2006-Choked 2007-Rivers was injured 2008-Lost to the Steelers but went down swinging in Pittsburgh, but just was not enough 2009-Kaeding misses 3 FGs He never had that many opportunities as people make it to be. 2006 was bad but every top QB seems to have a bad home loss, 2007 he was hurt, 2008 the team wasnt as good but they still did alright. 2009 he didnt play well but he didnt get much support either. Since then the team dropped off.
2007: he got injured which was a big reason why they made their only title game in the Rivers era 2008: went down swinging? he was brutal at Pit, don't look at some garbage time #s. SD led 10-7 in 2nd qtr then trailed 28-10 in 4th before he led another score. 2009- kaeding missed 2 makeable FGs and our K missed one too so that almost evened out. Threw 2 INts one of which was the play of the game. an awful decision, threw it to no one and it set up our first TD and gave us our first lead which we wouldn't relinquish. he had other opportunities but couldn't get SD to more playoff apps.
Thats the old (wrong) way of evaluating QBs... playoff games are just small samples, anything random can happen in a given game. But for some reason the QB position is held hostage by that and other positions aren't. Rivers is an awesome QB who has won lots and lots of games in this league, many of them directly. He is much better than Romo but they are both better than say Joe Flacco who has a SB. Winning a SB doesn't make a guy "elite". and you don't need to be an "elite" QB to win a SB. Placing too much emphasis on a couple random games and ignoring their body of work leads to people misevaluating the position. (hence junc and mark sanchez)
Rivers is better than Romo but that's not saying much, I'd much rather have Flacco than Rivers. gave his team chances to win multiple SBs and basically carried his team to the one he won. this game is about winning and some guys just can't handle the pressure of winning in January. I will take lesser fantasy #s and more postseason wins than the other way around.
QBs need a helping hand. No QB can "put their team on their back". It's all fiction. That 2009 playoff game was mistake after mistake, and yes, rivers made one (although it was a miscommunication where Gates ran the wrong route). Sanchez did too. He threw an INT that game. But unfortunately for the Chargers, it was their center who snapped the ball over Rivers head. Their RB didn't break a 50 yard gain for a TD but rushed for 2 ypc. Their LB got a head butting penalty to set up the first TD and their kicker missed 3 FGs when points were at a premium playing against the #1 D. It was their WR who got an illegal block in the back on a first down reception. It was unlucky that a ball bounced off their WR's shoe and butt and landed in the hands of Revis. Rivers best team was 2006, he was in his first year going against the Pats. Again, mistakes marred that game...and the chargers had the game in their hands with a game clinching INT, but their Safety fumbled it on the return giving the ball right back to the Pats. Rivers was playing his best playoff ball in 2007. While their RB was rushing again for 2 ypc, Rivers threw for about 300 yards in a dominating 2nd half performance against a very good Titans defense. He then was dominating with an injured RB against the colts before he tore his ACL. He played the following week against the undefeated Pats, without his 2 major weapons in Gates and Tomlinson. In 2008 again Tomlinson was injured and didn't play and Gates again was banged up and could barely play. Again he had to play the #1 D in the divisional round, and it was the Charger defense that couldn't get off the field. And when they finally got a stop, forcing a steelers punt, the punt bounced off the return mans helmet and the steelers got the ball back. That's certainly not on Rivers. He had Norv Turner as his coach and has only had 1 season below 500. He had 17 different receivers he threw to in 2010, and he had the #1 offense. He is near the top of 4th quarter game winning comebacks since joining the league. Philip Rivers is the least of San Diego's problems on why they haven't won a championship. Without him they wouldn't even be sniffing the playoffs.
Mark had an INT then Rivers threw one right back to us. after the pats got the ball back and tied it Rivers had a chance to get into FG range to win it- went 3 and out. then had another chance to tie and set up 54 yd FG. 10-7 lead to 28-10 down, the offense gets their share of the blame. he had the #1 ranked defense in 2010 too and couldn't make the playoffs in a weak division. Rivers is the biggest reason why SD hasn't gotten even close to a championship and SD should be thankful he had to miss the end of the div rd game at Indy or they wouldn't have even seen a title game app.
yes, with 0 timeouts and a minute left in 2006 Rivers gave the team a chance to tie the game by marching them down the field to set up a difficult but makeable (for a "pro bowl" kicker) field goal. 10-7 lead, Steelers drove down on the Charger d just before the half to make it 14-10. They got the ball to start the 2nd half and drove down and scored, 21-10. Rivers lone play of the 3rd quarter was a tipped pass that fell incomplete but the ref ruled it an INT. The steelers were stopped on that drive, and punted. The ball then bounced off Weddle's helmet, recovered by the steelers who scored a TD, 28-10. I guess you can blame a tipped pass on Rivers only play during a 21-0 run. I'd tend to blame the defense that couldn't get off the field though. Once the chargers got the ball back, Rivers led the team down for a TD. Yes, Rivers "threw one right back to us". After completing a first down pass into "field goal range" Floyd got called for an illegal block in the back. Then the fluke INT occurred. He had the #1 Ranked Defense only by yards and only because the offense was on the field all the time. Because they had the all time worst ST in NFL history.
