Goal is to not be ahead of their time

SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego Chargers worked on their timing yesterday. Or at least talked about it. And it had nothing to do with what happened on the field.

It's a matter of timing things so they come into their AFC divisional playoff game against the Patriots Sunday in optimum physical and mental shape.

"We made it clear we're not peaking today," said coach Marty Schottenheimer after practice. "We want to take small steps until we reach the top, and hopefully it will be a successful week."

Schottenheimer and many of the Chargers are still haunted by their last playoff appearance, a 20-17 overtime loss to the Jets in a wild-card game two years ago. "We shot our guns too early against the Jets, and in the third and fourth quarter we ran out of gas," said NFL MVP LaDainian Tomlinson, who still has painful memories of being held to 80 yards on 26 carries.

Another concern is that the Chargers are coming off a bye week, a blessing and a curse for the team with the best record (14-2) in the NFL.

"We know we're good," said quarterback Philip Rivers. "But we haven't accomplished anything yet."

The weather was unseasonable, with temperatures in the high 50s and heavy cloud cover. Schottenheimer began his press conference by saying, "I want to apologize to the out-of-town writers here for the weather." He added that blue skies and sunshine would return shortly . . . General manager A.J. Smith has a New England connection. Not only did Smith work for the Patriots from 1978-80 but he is from Warwick, R.I., and played wide receiver for the Attleboro Kings of the old Eastern Football League . . . Other Chargers personnel with New England connections includes special teams coach Steve Crosby, special teams and tight ends coach for the Patriots in 1990; executive vice president and CEO Jim Steeg, a native of Boston; and Schottenheimer, who played for the Patriots from 1969-70 . . . The Chargers have 32 players with playoff experience, 27 of whom were on the roster for the loss to the Jets . . . The Chargers ended the season with 10 straight wins. In the last 41 years, only six teams have accomplished that, and three -- including the 2003 Patriots -- went on to win the Super Bowl.