<table> </table> SAN DIEGO | For exactly 59 minutes and 37 seconds of football Sunday, the Chiefs had good reason to dream that Tyler Thigpen could be the young quarterback to take them into the future.</p><p>The last 23 seconds of their 20-19 loss to the San Diego Chargers showed them that such thinking is premature.</p><p>Thigpen looked like a seasoned pro for most of the way, leading the Chiefs on a pressure-packed touchdown drive that ended with his 3-yard touchdown pass to Tony Gonzalez with 23 seconds left.</p><p>Things fell apart for Thigpen when the Chiefs attempted a two-point conversion to win the game. He locked on to his intended receiver, Gonzalez, who was being held up. He never looked to his other receiver, Mark Bradley, or contemplated running the 2 yards.</p><p>Instead, he lofted a sickly pass that never had a chance to get to Gonzalez or any of the other Chiefs.</p><p>So, despite often brilliant play from their quarterback, the result was familiar. The Chiefs had another agonizing loss.</p><p>Thigpen was in no mood to dissect what either he or his coaches could have done differently.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;d do the same thing,&#8221; he said shortly. &#8220;I&#8217;m not questioning any calls here.&#8221;</p><p>Up until that point, the Chiefs were confident Thigpen would deliver, because he&#8217;d done so all day. He guided the Chiefs on a 95-yard touchdown drive on their first possession and took them to another touchdown late in the first half, though they came away with six points and not seven that time when a bad snap ruined the point-after try.</p><p>In his first real do-or-die situation &#8212; the Chiefs took over at their 40 down 20-13 with 3 minutes left &#8212; Thigpen looked like he&#8217;d done it many times.</p><p>The Chiefs converted twice on third down and once on fourth down on the drive. He gunned the fourth-down pass to Mark Bradley for 11 yards.</p><p>&#8220;He stayed calm and cool the whole time,&#8221; center Rudy Niswanger said. &#8220;That&#8217;s what you want from a quarterback in that situation. He stayed confident. He made the plays they gave to him and he didn&#8217;t force anything that wasn&#8217;t there.</p><p>&#8220;Every game he steps into the huddle, you notice a little more confidence in him every time.&#8221;</p><p>Coach Herm Edwards ordered the Chiefs to go for two points after their last touchdown, a move that caught no one by surprise. The injury-depleted Chiefs defense was in no position to play any more on Sunday.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not even a question what you do,&#8221; Edwards said. &#8220;These guys deserved to win a football game. These guys are so beat up on defense that it wouldn&#8217;t have been fair to not try (to win). We just ran out of bodies. You&#8217;ve got to understand where your team&#8217;s at.&#8221;</p><p>They had a play they liked, sending Gonzalez to the back of the end zone against safety Clinton Hart. Gonzalez had been beating Hart all day with 10 catches for 113 yards and two touchdowns.</p><p>Gonzalez was held up off the line. Both he and Thigpen protested to the officials that Hart should have been penalized for holding, but no flag was thrown.</p><p>&#8220;He was getting held the whole way,&#8221; Thigpen said. &#8220;He got hit before the ball even got there.</p><p>&#8220;I wasn&#8217;t questioning his call, but I was just saying, &#8216;Why not a penalty there?&#8217; That puts a lot on the ref to throw a flag in their place on a two-point conversion.&#8221;</p><p>Gonzalez was even more emphatic.</p><p>&#8220;I came off the line of scrimmage and he grabbed me from both sides,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I was turned around backwards trying to get away from him. He just wouldn&#8217;t let go of me.