I just want to add that you don't seem to be consistent with your criticism of Rivers. First you say you only care about winning and that Sanchez outplayed Rivers in the divisional round of the playoffs. But then you say that you watched Rivers against Cincy and he was awful...but the team won. On the road. Convincingly, 27-10. Rivers made no mistakes, completed 75% of his passes and when the game was still in the balance at the start of the 2nd half, opened it up with a TD drive, capped off by a beautiful fade pass to his TE. So if you don't care about stats, how was he awful in that one?
Rivers got the ball at his 25 w/ 1:05 to play needing only a FG, could only get to NE 36 for his shaky K. mark Sanchez in 2010 got the ball at his 28 w/ 55 secs to play needing a TD to beat Houston. mark led his O to the TD. there was more than enough time to get into better FG range. so he had the ball in his hands in the 3rd and threw an INT? ok. wasn't a fluke INT, he went after the best defensive player in the game at that time and he got burned. weak division, #1 ranked D, #1 ranked O and couldn't get to postseason.
I see, you are comparing a divisional round playoff game to some random game in November 2010 against a team that finished 6-10? You can't aruge that logic... Yeah, it was a fluke INT. Was it a fluke Revis defended it well, of course not...but when a ball bounces off someones butt, rolls, hits a foot, kicks up while Revis is rolling around on the ground and it lands in his hands...sorry..it's a fluke. Yes, he got his hands on the ball for 1 play in between being up 10-7 and being down 28-10. Even if you want to blame Rivers for making a dumb decision, or passing it too low that the ball got tipped and even if the INT was legit, the defense giving up 3 scoring drives over 17 minutes of football and a ST miscue is just not Rivers fault. You should have seen that 2010 team. 17 different receivers. the left tackle and the #1 WR held out. The #2 WR injured, the #3 WR injured. the #4 WR injured. Rookie RB injured. Rivers kept them in every single game. That same year sanchez led his miracle comeback, the chargers beat the Texans in the 4th quarter on a game winning TD to Seyi Ajirotutu. Some guy they had picked up off the street the week before. Four years later he is currently their #4 WR and has caught about 2 more passes. Another was a game winner with 15 seconds left just last year against the playoff bound chiefs in KC when they needed a TD to win to keep their playoffs hopes alive...Rivers did it.
the point is he had enough time. he made a bad decision going after Revis and he paid for it. sorry, had a chance down 21-10 to get them back in the game and failed. #1 O, #1 D, weak division. couldn't make playoffs. That's all that matters his talent was down that year? ok, what about all the years w/ elite talent? all the year they were the AFC favorites?
When were they favorites to go to the superbowl? 2006 was their most talented team because their D was legit and LT was the MVP of the league. That was Rivers first year playing. He made the pro bowl, "led" the team to 14-2 and the #1 seed. The team choked. They had a 4 point lead and stopped the pats on a 3rd down play and their CB headbutted Watson to give the pats a first down and 3 more points. They had an 8 point lead and had the pats 4th and 10, their safety intercepted brady and fumbled. Schottenheimer in a 0-0 game on 4th and 11 from the 30 yard line decided to not kick a fg and go for it...on 4th and 11...in the first quarter...that happened. Schottenheimer also pissed away the teams timeouts. 2 of the 3 timeouts in the 2nd half were wasted when the clock was stopped. One was to challenge the safety's fumble when it was obvious he had fumbled. Any year after that the defense was not up to par (yes, including their #1 ranked 2010 D). He still managed to get to the AFC Championship game and play on one leg against an undefeated team on the road without his future HOF TE and future HOF RB. 2008, LT and Gates injured again, Merriman was out for the year and for all intents and purposes was done. defense was ranked 31st against the pass. 2009, LT was a shell of himself and the defense was not up to par. 2010 was a rebuild and managed a 9-7 record...the same record the jets got in with the year before...it happens. Where was the talent on the 2011-2013 teams? Robert Meachem was the #1 WR in 2012. He was benched halfway through the season. They were using Danario Alexander and Malcom Floyd as their #1 and #2. Both in 2013 were out for the season with injuries yet they still made the playoffs. Rivers window was 2006 as the best team with a balanced defense. Had Sanchez been running the chargers from 2009-2013 the chargers would be the laughingstock of the NFL.
they were a preseason favorite basically every year from 2006-2010. he didn't manage to get to the AFC Championship game, he managed to get hurt and watch his backup lead the O to the GW TD. they had SB talent for many years there and he failed. they haven't had SB talent recently and don't have it now either.
