Resurging Ravens

BALTIMORE – The Baltimore Ravens have a new formula for success: Keep the game close enough for Steve McNair to win it at the end.

McNair rallied the unbeaten Ravens for a second straight week Sunday, throwing a 10-yard pass to Todd Heap with 34 seconds left to defeat the San Diego Chargers 16-13.

In years past, the Ravens depended on their defense to squash the opposition, leaving the offense to do little else but avoid giving the ball away. Now that McNair is at quarterback, late-game heroics are becoming the standard.

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 either, until it mattered most.

“There was no doubt in my mind we would win this game when No. 9 went out there,” said Ravens cornerback Samari Rolle, who played with McNair in Tennessee. “He’s been through everything you can be through as a quarterback. He’s been MVP. He’s been in the Super Bowl. He’s just got it.”

Showing precisely why they obtained him in an offseason trade with the Titans, 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.

“The defense gave us the opportunity by keeping it within six points,” McNair said. “We knew if they gave us the opportunity, we have the confidence in ourselves to get the job done.”

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.

“This one hurts because of the control we had the whole game and we let it slip,” said quarterback Phillip Rivers, who went 13 for 22 for 145 yards and an interception that led to a Baltimore touchdown.

Rivers accepted blame for a spotty showing by the San Diego offense, which totaled 67 points in wins over Oakland and Tennessee.

“I didn’t play as well as I need to for us to win,” he said.

For 59 minutes, it appeared San Diego would win on the strength of a defense 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.

San Diego led 13-7 at halftime after limiting the Ravens to 45 yards on 24 plays.