's final timeout by challenging the call. To make matters worse for Baltimore, Chargers running back Lorenzo Neal fumbled on first down, but San Diego recovered.
After a punt, Ravens wide receiver Derrick Mason slipped behind the coverage down the left sideline, but he inexplicably dropped a long throw from McNair that almost certainly would have produced the go-ahead touchdown.
Minutes later, McNair threw his second interception to end a promising drive.
The Ravens closed to 13-9 when punter Mike Scifres intentionally ran out of the end zone with 3:12 to go. Baltimore took over at its own 40, and McNair went to work.
San Diego led 13-7 at halftime after limiting the Ravens to 45 yards on 24 plays.
The Chargers took the opening kickoff and moved 69 yards in nine plays, going up 7-0 on a 31-yard pass from Phillip Rivers to Malcom Floyd. Rivers went 4-for-5 for 60 yards, including a 13-yarder to Antonio Gates on a third-and-13.
San Diego's next possession ended with an interception by Bart Scott, whose 24-yard return set up a five-yard TD pass from McNair to Wilcox.
The Chargers answered with a 34-yard field goal by Nate Kaeding for a 10-7 lead.
Kaeding added a career-long 54-yarder late in the half, but missed a 40-yarder in the third quarter and a botched hold ruined a 52-yard try in the fourth quarter.