He also led the team to game tying and winning drives against indy the following year in 2008 to get to Pittsburgh. Sure he managed to watch the game winner from the bench, by that logic the chargers didn't need Antonio Gates since he was on the sideline as well as it was Legedu Naanee who caught the big pass to get them into scoring range. They also didn't need LT, since it was Michael Turner who took over as LT watched from the sideline. Rivers kept them in that game, and thankfully for him and the chargers, the D held against Manning 2 times or else people who overrate playoff games as legacy makers would add that as another notch against Rivers as a "big time QB". 2006-2010 they were always considered a top team. But always behind the Pats and the Colts (who were also always super bowl favs but only have 1 superbowl between them during that same period). During that time they were 55-25 and made the playoffs every year but 1. But agree, they didn't get it done. They have no superbowl. Its not as if they flamed out with all that talent though, they were in contention every year. Bad breaks, bad coaching, bad play by the team have kept them from winning it all. Has Rivers been part of the problem? maybe...but he has been the least of their problems. For some reason you are fixated on the teams failures as only his failures.
hahaha. The 2009 jets were "ground and pound" and defense. The chargers had a 30 year old running back who averaged a career low 3.3 yards per carry, an offensive line that couldn't run block (worst in the league), and a suspect defense. As it was the jets barely got into the playoffs with a better running attack and a better defense with Sanchez, but you think he would've had at least 13 wins with that charger team, still gotten at least the 2 seed and then beaten whoever came to play him and then beat the colts (which he couldn't do with the jets) and then beat the saints? Cant argue that logic.
and a QB that limited mistakes and made big plays when he had to. the same 30 yr old RB that mark got to an AFC Championship Game a year LATER? SD was way more talented than us in 2009.
Super Bowl XXV was noted for Scott Norwood missing a long 47-yard FG - Giants 20; Bills 19. JB: How'd the Giants get to Super Bowl XXV? Hint: 15 points. It happens, and sometimes it's what's needed. It is 'football' after all what often (like it or not) decides a game. Nate Kaeding misses from 36 and 40 yards weren't just rare misses, these misses bordered on the incredible. Consider: 1. Kaeding established himself as the most accurate regular-season kicker ever in the NFL, making good on 150-of-172 for a success rate of 87.2 percent. 2. Kaeding hadn't missed a try of any length since the first win of the Chargers' 11-game streak and had made 20 straight. 3. Here's the 'kicker': Kaeding had not missed once in 69 consecutive attempts from 40 yards or closer. Let that sink in: 69 straight. While not exactly, that nevertheless is approaching PAT-ish territory. Because the Jets had just taken a 10-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, there was much more riding on the 40-yarder Kaeding missed, particularly since Rivers led the Chargers down the field to what would've been a game-tying touchdown on their next possession. junc, if Mark did not make a big mistake in that game it was because in all seriousness he was not placed in a position to do so - Mark made 1 play, granted a nice roll out to Keller but still only 1 play. But more to the point: for anyone (in this thread or another one) to say that Mark was "magnificent" in that game while dismissively discounting River's clearly more impactful win at Cincinati last year as literally "having had the ball taken out of his hands" is emotional caprice trumping objectivity by any standard, and why this around-and-around argument and its unreasonableness is frankly, a futile waste of time for all concerned. Yes there are a lot of 'average' fans that don't really know football. And along with that, there are even more who really don't know the intricacies of special teams. Just sayin' But that's all in the past and means nothing now. Currently Rivers is unfortunately playing in MVP mode at present and at a time when the Jets' season is hanging in the balance (if it isn't already in free fall). They lose this, they're 1-4 and the odds are good they'll come out of this "QB" portion of the schedule 1-6 and as good as dead. Back to Nate "69 straight" Kaeding: these weren't just misses, they were misses boarding on divine providence, proving that even just for a day, god doesn't hate the N.Y. Jets.
that tying drive started at the Colts 38 yard line, the winning drive was basically all Darren Sproles.
