QB Philip Rivers - Los Angeles Chargers

6-5, 228

Born: 12-8-1981

College: North Carolina State

Drafted: Round 1, pick 2004

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Photo: Denny Medley, US Presswire

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News you need to know

General News (Mon Jan 20): is set to become a free agent at the end of the league year and recently moved from San Diego to Florida in order to be closer to his family in Alabama. The combination of the two is fueling "a lot of buzz" that Rivers may be a potential target for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, according to CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora.

Week 21: bye week

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Recent Stats and Projections

WEEK	OPP		oSNAP	CMP	ATT	YD	TD	INT	RSH	YD	TD	FumL	Pts
17	at KC		77	31	46	281	2	2	1	5	0	0	20.55

Weekly Performance vs QB 1, QB 12, QB 24

Percentile ranks

Philip Rivers's percentile rank in each category, among QB with more than 50 fantasy points.

Recent Game Summaries

2019 Week 17 vs KC (31 / 46 / 281 / 2 / 2 pass, 1 / 5 / 0 rush)

In what may be the final game of his Chargers career, Rivers ended much like many of his games have this season - with the veteran quarterback throwing essentially a game-ending interception. While he has mentioned a desire to continue playing beyond this season and claims to have a few seasons left, the lack of arm strength and questionable decision-making may suggest otherwise. His afternoon started off interestingly, as he was twisted to the ground on his first pass attempt of the day which resulted in a lot of jawing back and forth with the defender who dragged him down. He was later seen with a noticeable limp, although he didn't miss a snap. From a performance standpoint the afternoon began well, completing multiple passes down the field to both Mike Williams and Keenan Allen. On a comeback route to Williams in particular, Rivers did a nice job of getting rid of the ball before the pressure got to him and also putting it where only Williams could catch it. The drive culminated with Rivers connecting with Keenan Allen for a sideline touchdown in the end zone. Allen broke open and Rivers put it in the perfect spot for Allen to get to it. Later in the half, Rivers heaved a deep ball down the seam to Williams but it was woefully underthrown into double coverage and nearly intercepted. On the last drive of the first half, Rivers was picking the Kansas City defense apart with multiple short passes to Allen and Austin Ekeler. And just as the Chargers appeared on the verge of scoring, Rivers hoisted one up to Williams in the end zone in lots of traffic, where it ended up getting picked off. It was a great play by the defender, but that doesn't take away from the fact that it was a foolish decision to throw it into such tight coverage like that. It was Rivers' seventh red zone turnover this season, the most in the NFL. The maddening inconsistencies continued from Rivers, as he fired a couple of absolutely perfect passes into the waiting arms of his receivers in the second half - first to Hunter Henry on a floater down the middle with four Chiefs in the area, and then to Keenan Allen in traffic to keep a drive alive in the middle of the fourth quarter. He culminated that drive with a touchdown to Henry on the slant, and the stat line was starting to look solid. But with a chance to drive downfield for a last-gasp drive, he threw a pass that got popped up in the air and nearly intercepted. On the ensuing pass, he threw a horrendous pass that was well short of its intended target that was in fact picked off, ending the Chargers' season and possibly Rivers' Charger career.

