Chargers bolting through Decembers

CLEVELAND (AP) — It’s December, and baby, it’s getting cold outside.

Time to break out the overcoats, boots, scarves and mittens. But while most everyone is chilling out, this is the month when the San Diego Chargers heat up.

They’ve won 14 straight games in December, a streak that stretches back to the final game of the 2005 season. Neither snow, nor sleet, nor cross-country trips has stopped these Chargers (8-3) from living up to their full-speed-ahead nickname in December.

“You want to be peaking in December,” Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers said. “We’ve been on a roll. Now that we’ve gotten here we need to keep it going. We’ve got the right mindset, that’s to just worry about Cleveland.”

Worry? About Cleveland?

Maybe Rivers hasn’t been following the plight of the Browns (1-10), who have dropped six straight games, lost three starters to season-ending injuries this week, and are staggering toward the end of what to this point has been the worst season in Cleveland history.

San Diego has won six straight games after an 0-2 start, and unless they get thrown off by the time change, oversleep and forget kickoff is scheduled for 4:05 p.m., the Chargers should make it seven in a row and move closer to securing the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs and a first-round bye.

Although it’s only December, coach Norv Turner said it’s not too early to start planning ahead for the new year — and postseason pairings.

“I think when you get to this point it’s in the back of your mind,” he said. “But to me it’s scary because the No. 1 thing, I don’t care who you are, you want to qualify for the playoffs and that’s a starting point. Then once you do that, you start thinking about, ’Hey, we want to be in the best position we can.”’

The Chargers, 9-0 under Turner in December, can’t afford to look past the Browns. Next week, they play at Dallas, followed by a home game against Cincinnati, two teams with similar playoff aspirations. Turner spent the week doing all he could to pump up the Browns as contenders.

“We go to Cleveland, it’s going to be a challenge for us,” Turner said. “You look at our schedule over the next five games, we play good football teams that are doing the same thing we’re doing, trying to make the playoffs.”

Rivers has been instrumental in the Chargers’ surge. During San Diego’s winning streak, he has completed 70 percent of his passes (116 of 166), thrown 12 touchdowns and just three interceptions. He’s also done it without much pressure as San Diego’s line has not given up a sack in two games.

Rivers has thrown a TD pass in eight straight games and could feast on a Cleveland defense ranked 31st overall, giving up 393 yards per game. Last week, Rivers went 21 of 28 for 317 yards as the Chargers routed the Kansas City Chiefs 43-14.