WASHINGTON (AFP) — San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson won his second consecutive National Football League rushing title on Sunday after gaining 56 yards on 15 carries in a 30-17 victory at Oakland.
Tomlinson finished with 1,474 yards, 133 more than runner-up Adrian Peterson of Minnesota. Tomlinson's total last season was 1,815 yards, when he also set an NFL one-season record with 31 touchdowns.
Peterson was set to become the first rookie to capture the NFL rushing title since Edgerrin James in 1999. He ran for an NFL-record 295 yards in a 35-17 victory over San Diego in the ninth week of the season.
But Peterson suffered a knee injury in a 34-0 loss at Green Bay in the 10th week of the season and was overtaken by Tomlinson.
Peterson managed only 36 yards for the Vikings in a 22-19 overtime loss at Denver, ending any hopes of a last-minute comeback for the title.
Tomlinson, 28, started off slow with only 262 yards in the first four games. But as the Chargers moved from 1-3 into a playoff position at 11-5, Tomlinson picked up his pace, hitting 177 yards in a 24-10 triumph over Kansas City.
"I kind of feel like last year, where I felt strong at the end of the year and I really felt like I was playing my best football at the end," said Tomlinson, who helped San Diego conclude the season with six triumphs in a row.
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