2019 Week 16 vs OAK (27 / 39 / 279 / 0 / 0 pass, 0 / 0 / 0 rush)

Based on his erratic play this season, it was perhaps fitting that Philip Rivers neither threw a touchdown pass or turned the ball over in what may be the final home start of his Chargers career. In what may be a microcosm of his Charger career, Rivers had to burn a timeout late in the third quarter because he couldn't hear the play call over the roar of the crowd noise, despite being at home. The Los Angeles offense just couldn't get on track in this one right from the outset. In fact, it was the first time in Rivers' entire career that he started a game by failing to register a single first down on each of the first three possessions of the contest. And he entered the game with a streak of having thrown at least one touchdown in 24 consecutive games, another mark that fell by the wayside in this one. He came close a couple of times. The first was a corner target to Mike Williams that didn't go for a score but DID result in defensive pass interference in the end zone (Melvin Gordon scored one play later). Another pass to Williams late in the game went right through the receiver's hands, though there was also tight defensive coverage on the play. Perhaps Rivers' best opportunity for a score came on a floater to Keenan Allen. The pass was completed and Allen appeared headed for the goal line, but the receiver stumbled at the 3-yard line and ended up touched down just shy of the end zone. If he hadn't fallen down, it certainly would have been a touchdown. A late pass to Allen in the end zone got to the receiver's hands, but again a terrific defensive effort knocked the ball away before he could haul it in. Despite connecting for five receptions, Rivers and Allen couldn't quite get on the same page in this game. It's the continuation of a distressing trend this season, considering the incredible chemistry the two have shown throughout the years. Rivers was nearly intercepted on an early pass attempt to Allen where the receiver didn't even know the ball was heading his way (and quite frankly didn't appear to realize that it was even a passing play). The ball hit the defender's hands and Allen actually nearly caught it off the deflection, but clearly the two players weren't in sync. That followed an earlier pass play over the middle that was supposed to be in one spot, but Allen was further across the field and the timing was off. Rivers also had to deal with a thumb injury suffered early on during a weak block attempt. Austin Ekeler was running to the right side with Rivers out in front of him. Instead of throwing a real block, he kind of stuck his arm out at the defender and appeared to jam his thumb. He got it taped at halftime, and perhaps coincidentally nearly all of the pass attempts in the second half were of the short yardage and dumpoff variety for the most part. Despite all the negatives, one silver lining is that the offensive line held up relatively well in terms of pass protection. He wasn't running for his life as we've seen in some recent games, and he did have two very nice pass plays to Allen and Williams in the second half where he showed some pinpoint accuracy.

2019 Week 15 vs MIN (28 / 39 / 307 / 1 / 3 pass, 0 / 0 / 0 rush)

One week after turning back the clock for one of his best performances of the season, Rivers reverted back to his typical underwhelming status in this one. He turned the ball over a whopping four times, including a back-breaking fumble just before halftime that really seemed to turn the tide in the game in Minnesota's direction. Rivers started the game off well enough, connecting with Mike Williams for gains of 19 and 39 yards. He tossed a floater to Keenan Allen up the sideline, showing excellent timing and rapport with his veteran wideout. And Rivers demonstrated enough arm strength to complete a pass almost flat-footed all the way across the field to Williams to set up a manageable third down. Later in the half, Rivers again connected with Williams on a jump ball in the end zone for the touchdown. It was perfectly placed too high for the defender to reach it and just high enough for Williams to snag it for the score. The receiver got position on his man, and it was mostly just a pitch-and-catch. But as has often been the case for Rivers this season, he made an horrifically ill-advised pass down the seam that was easily intercepted. He was in some traffic in the pocket, and the ball just had nothing on it. But despite that and an earlier Melvin Gordon turnover, the team was still in it late in the first half, driving with the ball and down just 12-10. But Rivers was sacked and had the ball stripped away. Running back Austin Ekeler had a chance to recover it, but allowed it to slip through hish fingers. It was picked up by Minnesota and returned all the way for a touchdown. At halftime, Anthony Lynn made it a focal point to remind his team to protect the football. In the second half, there were a lot of safe, short passes featured by Rivers as the team tried to chip away. But on the rare occasions that they did try to take a shot down the field, Rivers' passes were woefully underthrown and intercepted. Just as the announcers were discussing how good Rivers has been throughout his career, he underthrew another pass intended for Williams down the sideline which was again easily intercepted. In recent weeks, the whispers have gotten louder that Rivers may be in the final weeks of his Chargers career. With the team already eliminated from playoff contention and seemingly looking at a somewhat high draft pick next year, it is very conceivable that the Chargers may look to move on from Rivers in the not-too-distant future.

