SAN DIEGO — These guys might as well be division rivals.

Peyton Manning and his Indianapolis Colts face Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers for the fourth time in two seasons tonight.

Not only are the teams familiar with each other, they know all too well the consequences of facing off a second time — one team moves along in the playoffs and the other one goes home for the winter.

After fighting week-by-week to stay alive in the playoff chase, the Colts (12-4) and Chargers (8-8) should be acclimated to the pressure accompanying their wild-card showdown at Qualcomm Stadium.

"You've got two teams that have been in very similar situations, that we've essentially been playing elimination games these past five, six weeks," Manning said. "We didn't feel like we could afford to lose one because we felt like we would get behind, whether it was against New England or Baltimore, because we knew we were playing for the wild card."

The Colts' early struggles, due largely to Manning's knee problems, put them way behind the AFC South champion Tennessee Titans. But Indy more than took care of business by winning nine straight games to secure a wild-card spot while New England was shut out despite going 11-5.

The Colts' winning streak included a heartstopping 23-20 victory at San Diego on Nov. 23 on Adam Vinatieri's 51-yard field goal as time expired.

And the Bolts? After crashing to 4-8 and being written off in Norv Turner's second season as head coach, the Chargers climbed back into the race thanks to the weak AFC West. They won their last four games to clinch the division at .500. Among their December wins were a fourth-quarter comeback at doormat Kansas City, a stirring victory at Tampa Bay, and a 52-21 rout of the Broncos that contributed to Denver coach Mike Shanahan's surprise firing.

So here they are meeting again, 51 weeks after the Chargers kept the Colts from getting a shot at defending their Super Bowl title by knocking them off in Indy in the divisional round.

On the injury front, the Colts seem to be in better shape than the Chargers. San Diego stars LaDainian Tomlinson (groin) and Pro Bowl tight end Antonio Gates (ankle) were hurt in the Denver game. While Turner is optimistic they can play, it's anyone's guess how effective they'll be.

Tomlinson and Gates were listed as questionable on yesterday's injury report, meaning they've got a 50-50 chance of playing.

That said, the Chargers still pulled off a 28-24 upset at Indy in last year's playoffs after Rivers and Tomlinson both went out with knee injuries.

"Maybe I was thinking too early, but I was thinking even going into the Denver game, 'Hey, we get through this one, this is as healthy as we've been in a while going into the playoffs,' Rivers said this week. "Obviously, those two guys getting nicked up a little bit, I know they're both hopeful to play and play well."

FALCONS-CARDINALS

GLENDALE, Ariz. — One staged a remarkable one-season turnaround with a smooth, efficient rookie at the controls. The other emerged from a legacy of losing behind the ageless arm of a gunslinging veteran.

The Atlanta Falcons vs. the Arizona Cardinals was not exactly a predictable playoff pairing when the season began. Their wild-card matchup today is yet another example of the parity that prevails in the NFL.

"That's why the NFL is the most popular spectator sport there is," Atlanta coach Mike Smith said. "It's such a fun game and it's such a great game to be around. Each year is a new year and you can't really go by what the prognosticators say."

The Falcons (11-5) made a quick recovery from a 4-12 finish last season darkened by the legal troubles of Michael Vick and made worse by the abrupt resignation of coach Bobby Petrino.

Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan turned in one of the best seasons in history by a rookie, earning him the AP offensive rookie of the year award.

The Falcons made it as a wild-card team in the NFC South, arguably the toughest division in the conference. Arizona dominated the weak NFC West for its first division crown in 33 years. The team was 6-0 against division foes, 3-7 against everybody else.

That makes the Cardinals an underdog, even though they are playing at home.

The Cardinals (9-7) have three receivers — Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston — that topped 1,000 yards receiving.

Kurt Warner, 37, established six franchise records, including 30 touchdown passes.