The Los Angeles Chargers are coming off another tough loss, this time to the Kansas City Chiefs in Mexico City, which dropped them to 4-7. After this and their last game against the Oakland Raiders, all eyes are going to be looking at quarterback Philip Rivers, who had another turnover-plagued night. After this and a string of more pedestrian games (plus a surprisingly weak touchdown-to-interception ratio), it may be time to start wondering if the end is nearing for the 37-year-old Rivers.
The Better Days of Philip Rivers May Be Behind Him
Stymied by the Chiefs
Against the Chiefs, Philip Rivers was somehow both better and worse at the same time compared to the Raiders game. On one hand, he threw for 353 passing yards which were a season high. And he did a lot better on the final drive this time as opposed to the Raiders game when he failed to complete a single pass on the potential game-winning drive and only got a first down because of a penalty. Here, he got to the red zone before it ended.
On the other hand, this time he threw four interceptions – including a game-ending one in the end zone in the final seconds. To be fair, the first one wasn’t really his fault as he got hit as he threw and it looked more like a fumble that just miraculously landed in the hands of Derrick Nnadi. But the other three were definitely on him. Two of them were on ill-advised deep passes with good coverage, and the final one was also just a poor decision and spiral.
Rivers Crumbling?
Between these past two games, Rivers has had an unprecedented amount of poor play. He has never thrown three or more interceptions in two straight games. In total, he has seven in the past two games. And prior to those two games, he’d had a couple of merely pedestrian games as well. He hasn’t had more touchdowns than interceptions in a game since Week 7 (though in Week 9 he didn’t have any of the former or latter).
And so alarmingly, his touchdown-to-interception ratio currently sits at 15-to-14 with 11 games gone. That’s not good. And while most of his games this season prior to Week 10 have been fine, he still seems to have taken a bit of a noticeable dip. And now we’ve gotten two poor games in a row out of him.
The End Is (Maybe) Near
Of course, there is another factor or two to consider. The offensive line the last two weeks has been missing both starting tackles in Russell Okung and Sam Tevi and was already without center Mike Pouncey. As such, Rivers has had very little time to throw and we all know he can’t run. So there is a question of how much the offensive line is affecting him. But he does seem a little more panicky lately in the pocket.
And this also isn’t quite the first time he’s had a bit of a turnover-plagued season – but then bounced back later. In 2011 through 10 games, he had 15 touchdowns and 17 interceptions – but finished the season with a ratio of 27-to-20. So it’s still not entirely impossible that he bounces back from this. Of course, the problem is that might be too late for it to matter for the team. And it could also go like the woeful 2016 season, where despite throwing plenty of touchdowns, he continued to struggle with turnovers even into December – normally his best month.
The biggest difference is that in neither of those years was Rivers in his late 30’s like he is now (currently 37, will turn 38 in December). So it’s also quite possible that Rivers’ elite days are behind him. This would be a bit sooner than expected, especially given that he hasn’t had an injury-plagued career. Anyway, he is a free agent this off-season. There’s a lot of games between now and then, so it would be premature to predict his fate with the team. But if he doesn’t bounce back this time, the quarterback situation could potentially get interesting.
Last Word on Philip Rivers
Philip Rivers does at least have a bye week for him and his team to regroup before their next game in Week 13 against the Denver Broncos. The last time they met it didn’t go well when Rivers put up his first true stinker of the season (two interceptions, no touchdowns). But Melvin Gordon was also struggling at that point, so maybe it’ll come down to him. But if Rivers doesn’t stop turning the ball over, it may not matter.
Rivers has been great for the Chargers for years, even when the team around him wasn’t, so it’d be a shame if the end is indeed near. As previously established, a bounce-back is still possible down the late stretch. But if that doesn’t happen, then this indeed may be it for him.
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