2019 Week 14 vs JAX (16 / 22 / 314 / 3 / 0 pass, 1 / 0 / 0 rush)

Based on the storylines in recent weeks, it wasn't that shocking that Philip Rivers was removed from the game and replaced by Tyrod Taylor. But most people didn't expect it to happen due to Rivers playing so well that he had helped build an insurmountable lead. After a very uneven season to-date, Rivers had his best performance of the year in Jacksonville. He was extremely efficient, completing over 70% of his passes for over 14 yards per attempt. Unlike in recent weeks, he was rarely under heavy duress. And on the few occasions he was, he managed to make the right read and decision every single time. His afternoon could have gone even better if his receivers had helped him out a bit more. Hunter Henry couldn't bring in a tough diving sideline attempt that would have gone for big yardage, and later outright dropped a pass that would have gone for at least 25 yards. And youngster Jalen Guyton was unable to bring in a deep bomb down the seam that was perfectly thrown and hit him right in the hands. That said, there were plenty of players who DID make plays for Rivers. Keenan Allen shook loose for 45 yards up the right side early on, and the aforementioned Henry got wide open for a long 30-yard touchdown late in the first half. And actually, the Henry drop along the sideline was effectively canceled out on the next play. Rivers read the blitz, and quickly dropped it off to Austin Ekeler in the flat. Ekeler shot through the middle of the defense aided by a caravan of blockers to spring him, en route to an 84-yard touchdown where he simply outran everyone. Rivers' afternoon was capped with a 44-yard bomb to Mike Williams down the seam. There was single coverage on the play and was well-defended, but Williams made an incredible individual effort to get his hands on the football and hang on despite the defender also simultaneously possessing the ball. Simultaneous possession goes to the receiver, and Rivers' day was complete. He was removed from the game early in the fourth quarter with the Chargers up 38-10.

2019 Week 13 vs DEN (20 / 29 / 265 / 2 / 1 pass, 0 / 0 / 0 rush)

Early on, it appeared as if this was going to be another long afternoon for Rivers. He threw a couple of passes away under duress, and took a sack on third down to end the opening drive. And on the team's second possession, Rivers tried setting up a screen pass to Austin Ekeler only to drop it right into the waiting arms of a defender for a very poorly-thrown interception. It got to the point that backup Tyrod Taylor had his helmet on and was actually warming up on the sideline. Rivers came back in for the ensuing series, and quickly went three and out. But the Chargers were bailed out by a roughing penalty against Denver, which kept the drive alive. Rivers engineered enough to get the team downfield for a field goal. Trailing Denver just before halftime, Rivers engineered two plays back to back that got the Chargers right back in the game. After a defender fell down, Rivers found Mike Williams deep downfield for a 52-yard gain. On the next play, he floated one perfectly down the sideline in stride to Austin Ekeler, placing it just beyond the defender. Ekeler then took it the rest of the way for the score. Late in the third quarter, Rivers threw a bullet pass over the middle to keep the drive alive. He started doing a much better job of dealing with the defensive pressure too. At one point, he had pressure all around him but managed to spin out of it and dump it off to Ekeler who picked up the first down (which was then negated by a holding penalty, which just further reinforces how poorly the Charger offensive line played; when they fail to give Rivers any time to throw and yet STILL get whistled for holding penalties, things are bad). Rivers managed to regroup late in the game and again put the team into two scoring situations. The first time, he side-stepped some light pressure and managed to find a wide open Keenan Allen wide open down the left side for a 36-yard touchdown to tie the game. Then with the team driving for the potential game-winning field goal, they found themselves facing a fourth and 1 situation. Following a false start that made it fourth and 6, Anthony Lynn opted to go for it anyway. After another false start made it fourth and 11, Lynn again decided to go for it. And with the season on the line, Rivers hoisted one down the sideline to Williams, who made a remarkable catch to haul it in and keep the drive alive. It somewhat stalled after that, but they gained enough yardage to get into range for the game-tying field goal. Unfortunately for Los Angeles, the Broncos gained a chunk of yardage on their own last drive via a pass interference penalty, and the ensuing game-winning field goal ended it as time expired. Still, after opening the game 6-12 for 49 yards and an interception, Rivers then went 14-17 for 216 yards and two touchdowns without a turnover the rest of the way, salvaging his fantasy performance (and possibly his job) in the process.

