San Diego, CA (Sports Network) - Philip Rivers threw for 292 yards and the go- ahead score to lead the San Diego Chargers to a 17-6 win over the Tennessee Titans in their wild card round playoff contest at Qualcomm Stadium.

Rivers overcame a lackluster first half to complete 19-of-30 passes with the one touchdown and one interception for the Chargers (12-5), who advanced to face the Indianapolis Colts in the divisional round next weekend. LaDainian Tomlinson was held to only 42 yards rushing, but his touchdown midway through the fourth quarter put San Diego in control, as the club picked up its seventh straight win dating back to the regular season.

Chris Chambers caught six passes for 121 yards and Vincent Jackson, who hauled in the go-ahead touchdown, ended with five catches for 114 yards for San Diego, which exorcised some playoff demons. The Chargers entered last year's postseason as the top seed in the AFC, but lost in the divisional round to the New England Patriots with then-head coach Marty Schottenheimer at the helm.

In this game, with Norv Turner as coach, the club got off to a slow start, but a 17-point second half gave San Diego its first playoff win since defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship Game on January 15, 1995.

The win, however, came at a cost for the Chargers, who lost All-Pro tight end Antonio Gates to a left toe injury. Gates suffered the injury in the second quarter and did not return. His status for next weekend's game against the Colts is uncertain.

Vince Young went 16-of-29 passing for 138 yards with an interception for the Titans (10-7), who failed to hold on to a 6-0 halftime lead in their first postseason appearance since the 2003 season.

Trailing 6-0 after one half, the Chargers gained control in the third quarter. Using the pass, Rivers took his team 86 yards on the first possession of the third quarter with Nate Kaeding capping the drive with a 20-yard field goal.

Then, after the defense forced the Titans to punt, San Diego scored the game's first touchdown when Rivers hooked up with Jackson with 2:35 left in the stanza for a 10-6 lead.

The 25-yard pass play was the fifth completion of at least 19 yards in the quarter for the Chargers, who were held to under 100 yards and just three first downs in the first half. Rivers went 9-of-10 passing for 137 yards during the two drives.

"They took away our running game, but we were able to beat them throwing the football," said Tomlinson. "The more people do that, the more we have to prove we can beat people throwing the football."

The key call of the scoring drive was a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on Tennessee's Albert Haynesworth. The penalty came when Haynesworth jumped offsides and hit Rivers, bringing the ball to the Titans' 29-yard-line.

Tennessee responded by bridging the third and fourth quarters with a nine-play drive, but Rob Bironas missed a 38-yard field goal 57 seconds into the final stanza and it remained a four-point game.

San Diego took advantage of the missed opportunity and got seven points of its own to go ahead 11 points. After Tomlinson fell about a foot short of the goal line on a third-down pass play, the Chargers lost a replay challenge and went for it on fourth down.

On fourth down, Tomlinson took the handoff from Rivers and tried to leap over the pile, taking off from the three-yard-line. The Titans initially stopped Tomlinson shy of the goal line, but on the second effort Tomlinson managed to reach the ball across the goal line for the score and a 17-6 lead with 8:45 left.

Tennessee failed to mount a successful drive in two opportunities after that and the Chargers were able to run out the clock after taking over for a final time with 3 1/2 minutes left.

"They understand now how these game go," said Tennessee head coach Jeff Fisher of his young team. "You have to take advantage of every opportunity that's presented to you to win. That's what we didn't do today."

Tennessee dominated in nearly every aspect of the game in the first half, taking a 6-0 lead into the break thanks to a pair of Bironas field goals. His first, a 30-yarder, capped the Titans' first drive, while his second, a 44- yarder, came as time expired in the half.

Tennessee could've had a bigger lead at the break, but Chris Brown lost a fumble at the Chargers' 12-yard-line after a Shawne Merriman hit early in the second quarter. Shaun Phillips recovered for San Diego, keeping it a three- point game at that point.

For the half, the Titans dominated time of possession 19:17 to 10:43, doing so primarily because of strong play on third down and a balanced offensive attack. Tennessee converted 7-of-11 third downs and gained 178 yards of offense -- 89 yards on the ground and through the air.

Led by Cortland Finnegan, the Titans' defense held San Diego in check in the first half. Finnegan had a sack, forced a fumble and picked off Rivers in the end zone during the opening 30 minutes. Tennessee held Tomlinson to just six rushing yards and the Chargers to only 94 total yards and three first downs in a scoreless half.

The second half was completely different, however. The Chargers held the ball for nearly 22 minutes and gained 256 yards of total offense in the two stanzas, compared to just 70 yards of offense in just over eight minutes of possession for the Titans.

Rivers was also completely different in the second half. After going just 7- of-13 for 98 yards and a pick in the first half, the QB completed 12-of-17 passes for 194 yards and a score over the final two quarters.