The San Diego Chargers gave the San Francisco 49ers every chance to win their game Saturday night. Practically begged them to. In front of a sparse Levi's Stadium crowd that was apathetic about the playoff-denied 49ers, the Chargers — their playoff hopes already slim, and in dire need of a win — spotted the Niners a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter and then gifted the 49ers a touchdown right before the half to make it a 28-7 deficit for the Chargers. [ Join FanDuel.com's $2M Week 16 fantasy league: $25 to enter; top 17,475 teams paid ] Philip Rivers, practically duct-taped together at this point, threw two picks in the first half, one of which was run back for a touchdown, and a third horrible interception at the end of the third quarter that killed a potentially good drive when the Chargers were down two scores. But somehow they, Rivers and these not-dead-yet Chargers — who started the season 5-1, still looked solid at 8-4 but would have been in deep trouble with a loss to the 49ers — found a way. They forced overtime and eventually won it, 38-35, in the most thrilling prime-time game of the NFL season. That keeps them in the playoff hunt. Barely, but who cares? They were also barely in it a year ago when they not only got into the postseason, but went on the road, won a game and gave the AFC champion Denver Broncos a battle in the next round. Is it concerning when a team makes this many mistakes and wins? Certainly. And the Chargers had, uh, quite a few things they'll wince at when they go back and watch this game tape. First, letting Frank Gore run all over them hurt, but that's nothing new; they've been gashed on the ground defensively more than once this season. But this was bad, even by their standards. The 49ers' 355 rushing yards are the most for a losing team in NFL history. The Chiefs had just set the record on 12/23/12 with 352. — Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) December 21, 2014 The end of the first half was a debacle defensively. The Chargers committed two penalties in the final 30 seconds and allowed the 49ers to convert three third-and-goals (!) to score a touchdown that really should have been a field goal. Momentum swung back in the third quarter when the Chargers cut it to a two-touchdown lead and the 49ers wanted in on the Keystone Cop routine, with a brilliantly awful two-play, 14-point swing. First there was Vernon Davis — yes, he's alive — catching an apparent touchdown that would have pushed the lead back to 21. Illegal formation on Anthony Davis wiped out the play. One play later, 49ers QB*Colin Kaepernick was strip-sacked and the ball was recovered by the Chargers' Corey Liuget for the improbable touchdown. It was the game neither team wanted to win. That defensive score made it 28-21 with 3:26 left in the third. A mere 46 seconds later, the Chargers had Kaepernick backed up inside his own 10-yard line, and Sean Lissemore nearly sacked him, but Kaepernick wiggled out, ran past several defensive backs in man coverage, eyes glued to their receivers, for a 90-yard score — the second-longest by a QB in NFL history. Chargers safety Eric Weddle's terrible angle to the ball didn't help, either. Still, tough, the Chargers were not dead. Rivers led touchdown drives of nine plays and 85 yards and 14 plays and 80 yards in the final nine minutes, tying the game with 32 seconds left, as Rivers found Malcom Floyd for the score. The Chargers might have had a chance to win in regulation, believe it or not, as 49ers kicker Phil Dawson's 60-yard field-goal attempt at the buzzer barely reached the front of the end zone. Yes, the Chargers have this guy on the roster but failed to send him back for the kick: There would be no "Kick Six" on this evening for Chargers rookie DB Chris Davis, but his team found a way with a different kind of magic. Weddle atoned by knocking the ball out of 49ers receiver Quinton Patton's hands, and Rivers and Ronnie Brown led them down for the game-winning field-goal drive. It wasn't pretty. In fact, it was quite the opposite of that word. So much so that Snoop Dogg (or whatever he's known as these days) had a pretty good way of summing it all up. How lucky are the Chargers? Very. But they also were opportunistic. There were four fumbles combined by the two teams on Saturday, and the Chargers came up with all four. One happened on the goal line. One was run back for a touchdown. One would have ended the game. And the final one set up the Chargers for the win. And it sets up an interesting Week 17 in the AFC playoff race. - - - - - - - Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm

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