2019 Week 11 vs KC (28 / 52 / 353 / 1 / 4 pass, 0 / 0 / 0 rush)

It was a very bizarre game for Rivers, a game that kind of mirrors how the season has gone to this point for Los Angeles. Rivers threw 52 passes in the game, most of which were very crisp and on-target. At times, he picked apart the defense with chunks of yards at a time and looked very efficient in doing so. The problem is, the passes that were NOT crisp and on-target were so incredibly bad, that they were game-changing mistakes. He utilized the short passing game for most of the first half, finding Austin Ekeler on swing passes and screens for huge gains at a time. He leaned on Hunter Henry along the sidelines. And he repeatedly found Keenan Allen over the middle. But on one pass, his arm was hit as he threw it and the ball popped right into the hands of a waiting defender. Late in the first half, Rivers made what looked to be a very foolish decision on an attempt to Allen. It appeared he simply didn't see the defender, who stepped right into the passing lane and nearly returned it for a touchdown. Early in the second half, he again had his arm hit as he threw. This time, a defender was camped out under it for what should have been the easy interception, but the ball simply slipped through his fingertips. The Chargers capitalized, as Rivers later found Keenan Allen with a bullet pass for the short score. He then found a wide open Hunter Henry for the two point conversion to bring the Chargers within seven points. In the fourth quarter, the Los Angeles defense held strong multiple times, giving Rivers four separate drives with a chance to move the ball downfield for the tie or win (they trailed by seven at the time). The first two drives were four and out followed by three and out, and the last two drives both ended with interceptions. The first interception was a bad decision and a forced pass down the seam into triple coverage to Andre Patton. That represented the first time in his career that Rivers had ever thrown six interceptions over a two-game span. After the Charger defense held, Rivers got the ball back at his own 9-yard line with no timeouts left and under two minutes left to play. Rivers threw an absolutely perfect pass down the sideline to a diving Mike Williams, who was ruled to have gotten out of bounds to stop the clock. That enabled the Chargers to regroup the offense and try and move towards the end zone. They got as close as the Kansas City 14-yard line. On a second down pass play with :24 left to play, Rivers flipped a fade pass to the end zone for Austin Ekeler. The defender read it the whole way, stepping in front of the undersized receiver for the interception to end the game (and perhaps the season for Los Angeles). Poor offensive line play was certainly to blame for a lot of Rivers' mistakes, since he is so often under duress and forcing passes is something that tends to happen with pressure all around. But there have been some whispers that Rivers may actually be benched relatively soon in favor of Tyrod Taylor, since his athleticism may enable him to avoid some of the pressure that Rivers simply cannot elude. The Chargers will go into the bye week with a lot of questions, including the one position that has had zero question marks since Rivers took over in 2006.

