OAKLAND, Calif. — Norv Turner won in his return to Oakland, LaDainian Tomlinson captured his second straight rushing title, and most importantly, the San Diego Chargers clinched the third seed in the AFC playoffs.

After struggling at the start of the season, the Chargers have hit their stride heading into the postseason.

Philip Rivers threw two touchdown passes, Tomlinson wrapped up the rushing title with 56 yards, and San Diego spoiled JaMarcus Russell's first career start with a 30-17 victory over the Raiders yesterday.

By ending the season with six straight wins, the Chargers (11-5) beat out Pittsburgh for the No. 3 seed. San Diego will host Tennessee next Sunday.

"This one has been more difficult than last year, obviously," Tomlinson said. "Things went our way last year. Last year seemed like we breezed through the whole season. This year, there was a lot of adversity. It was more difficult, so I think for me, it's even more special."

The postseason was a bitter disappointment last season when the Chargers lost their first game at home to New England after going 14-2 during the regular season.

The playoff loss to the Patriots led to Marty Schottenheimer getting fired, a decision that was questioned heavily when the Chargers got off to a 5-5 start under Turner. It will take a win in the postseason to put those questions to rest.

"Everything we've done this season has been great," defensive lineman Igor Olshansky said. "But we have to get that 'W' in the playoffs. We have all the tools in the locker room to beat any team."

Russell, the No. 1 overall draft pick, got off to a slow start by throwing an interception to Olshansky on his first play and losing a fumble in the end zone that led to a touchdown by Jyles Tucker midway through the third quarter.

Russell relied mostly on short passes as coach Lane Kiffin wanted to take pressure off his talented rookie. Russell did get to show off the strong arm that made him the No. 1 pick for Oakland (4-12). He moved nicely in the pocket before hitting Jerry Porter with a 32-yard scoring strike that cut San Diego's lead to 24-17 late in the third quarter. He finished 23-for-31 for 224 yards,

Turner limited Tomlinson to 15 carries to make sure he's fresh for the playoffs. But that was enough for L.T. to finish the season with 1,474 yards rushing, 133 ahead of Minnesota rookie Adrian Peterson.

RAVENS 27, STEELERS 21

BALTIMORE — The Steelers were not interested in gaining the No. 3 seed in the AFC playoffs. Their primary objective against the Ravens was merely to keep several key starters healthy.

Musa Smith ran for 83 yards and a touchdown in his first NFL start, helping the Ravens (5-11) earn their first victory since Oct. 14 and end a nine-game losing streak.

Charlie Batch, who played in place of Ben Roethlisberger, went 16-for-31 for 218 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions for the Steelers (10-6), who had already clinched the AFC North and were locked into a wild-card game at home next weekend.

TEXANS 42, JAGUARS 28

HOUSTON — Meaningless game? Not to Andre' Davis, who scored on kickoff returns of 97 and 104 yards against the Jaguars (11-5), who rested many starters with their playoff spot secure.

The victory gives the Texans (8-8) a .500 finish for the first time in their six-year history, and their 42 points are a team record.

Quinn Gray was 25-of-39 for 302 yards, while Matt Jones had eight receptions for 138 yards for the Jacksonville.

BENGALS 38, DOLPHINS 25

MIAMI — Miami (1-15) allowed 316 yards passing by Carson Palmer, gave up a touchdown on a fumble return and staggered to the end of the worst season in franchise history.

Palmer went 23-for-32 and threw for three scores to help the Bengals finish 7-9. Palmer finished with 4,131 yards passing to break the Cincinnati record of 4,035 he set last year.

T.J. Houshmandzadeh made nine receptions to tie New England's Wes Welker for the NFL lead with 112, a Bengals record.

JETS 13, CHIEFS 10

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Mike Nugent kicked a 43-yard field goal, after having a 33-yarder negated by a penalty, 5:13 into the extra period, to lift the Jets (4-12).

The loss was the ninth straight for the Chiefs (4-12), who had tied it at 10 with just under three minutes remaining in regulation.

One of the few bright spots for Kansas City was Tony Gonzalez breaking the NFL record for receptions by a tight end, when he caught his 816th career pass early in the third quarter.

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