BALTIMORE -- The San Diego Chargers had a fork stuck in them.

Down 10 points on the road against one of the brutes of the AFC North, the Baltimore Ravens, the Chargers were expected to roll over in submission on Sunday.

Instead, cornerback Brandon Flowers approached the offensive huddle before they took the field, down 10 points with just under seven minutes left.

Flowers said four words to Philip Rivers and the rest of the offense -- we can still win.

“At not one point did I feel like we were going to lose that game,” Flowers said. “Everybody kept pushing, and we came away with that win.”

The Chargers proved escape artists again, a week after safety Marcus Gilchrist sealed a win over the St. Louis Rams with an interception. They beat the Ravens 34-33 to improve to 8-4 and stay in the thick of the playoff hunt.

Rivers said that is the type of resolve it took for the Chargers to come from behind and win on the road against a perennial playoff contender. And it’s what will propel San Diego to the postseason, and ultimately on another deep playoff run.

Winning on the road against a team that won a Super Bowl title three seasons ago gives San Diego confidence that they can beat the best teams in the league -- no matter where they play them.

“These are the type of games you have to win if you do get in,” Rivers said. “So if you can’t win these -- and I’m not trying to say you’re going to win all of them -- but if you can’t win these then you’re probably not good enough.”

The Chargers never led in this game until Eddie Royal pranced into the end zone on a 1-yard touchdown with 38 seconds remaining.

After Flowers’ pep talk, San Diego went on a six-play, 77-yard drive, with Rivers hitting Keenan Allen for a 23-yard touchdown strike, closing Baltimore’s lead to 30-27.

The Chargers had kept the ball away from talented kick returner Jacoby Jones all afternoon. But for some odd reason Nick Novak kicked the ball to Jones, and he promptly returned it 72 yards.

But like the offense, San Diego’s defense also showed resiliency, holding Baltimore to Justin Tucker's 31-yard field goal, giving the Chargers a chance to win the game with 2:27 left.

That’s more than enough time with a quarterback the caliber of Rivers.

“I looked at a couple of the young guys like, 'You’re going to witness something great right now,'" safety Eric Weddle said. “Just hold on to your hat and get ready to watch this. They were freaking out, and I was like 'calm down.' It was an unbelievable drive.”

Starting at his own 20-yard line, Rivers was surgical. He completed consecutive passes to Allen for first downs, putting the Chargers on their own 46-yard line before the two-minute warning.

On the next play, Rivers drew Baltimore edge rusher Elvis Dumervil offside, gaining another five yards.

From midfield, Rivers completed three of his next four passes -- one each to Royal, Allen and Malcom Floyd -- putting the Chargers on Baltimore’s 24-yard line with 46 seconds left.

And that’s when Rivers struck with a dagger, pushing the ball deep to Floyd and drawing a pass interference penalty on cornerback Anthony Levine in the end zone.

The penalty resulted in a first-and-goal from Baltimore’s 1-yard line. Rivers dialed up a wide screen to Royal on the next play, and he waltzed into the end zone with 38 seconds left.

On the final drive, Baltimore stalled at San Diego’s 43-yard line as time ran out.

For the game, Rivers finished 34-of-45 for 383 yards, three touchdown passes and a lone interception on San Diego’s second offensive play of the game.

The victory was Rivers’ 18th fourth-quarter, come-from-behind career win.

The Chargers are in control of their own playoff destiny, heading back home to San Diego to host another perennial playoff contender no one expects the Chargers to beat -- the New England Patriots.

“The character of our team once again showed up,” Chargers coach Mike McCoy said. “When you have a great quarterback like Philip Rivers, you have a chance to win every game as long as there is time left on the clock.”