2019 Week 10 vs OAK (17 / 31 / 207 / 2 / 3 pass, 0 / 0 / 0 rush)

It's hard to believe looking at the stat line and seeing three turnovers, but the reality is that this game could have been much, much worse for Rivers. It started off well enough, with a perfectly-placed ball down the seam to Austin Ekeler for a nice gain. But it got ugly soon after. A floater down the sideline to Keenan Allen ended up getting deflected up in the air and intercepted by Oakland. Fortunately for Rivers, a pass interference penalty negated the turnover. A couple of plays later, Rivers was hit as he dropped back to pass and the ball popped in the air. The Raiders challenged, saying it was a fumble. But upon review, the call was upheld as an incomplete pass. Finally, Rivers was looking over the middle for Keenan Allen and sailed the pass way over his head and into the waiting arms of an Oakland defender for the interception. This time, there was no bailout. On the very first pass of the next Chargers possession, Rivers was again intercepted. He was looking for Hunter Henry, but the tight end slipped coming out of his break and this one again went right into the hands of a waiting defender, who returned it for a touchdown. On the next series, Rivers was sacked on third down to end the possession, and things appeared to be getting ugly. Finally later in the first half, the Chargers picked up the tempo offensively. They began having success moving the ball on the ground, and then took to the air again once they got in the red zone. Looking for Derek Watt on a slant, Rivers threw a pass that was again batted up in the air. Watt managed to get a hand on it to bat it away before anyone could intercept it. And Rivers took full advantage of the new life by finding Henry in the back of the end zone after blown coverage by Oakland left him wide open. On the next possession, the Chargers again got close to the end zone and Rivers again was intercepted. And once again, he was bailed out by a penalty. This time, it was an offsides call against Oakland, which in no way contributed to the interception (so it was a full bailout). It was advertised by Rivers, it was a bad pass, the defender read it all the way, and Rivers was only spared another turnover because someone away from the play lined up in the neutral zone. Rivers had more problems in the second half. He had Andre Patton open down the seam with a step on his defender for a long pass attempt, but the ball was overthrown. And soon after, Rivers fumbled while trying to pass. The defender who knocked it out of his hands actually had his hand on top of the ball on the ground, but a Charger lineman managed to snatch it away just before it was a full recovery, which saved Rivers from yet another turnover. A deep ball to Mike Williams for 45 yards and a Melvin Gordon 24-yard run put the Chargers back into scoring position. But after a short pass to Keenan Allen to the 7-yard line, the drive stalled. After a crossing route to Austin Ekeler resulted in Rivers' second touchdown of the game with just over four minutes left in the game, Oakland marched downfield to regain the lead by two points. The Chargers took over the ball with just over a minute remaining and all of their timeouts. But the pass attempts on that drive were very curious, as they tried attacking Oakland with numerous deep routes. One of those passes was a third down heave to Keenan Allen that was nearly intercepted and nowhere near Allen. A holding call against the Raiders on fourth down gave the Chargers new life, but the defense continued harassing and hurrying Rivers to the point that he never really got comfortable in the pocket. On the last fourth down pass, he had a defender coming up the middle and just tossed up a prayer down the sideline to Allen. It was thrown beyond Allen's reach and intercepted to essentially seal the game.

2019 Week 9 vs GB (21 / 28 / 294 / 0 / 0 pass, 3 / 0 / 0 rush)

Rivers had a wildly efficient statistical game, completing 75% of his passes and averaging more than ten yards per attempt. The Chargers thoroughly dominated on both sides of the ball from beginning to end, which helps explain why they mostly just sat on the lead in the second half so Rivers was unable to rack up big stats. If there was one shortcoming in the game for the Los Angeles offense, it was the team's lack of success in the red zone. On the Chargers first two offensive drives, they reached the red zone on each. But once they got there, sacks and penalties ended up pushing them back out of touchdown range and they had to settle for field goals instead. Still, the offense looked significantly more effective in its first week under a new offensive coordinator (former OC Ken Whisenhunt was fired after last week's game). Despite the lack of touchdowns, Rivers still looked very solid overall. His favorite target again appeared to be Hunter Henry, who saw ten targets. The two really appear to be on the same page more and more as the season has gone along. Rivers also avoided the costly turnover in this game, although he was nearly intercepted once. He was looking for Keenan Allen on a deep route, but Allen was nowhere near the ball. The only player who had a chance at it was a Green Bay defender, who mis-timed his jump and was unable to come down with the football.

