CHARGERS' LINE OF CREDIT.

Byline: BILLY WITZ

SAN DIEGO - They wore powder blue uniforms and white helmets, Don Coryell and Dan Fouts were out on the field, and if that weren't enough for the fans at Qualcomm Stadium to reminisce, the Chargers lit up the scoreboard.

It was just like old times Sunday - really old times - as the Chargers continued their surprising early-season success with a 34-21 thumping of Jacksonville.

The team that was unanimously picked to finish last in the AFC West - and the team a good many called the worst in the NFL - stands at 3-2, one victory away from matching last year's win total.

The Chargers' formula for success hasn't exactly been Marty Ball - the clock-crunching run game, physical defense and reliance on veterans that has made Marty Schottenheimer the NFL's winningest active coach.

Instead, the Chargers are a lot more than LaDainian Tomlinson off tackle.

Tomlinson, who took two direct snaps from center, was actually more effective receiving the ball Sunday, catching four passes for 78 yards. His backup, Jesse Chatman, rushed for 103 yards. And Gates - the tight end only two years removed from a college basketball career - caught eight passes, two of which went for touchdowns.

The Chargers have scored 140 points - 72 in the past two weeks, the most for the team in a two-week span since 1993. They are second in scoring in the NFL to Indianapolis.

``We're in the entertainment business. Is that entertaining?'' Schottenheimer asked. ``Tell you what - it's hard on a 61-year-old coach.''

There is, however, one component of this offense that isn't so hard for a coach with Midwestern sensibilities to warm up to - the offensive line. It's a unit that until Sunday, when former holdout Jason Ball returned to the lineup at center, didn't have anyone who was with the Chargers a year ago.

So, in the offseason, the Chargers signed veteran guard Mike Goff, a free agent; traded for tackle Roman Oben, who started for Tampa Bay in its Super Bowl run; welcomed back guard Toniu Fonoti, who missed last season with an injury after being named all-rookie in 2002; and drafted three offensive linemen. Two of those rookies began the season in the lineup - center Nick Hardwick and tackle Shane Olivea.

``We could tell everybody doubted the O-line,'' Fonoti said. ``We wanted to come in this year and try to gain respect.''

The line did its best to do it Sunday. The Chargers used a short passing game to put together 12- and 14-play scoring drives on their first two possessions. Then, behind Tomlinson and Chatman, who broke off runs of 41 and 31 yards, San Diego controlled the line of scrimmage all day.

``I'll be candid with you,'' Schottenheimer said. ``I didn't think there was any chance in the world that we could rush for more than 150 yards against that group because they're awfully good.''

The Jaguars, likewise, had trouble coming to grips with that. John Henderson, who teams with Marcus Stroud to make one of the best tackle tandems in the NFL, wasn't quite ready to credit the Chargers.

``They shocked us,'' Henderson said. ``Y'all know that wasn't us out there. No excuses. They didn't do anything special. We just had a bad one.''

That's fine, Oben said.

``I hope people say we're not that good because guys will have more of a chip on their shoulder,'' he said.

Ball said: ``It's a little extra motivator when you've got people saying, specific to us, that the O-line is garbage or this or that, or LT does things on his own.''

Ball then joked of Chatman: ``It was all Jesse. I don't think we blocked anybody.''

The next two weeks, they'll have chances to earn their due again, on the road against two of the NFL's best defenses. Or by the time they return home Halloween night, they might be pumpkins.

The Chargers, lest anyone forget, have a history - one more thing that they'll have to block.

CAPTION(S):

box

Box:

MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL