Bolts turn focus to 4-1 Bills

Thirty points, 404 yards of total offense, four sacks and most importantly the third win of the season.

As enjoyable as the Chargers’ victory was Sunday night, the celebration ended with a dose of reality Monday afternoon.

“Then the dust settles and we come in today and we are 3-3,” quarterback Philip Rivers said. “That’s still where we are and have a long way to go.”

Rivers’ reference could have been a literal and figurative one. He spoke of the win giving the Bolts “an opportunity to still get where we want to go,” but Rivers and his teammates also know how imperative it is for them to build on their Week 6 win over New England.

“I think it was obviously good to play well,” Rivers said. “It was important mainly just to get a win. I think it’s like this not just in offensive consistency or anything as a team, it’s a week-to-week thing. You’ve got to gear up and do it again.”

The Chargers’ next opportunity comes on the front end of the longest regular-season road trip in team history. They’ll fly cross country on Friday to play the AFC East-leading Bills in Buffalo on Sunday. That in itself, the Bolts recognize as a challenge.

“Buffalo coming off a bye; they were tough two years ago when we played there when they weren’t the team they are now,” Rivers said. “We know how much better they are now. We know we’ve got another tough one on the road.”

Then the Chargers will immediately fly to London where they’ll spend the week preparing for the high-scoring New Orleans Saints.

This week, Bolts players and coaches will have to pack for a two-week trip and prepare for a unique situation. While it would be easy to view the trip collectively, the Bolts spoke of a need to keeping their focus on Buffalo rather than spending some time thinking about the Saints and their trip to London.

“You have to really be focused on what's ahead of you, particularly the time you have to do things,” Tomlinson said. “We know this is a normal week, and then we're traveling to Buffalo. Then it gets tricky. Our preparation has to remain the same. The focus has to be on winning and not really enjoying being in London and all the things that go along with that. It's everyone else's show. We're there to win a game.”

Chargers Head Coach Norv Turner believes his team will handle the logistics well. He referred to last October when the club moved their operations to Arizona for a week because of the wildfires that ravaged San Diego. The Chargers played one of their most complete games of the 2006 season after spending the week away from home.

Turner stressed that the Chargers’ goal is to return to San Diego with a pair of victories. As his team prepares to be away for 11 days, Turner will challenge them to keep their focus.

“My biggest concentration is going to be on this week and keeping this week as normal as possible, getting our work done today, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and having great preparation for this football game,” Turner said. “We have spent a lot of time planning and we spent this summer and we know exactly what we want to do in terms of after we play Buffalo. Really none of that is a thought for me and I just want to make sure that the things we have to do when you plan to go somewhere for an extended period of time, that we don’t let those be a distraction for this week. I think our guys will handle anything that they have to handle.”

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