2019 Week 8 vs CHI (19 / 29 / 201 / 1 / 1 pass, 0 / 0 / 0 rush)

Rivers played much better than the stats indicate. Almost all of his production came late in the game as his receivers really did him no favors early on. The lack of help started on the very first possession, when he threw a pass to a wide open Keenan Allen that would have gone for a first down if Allen hadn't fallen down on the play. The pass was nearly intercepted due to Allen falling, but it fell incomplete. Allen again got open for what could have been a 20+ yard pass play, but again he inexplicably fell coming out of his break. Later in the half, Rivers faced intense pressure up the middle for really the first time all game. Throwing off his back foot, the pass didn't have much on it. It was not a good pass and was definitely underthrown, but Mike Williams failed to come back to the football. The defender made a big break instead, stepping in front of Williams for the pick. Soon after that one, Hunter Henry outright dropped a pass along the sideline. Early in the second half, Rivers began moving the team downfield on a decent drive. He put a deep ball right in the hands of Williams, who allowed it to slip through for an incompletion. It was a perfectly thrown pass that went for nothing. Williams wasn't the only one who cost the team a touchdown with an end zone drop, either, as Keenan Allen let a floater drop out of his hands after the defender had badly mis-timed his jump. Rivers continued putting the football in places where his receivers could work with it, but they were continuously letting him down. Finally in the fourth quarter, the Chargers started moving the ball with a bit more ease. He found Henry with a bullet pass that put the ball on the 2-yard line and nearly found Austin Ekeler on an inside slant, but the bullet pass was deflected away at the last minute. The Chargers settled for a field goal on that drive, but ended up scoring later when Rivers found Ekeler in the flat off a play action fake. The pass itself was nothing special, but Ekeler beat his defender at the 5-yard line and darted to the end zone for the outstanding individual effort and score to give the Chargers the late lead (which they did not relinquish).

2019 Week 7 vs TEN (24 / 38 / 329 / 2 / 0 pass, 0 / 0 / 0 rush)

Rivers was under duress for much of the game, and deserved a better outcome than what happened at the end. He put up big stats and consistently put the ball in the right spots for his receivers (who also made a number of difficult plays to help him as well), but he was let down by the lack of a running game and the limited protection afforded by the offensive line. The first half featured a lot of short passes and checkdowns as the Titans hurried him repeatedly and largely took away the deep ball. On one particular fourth down attempt, Rivers had his man semi-open, but underthrew the ball since a defender was bearing down on him. When Rivers DID have time to step into the throws, the bullet passes and precision timing routes were a thing of beauty. Late in the first half, Rivers engineered a perfect drive during which he went 7-7 for 96 yards, culminating with one of the easiest touchdown passes of his career. He found Melvin Gordon wide open off a play fake by flipping it over the defender to the wide open running back. Rivers was sacked on his very first dropback of the second half and the Chargers had just two total yards the entire third quarter. He was also nearly intercepted when he underthrew a pass to Keenan Allen that a Titans defender got a hand on, but it would have been a spectacular play on a diving attempt. But just when it seemed like they were dead, Rivers nearly brought the Chargers all the way back. Trailing by ten and with Tennessee playing a softer defense, Rivers engineered a four play drive to go 75 yards for the score, with the big play being the 41-yard touchdown strike down the right sideline to a wide open Austin Ekeler. Following a Tennessee turnover on downs, Rivers led the Chargers down towards a potential game-winning score. He again found Ekeler on an inside slant for what appeared to be the go-ahead touchdown with 37 seconds left in the game. But officials reviewed the play and determined that Ekeler was down short of the goal line. Following a pass interference penalty against the Titans in the end zone on a Rivers pass intended for Mike Williams, Melvin Gordon got a handoff up the middle and fumbled it away to Tennessee to end the game. Adding injury to insult, Chargers starting lineman Forrest Lamp reinjured his knee idway through the game and had to be carted off, which doesn't bode well for Rivers' prospects of remaining upright going forward.

2019 Week 6 vs PIT (26 / 44 / 320 / 2 / 2 pass, 1 / 0 / 0 rush)

Rivers completed his first pass down the seam to Hunter Henry, but stalled out quickly on his first drive with the help of a Travis Benjamin drop. The second drive resulted in a dropped swing pass that went backwards and was ignored by Melvin Gordon, ending in an easy defensive score for Pittsburgh. Rivers was then victimized on an interception off of a deflection at the line. He had some modest success moving the ball to end the first half but a grounding call slowed down the drive and then Chase McLaughlin doinked a field goal off of the upright at the end of the first half. Rivers was under pressure all day and didn't put together touchdown drives until the Chargers were down 24 points. Hunter Henry and Mike Williams were the engines of the passing game, with Henry finishing both garbage time touchdown drives. Rivers even got Jason Moore and Geremy Davis involved in the passing game late and had a long shot chance to tie the game starting from his own end zone with about a minute left but was promptly picked to end a game that was never really competitive.

