SEAN M. HAFFEY / Union-Tribune LaDainian Tomlinson and Philip Rivers didn't come to blows, but their frustration on the sideline was evident after a third-quarter drive was ended by an incomplete pass.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Shawne Merriman spoke with an urgency his words could not contain. Tears brimmed in his eyes as he leaned forward, alternately snarling and pleading.

“We're the San Diego Chargers; this is not the way we're accustomed to playing. Period,” the linebacker said, his voice rising. “And dammit, we're going to fix it. I can't explain. This gets under my skin, because we're better than this – this is (garbage), and ain't none of us are going to take this around here. We're going to get it back this week, and we're going to fix it.”

Like his teammates, Merriman had no answers as to why the team roundly hailed as the NFL's most talent-rich has lost two of its first three games.

But here the Chargers are.

When Donald Driver went high and came down with an onside kick with 20 seconds remaining in yesterday's game, sealing a 31-24 Packers victory, the Chargers' season arrived with a thud at a crossroads.

They will shortly discover if they are off to a slow start or if they simply aren't as good as they and everyone else thought.

Defense's missing link: tackles Tim Sullivan's report card Rivers is miffed by misses at the end Wide receivers get into flow Don't cue the fat lady Voice of the fans Highlights by quarter Chargers statistics Lambeau high-low

“We're going through a tough stretch,” quarterback Philip Rivers said. “You find out what you're made of now.”

The Chargers seem perplexed by the exact nature of their problems, though they are forming judgments about how to eradicate them.

“We've got to go make things happen,” Rivers said. “The 14-2 team is history. It's not here. We have to re-establish an identity.”

Earlier, in a quiet and quickly emptying locker room, center Nick Hardwick offered a similar sentiment.

“You can't find your way; you have got to (expletive) go get it,” he said. “You've got to get after it and decide who you're going to be as a team. . . . We've got to pick up the intensity during the week. Wednesday, Thursday is key for us. We've got to come out and go hard. It's got to be close to game speed.

“(Last week) wasn't quite where it needed to be. I kind of had a little feeling. But we'll get this intensity cranked up. The intensity was better in the game today. It's just got to carry over.”

Yesterday's loss on a sun-splashed Wisconsin autumn afternoon was the Chargers' second straight, and, coming on the heels of last week's embarrassment in New England, has them staggered. They marched silently from the Lambeau Field grass, up a narrow tunnel beneath pro football's most storied stadium and began to confront what this season has become.

Franchise face and reigning league MVP LaDainian Tomlinson is noticeably disturbed. He won't yet identify exactly what is bothering him, but he appears on the verge of either a blowup or a meltdown.

“I am actually at a loss for words right now,” he said. “I'm just kind of frustrated and baffled with the team right now.

“We have 13 more games to go, so we better find out what is going on real fast.”

After one failed third down in the third quarter, on which Tomlinson appeared open away from the play, Tomlinson and Rivers walked off the field jawing at each other. As they continued on the sideline, Antonio Gates stepped between them, and Tomlinson headed to the bench. After the next series, Rivers approached Tomlinson and they exchanged a fist bump.

“It wasn't really arguing,” Tomlinson said. “It's just competitive talk sometimes. It's the things you get into sometimes with two guys trying to get on the same page.”

Said Rivers: “It's two competitors wanting to win. I wish I'd hit the pass. He wishes we would have hit it. We both hate to lose. We're 1-2.”

However, the Chargers are, to a man, sure to say they are not panicking. Tomlinson, too, said it is “too early” to even elaborate on the core source of his frustration.

“There's a long way to go,” defensive end Luis Castillo said. “We'll get it fixed. There are way too many guys on this team to not get this turned around.”

BY THE NUMBERS 2 Losses by Chargers in three games, equaling their total for 16 games last season. 2 Receiving games of at least 100 yards for Antonio Gates, doubling his total from last season. 2.4 Yards per carry averaged by Chargers through three games. 4.9 Yards per carry averaged by Chargers last season. 6.8 Yards per play averaged by Packers. 42 Yards rushing for Green Bay, which had just 13 attempts. 62 Yards rushing for LaDainian Tomlinson, almost equaling his total for the first two games (68). – JAY POSNER

A day that turned on three significant ifs – if Marlon McCree had not committed an unnecessary-roughness penalty on a third-down incompletion in the first quarter, if Rivers had completed a third-down pass to Vincent Jackson in the fourth quarter, if Rivers had not forced a pass that got intercepted on the next series – continued a season now looking iffy.

With a 12-play, six-minute drive to open the third quarter, it appeared the Chargers were reverting to their form of a season ago. They were beginning to wear down their opponent en route to a 21-yard Tomlinson touchdown off a short pass, giving them a 21-17 lead.

The Chargers held that lead well into the fourth quarter, as Norv Turner went into protection mode, calling just two pass plays on first or second down over the next three Chargers possessions.

The Chargers stopped the Packers at the 1-yard line with 5:48 remaining. But after converting one long third down to get off the end zone's doorstep, Rivers sailed a pass to Jackson high on third-and-3 from the Green Bay 28-yard line.

The Chargers punted, and two plays later Packers receiver Greg Jennings stepped away from Antonio Cromartie, caught a short pass from Brett Favre and raced 57 yards to the end zone.

It was Favre's 420th career touchdown pass, tying Dan Marino's NFL record.

It also put the Chargers in the two-minute offense, something they had run extremely well to end the first half with a touchdown. But on third-and-10, linebacker Nick Barnett stepped in front of a Rivers pass intended for Tomlinson and returned it 38 yards to the 2. The Packers went up 31-21 after successive 1-yard runs by Brandon Jackson.

The Chargers moved over the next 39 seconds to set up Nate Kaeding's 44-yard field goal, but Driver's recovery of Mike Scifres' onside kick effectively ended the game.

One kneel-down later, the Chargers began to walk off the field, eyes glazed. They return home to face Kansas City this week, many of them stopping just short of calling it a must-win game.

“I think the urgency last week was strong,” Rivers said. “But now, if there is a notch to turn it up to, we've got to turn it up.”

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Kevin Acee: (619) 293-1857; kevin.acee@uniontrib.com