Chargers, Colts battle once more

SAN DIEGO – These guys might as well be division rivals.

Peyton Manning, voted NFL Most Valuable Player for a record-tying third time, and his Indianapolis Colts face Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers for the fourth time in two seasons tonight.

Not only are the teams familiar with each other, they know all too well the consequences of facing off a second time – one team moves along in the playoffs and the other one is done.

After week-by-week fights to stay alive in the playoff chase, the Colts (12-4) and Chargers (8-8) should be acclimated to the pressure accompanying their wild-card matchup at Qualcomm Stadium.

“You’ve got two teams that have been in very similar situations, that we’ve essentially been playing elimination games these past five, six weeks,” Manning said. “We didn’t feel like we could afford to lose one because we felt like we would get behind, whether it was against New England or Baltimore, because we knew we were playing for the wild card.”

The Colts’ early struggles, mainly because of Manning’s knee problems, put them way behind AFC South champion Tennessee. But Indy more than took care of business by winning nine straight games to secure a wild-card spot.

After crashing to 4-8 and being written off in Norv Turner’s second season as head coach, the Chargers climbed back into the race thanks to the weak AFC West. They won their last four games to clinch the division with a .500 record.