2019 Week 5 vs DEN (32 / 48 / 211 / 0 / 2 pass, 1 / -3 / 0 rush)

It doesn't show up in the sack totals for the Broncos, but Rivers was under heavy pressure all game long. He did well on many occasions to just get rid of the ball, but it was easily one of the most frustrating games of his entire career. The Chargers had scored first half points in some capacity in a team-record 55 consecutive games coming into this one, but began the second half with a goose egg. The only touchdown the team managed came on special teams, and Rivers failed to lead the team into the end zone despite a largely soft Denver defense in the fourth quarter. He spent much of the afternoon rushing his passes and trying to throw balls away as the Denver pass rush had him under intense duress. An early attempt to Mike Williams while Rivers was under pressure, resulted in a fingertip deflection right into the waiting arms of a Bronco defender for the turnover. Late in the first half, Rivers appeared on the verge of moving the team into scoring position. But even that drive was aided by Denver holding penalties to extend drives. Once the Chargers got into the red zone, Rivers nearly scored when he threw a pass in the flat to Austin Ekeler. Ekeler lunged at the goal line, but a terrific tackle by the defender kept him out of the end zone. Ekeler fumbled on the next play to end the first half. In the second half, it was reported that C Mike Pouncey was questionable to return due to injury. It was bad enough for Rivers with Pouncey in the game, but that injury made things that much tougher. The second half featured a lot of the same things as the first. Short checkdown passes to Austin Ekeler, with a few decent gains down the seam to Mike Williams sprinkled in. When the Chargers finally got close to the end zone, Rivers was again looking for Williams over the middle. He didn't notice a defender had slipped underneath and stepped in front of the bullet pass to pick it off. But just as the game seemed to be out of reach, the Broncos gave it back to the Chargers with a chance to get back in it. He managed to draw a long pass interference penalty down the right sideline to get into field goal range, but the drive ended with a field goal. Trailing by a touchdown and with possession of the ball, Rivers attempted to get the team back in range to tie it up. With a few minutes left to play, he looked for Williams over the middle. The ball was thrown behind him and the defender had his hands on it, but just dropped it outright. The play would have all but ended the game. But despite that gift, Rivers couldn't capitalize. The timing was just off all afternoon. He called a perfect screen set up for Melvin Gordon on third and 10 with Denver using an all-out blitz. There was nothing but daylight ahead of Gordon, and all Rivers had to do was flip it over the top and he had tons of room to roam. But Gordon bumped into his own man while coming out of the backfield, which disrupted the timing and the ball sailed over his head for a huge incompletion. Rivers did get some garbage time yardage on the team's last drive while trailing by ten, with Denver playing an extremely soft defense and largely allowing the Chargers all the yardage they wanted. It was mostly dumpoff passes to Ekeler, with a couple of passes over the middle to Williams. Rivers went 6-7 for 61 yards on the drive, which really underscores just how terrible his overall numbers were going into that drive (26-41, 150 yards).

