SAN DIEGO - Had the San Diego Chargers and Baltimore Ravens won their opening playoff games in January, they would have met in the AFC championship game as the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds.

They seemingly had everything going for them: The Chargers were an NFL-best 14-2, with the Ravens right behind at 13-3. No one imagined both teams imploding in the same weekend, San Diego in a flood of blunders against the New England Patriots and Baltimore in a debacle of its own against the eventual Super Bowl champions, the Indianapolis Colts.

Not much has changed.

San Diego has become the Stupor Chargers, not the Super Chargers as suggested by the disco ditty that's played at home games. At 5-5 under Norv Turner, they're clinging to the fact that they're still in first place in the mediocre AFC West, albeit tied with the Denver Broncos.

Quoth the Ravens: "We stink!" Baltimore (4-6) has lost four straight, and the teams the Ravens have beaten are a combined 11-30.

Desperation will be the theme today when the AFC's two most disappointing teams meet at Qualcomm Stadium. At the very least, they can take out their frustrations on each other.

"I think just try to get a win, that's the mind-set for both teams," said San Diego's LaDainian Tomlinson, who'll try again to crack 10,000 yards rushing for his career. "They need a win badly, they have lost four straight, and we need a win badly. Just getting a win.

"I tell you one thing: Both teams feel like they can beat each other."

Or, as Chargers safety Clinton Hart said: "We owe 'em one."

Last season, the Chargers turned conservative and gave up a late lead, losing 16-13 at Baltimore.

Had he been told months ago that these teams would have combined for 11 losses before Thanksgiving, "I'd have laughed, considering where we were last year," Ravens wide receiver Derrick Mason said. "To come back the next season and say we would be at the bottom of the totem pole, you would laugh considering the talent we have and the talent the Chargers have on both sides of the ball. But, that's the NFL. One year you're up and the next year you're down. But, I think each and every year you've got to be able to reload and deal with the injuries -- go out there and play some good football."

True, the Ravens have had injuries, including quarterback Steve McNair's injured left shoulder that has paved the way for Kyle Boller to reclaim the starting job. The Ravens also have done a horrible job of taking care of the ball, tumbling to last in the AFC at minus-9 in turnovers.

They also had a bounce go against them last week. The Ravens thought they had beaten the Cleveland Browns and headed to the locker room, but they had to come back onto the field when Phil Dawson's tying field-goal attempt was found to have bounced off the goal-post support and ruled good. Of course, the Ravens lost in overtime.

After facing the Chargers, the Ravens return home for games against New England and Indy.

The Chargers have been a mystifying mess for much of this fall.

When Turner was hired after the sudden firing of Marty Schottenheimer in February, some fans feared he would take what had been the NFL's equivalent of a Ferrari and blow an engine.

The talent is back -- San Diego had 11 Pro Bowlers in 2006 -- but the results aren't.

Turner's play-calling has been predictable and unimaginative. Quarterback Philip Rivers has regressed dramatically from his Pro Bowl performance of 2006, looking dismal while leading the NFL with 17 turnovers.

Turner remains 24 games under .500 (63-87-1) in three stints as an NFL head coach. The Chargers are ranked only 21st in total offense and have dipped to 25th in total defense. After leading the NFL with 61 sacks last season, they have 19 under new coordinator Ted Cottrell.

San Diego's struggles seemed to be summed up last week when All-Pro outside linebacker Shawne Merriman was knocked on his rear end by 5-foot-7 Maurice Jones-Drew in the Jackson ville Jaguars' 24-17 win. Merriman had only one tackle and hasn't had a sack in four games.

Why the struggles with so much talent?

"Again, that's a question I can't answer," Tomlinson said after the loss to Jacksonville. "I don't know what you want me to say to you. You want me to give the perfect answer I don't have? We're .500, and that's the way it is."