SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) – Philip Rivers threw a tying 11-yard touchdown pass to Malcom Floyd with 29 seconds left after completing a pair of fourth-and-longs, and the San Diego Chargers forced overtime against the San Francisco 49ers at 35-all Saturday night.
Phil Dawson’s 60-yard field goal attempt as regulation ended fell way short.
Rivers converted fourth-and-8 and fourth-and-10 on the key final San Diego drive in regulation.
Colin Kaepernick ran for a 90-yard touchdown in the third quarter before Rivers rallied his team with its playoff hopes hanging in the balance.
Frank Gore had an early 52-yard touchdown run to get it started six days after a concussion, but his third-quarter chop block negated a 63-yard touchdown catch and run by Vernon Davis. Then, Kaepernick was sacked and fumbled the very next play in a wild sequence. Kaepernick, holding the ball out and away from his body, was clobbered by Ricardo Mathews to force the fumble and Corey Liuget recovered for the touchdown.
But Kaepernick answered with his open-field speed rarely seen this year as San Francisco snapped its first three-game losing streak during Harbaugh’s tenure along with a three-game skid against the Chargers.
Rivers threw touchdown passes of 21 and 1 yard to Antonio Gates and another to Eddie Royal, but also was hurt by three interceptions. On one of those, Antoine Bethea ran an interception back 49 yards for his first career touchdown, and a defense minus recently released starting lineman Ray McDonald never let Rivers find a rhythm.
Kaepernick’s long run is the second-longest in 49ers history. Terrelle Pryor’s 93-yard run for Oakland last year against Pittsburgh was the longest by a QB.
The 31-year-old Gore is in position for the final game next weekend against Arizona for a fourth consecutive 1,000-yard season and eighth in his 10 NFL seasons. His scoring run was his longest since a 64-yarder on Nov. 1, 2009, at Indianapolis. It also was the longest TD run allowed by San Diego since 2010 before Kaepernick topped it in a franchise-record running day for the Niners.
Gore had more yards in this game than in his previous four games combined, and New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez was in attendance wearing the running back’s red No. 21 jersey.
Rookie Bruce Ellington caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from Kaepernick early in the second quarter that put the Niners up 21-0, then ran for a 1-yard score in the waning moments before leaving with a hamstring injury.
In one half, San Francisco topped its combined scoring total from the previous three games of 23 points. The Niners had their biggest lead since going ahead 28-3 in the third quarter of the season opener at Dallas – and their first lead by 21 points at home since a 34-3 victory against Houston on Oct. 6, 2013.
Rivers had his team driving late in the first quarter before throwing an interception picked off by Perrish Cox. Unclear whether ailing, Rivers didn’t look comfortable. He sat out Wednesday’s practice with neck and back injuries, and he was without running back Ryan Mathews and wide receiver Keenan Allen.
The Chargers came in needing to win out and get some help after beginning the week tied with Kansas City and Buffalo, one game out of final wild-card berth.
Four players sustained concussions or head injuries – 49ers safety Eric Reid and San Diego cornerback Shareece Wright with concussions and San Francisco cornerback Leon McFadden and linebacker Aldon being evaluated for a head injuries.
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