SAN DIEGO 49ers' streak comes to end

Jose Cortez missed a field goal in overtime that allowed San Diego to rally.
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- The San Diego Chargers have both heart and Steve Christie, which proved to be an unbeatable combination.
Christie, one of the NFL's best clutch kickers, had a 40-yard field goal with 4 minutes, 11 seconds remaining in overtime, and the Chargers beat the San Francisco 49ers 20-17 on Sunday.
A week earlier, running back LaDainian Tomlinson questioned his team's desire after it blew a 10-point lead in the final 3:06 and lost at St. Louis.
"If there was any question about their heart, I think that was dispelled," coach Marty Schottenheimer said. "This team has great heart."
Rallying cry
Tomlinson, naturally, changed his tone 180 degrees.
"The 49ers are a good team. We kept battling and we kept battling," he said. "That shows you what kind of heart this team has, to win a game like this."
Christie got his chance because San Francisco's Jose Cortez was wide right on a 41-yard attempt. It was Cortez's fourth miss in three weeks, including two in regulation at Oakland on Nov. 3 before he won that game in overtime with a 23-yarder.
The Chargers (7-3), who trailed 17-7 going into the fourth quarter, rallied to snap a two-game losing streak and kept pace with Denver for the AFC's best record.
San Francisco (7-3) missed a chance to pull into a tie with Green Bay for the NFL's best record, and saw its three-game winning streak end.
"We're usually better at the end of a game than we were today," 49ers coach Steve Mariucci said. Cortez "has done some good things for us this season, but he's also missed a few."
In position
After Cortez missed, Brees moved the Chargers from their 31 to the San Francisco 22. He threw passes of 19 yards to Tim Dwight and 18 to Eric Parker, a rookie who made his first reception, to help set up Christie.
"The last time I was really nervous was when I kicked an overtime field goal in my rookie year," said Christie, a 13-year veteran signed late last season because Wade Richey was so inconsistent. "All I'm trying to do is keep my confidence."
It was Christie's eighth overtime field goal, second-most in NFL history to Jim Breech's nine.
Christie had a 44-yard attempt blocked by Dana Stubblefield as the first half expired, and kicked a 36-yarder with 5:05 to play to pull the Chargers to 17-10.
Brees was impressive in driving the Chargers to the tying score, a 1-yard pass to wide-open fullback Fred McCrary with 31 seconds remaining in regulation. Brees completed 6-of-10 passes for 58 yards, including a 23-yarder to Dwight.
Two plays before the touchdown, on third-and-goal from the 8, 49ers rookie cornerback Mike Rumph grabbed rookie receiver Reche Caldwell's jersey in the end zone and was flagged for pass interference, giving the Chargers first down from the 1.
High numbers
Brees completed 29-of-50 passes for 336 yards -- all career highs -- and two touchdowns, with one interception.
Tomlinson, the NFL's leading rusher who was working behind a makeshift line, had 88 yards on 24 carries, giving him 1,053 for the year. He also caught eight passes for 57 yards. Curtis Conway had seven catches for 152 yards.
San Francisco's Terrell Owens caught a 32-yard touchdown pass from Jeff Garcia on fourth-and-4 just before halftime, then had a 76-yard catch-and-run TD three plays into the second half to give the 49ers a 14-7 lead.
Owens finished with seven catches for 171 yards. Garcia was 25-of-43 for 337 yards, with two TDs and one interception.