LT passes this test

SAN DIEGO -- It's sort of like losing a basketball game despite holding Michael Jordan to a couple of baskets.

Or maybe it's like losing a NASCAR race to Jeff Gordon after one of his wheels falls off.

The Bears lost to the Chargers 14-3 here Sunday even though they made LaDainian Tomlinson look like another type of MVP -- Mortal Vulnerable Player.

"We didn't hold him," Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher insisted. "He made a nice touchdown pass."

That Tomlinson did. He threw a 17-yard TD pass to Antonio Gates to give the Chargers their first points and first lead.

The score came with 45 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Until then, Tomlinson was of little help to the Chargers.

The fact is this guy didn't become the NFL's 2006 Most Valuable Player because of his throwing prowess, which has been considerable over the years for a running back.

Tomlinson is a runner, and the Bears restricted his ability to run. He picked up 25 yards in 17 carries, which was even worse than the Bears' ineffective running game on this given Sunday.

But playmakers make plays, and the Chargers figured out a couple of ways to give Tomlinson the opportunity to make plays when the game dangled in the balance.

Not only did Tomlinson throw a touchdown pass, he gained 7 of his rushing yards on a TD run in the fourth quarter that essentially secured the victory.

"I went into this game not expecting to have 150 yards," Tomlinson said, "especially with the kind of defense they play."

He noted that the Bears often had eight and even nine defenders up to play the Chargers' running game, which pretty much consists of Tomlinson left, Tomlinson right and Tomlinson up the middle.

"Their whole philosophy is to stop the run and have their linebackers run free to make tackles," he said. "My whole thing was to be patient and take what they give me, and for the most part I did."

What the Bears gave Tomlinson was that halfback pass, which he launched after taking a pitchout from quarterback Philip Rivers.

Tomlinson isn't exactly an expert on NFL defenses because he said, "I think (the Bears) were playing some kind of Cover-1 or Cover-3 defense."

Hey, what happened to the Cover-2?

Anyway, what's important to the Chargers is Tomlinson can run the heck out of the ball and throw it when given the chance.

The Bears' secondary was cheating up much of the day to confront Tomlinson at the line of scrimmage, allowing Gates an opening at the goal line.

"They had one safety back, so I knew they were playing the run," Tomlinson said. "I knew from the snap it was going to be a good play as I saw Mike (Brown) backing up and Gates running his route."

So Tomlinson let fly, sort of like Barry Bonds pitching an inning of relief to close out a Giants' victory.