2019 Week 4 vs MIA (24 / 30 / 310 / 2 / 0 pass, 1 / 0 / 0 rush)

There are times when a stat line doesn't tell the whole story about a player's game, either for better or for worse. In this game, Rivers' stat line is exactly indicative of just how well he played. It started with his offensive line giving him a ton of time on nearly every single dropback, but Rivers himself made a lot happen. He completed 80% of his passes and averaged over 10 yards per attempt, while finding the end zone twice and never coming close to throwing an interception. It was, essentially, a perfect game. He was missing a bunch of weapons from the offensive skill spots, but didn't really miss a beat. Instead of focusing it on a handful of targets, he really spread the wealth around by completing passes to nine different players. He made a perfect pass in traffic early on to TE Lance Kendricks down the seam for 24 yards, demonstrating his precision. One aspect of his game that isn't seen much is his ability to buy time in the pocket. But he did exactly that on a rollout to his left, with defenders coming up in the pocket to defend him. But just at the last second, he flipped it back across his body to Troymaine Pope who took off for the end one untouched. Rivers' second touchdown of the half came late in the second quarter. He found Ekeler in the flat in stride, and Ekeler did the rest by shooting up the left sideline and into the end zone virtually untouched. In the second half, it was more of the same for Rivers. He spread the ball around, dropping it into tight spaces when needed and continuing to get loads of time to let plays develop and allow routes to be fully run. Rivers nearly added a third touchdown pass on a floater over the defense to TE Sean Culkin. But Culkin hurt his Achilles while leaping for the ball, and stumbled down before he could get the rest of the way into the end zone. About the only blemish on Rivers' afternoon was a fumbled snap that ended up getting recovered by the Chargers anyway.

2019 Week 3 vs HOU (31 / 46 / 318 / 2 / 0 pass, 2 / 9 / 0 rush)

Philip Rivers had a strong fantasy football game on Sunday in a loss to the Houston Texans. Rivers peppered Keenan Allen with targets as Houston had no answer for Allen. Allen caught both touchdowns Rivers threw, both on short red zone opportunities. Rivers was sacked five times during the game a combination of a good pass rush and his tendency to hold onto the ball too long. He took a bad sack early in the game where he lost a fumble that blew a field goal opportunity. Rivers could have had a bigger day as he threw perhaps his best pass to Travis Benjamin in the end zone on the final drive, but Benjamin dropped what would have been a 42-yard touchdown. Rivers has high upside next week against the Miami Dolphins.

2019 Week 2 vs DET (21 / 36 / 293 / 0 / 1 pass, 1 / 12 / 0 rush)

Philip Rivers was inconsistent on the road against the Lions in week two. Rivers targeted Keenan Allen heavily throughout the game but missed overthrew him twice on plays that could have gone for big gains. He targeted Mike Williams in the end zone twice, but Williams could not catch either target before the Chargers gave the ball to Austin Ekeler to convert a touchdown. Rivers also threw a bad interception into double coverage to Allen in the end zone on the final Chargers drive of the game. Rivers was not helped by his teammates, as he had a touchdown pass called back by penalty, and had multiple drops by teammates. With Williams nursing an injury, Hunter Henry out, and Melvin Gordon continuing to hold out, Rivers is missing critical weapons in the offense and will need to elevate his play. He will look to bounce against a tough Texans defense in week three.

2019 Week 1 vs IND (25 / 34 / 333 / 3 / 1 pass, 1 / 6 / 0 rush)

Rivers put up big stats, although it should be noted that much of the production came from his receivers doing damage after the catch. It's perhaps slightly unfair because he did put them in position to gain that yardage, but more often than not Rivers' passes tended to be a bit off the mark. He overthrew Justin Jackson early on a fade attempt in the end zone for what could have been an easy touchdown. He later found Austin Ekeler for a short 3-yard touchdown that didn't involve any sort of difficulty (Rivers has now thrown a touchdown in 29 of his last 30 games). He later connected with Keenan Allen for a score, but the ball was essentially thrown up for grabs. A fantastic individual effort by Allen is the only reason the ball ended up being a touchdown. And on Rivers' third touchdown pass, he dumped off a screen pass to Ekeler who just absolutely ran through defenders en route to the end zone. He later overthrew a wide open Travis Benjamin on a deep sideline route that could have gone for a big gain. And in between the scores, Rivers showed a propensity to hold the ball a bit too long. And he was slightly careless at times, twice having it knocked out of his hands by defenders. He was nearly intercepted on a badly advertised screen pass to Justin Jackson off a bootleg, and then actually DID throw an interception in the end zone when he failed to account for a defender dragging across in front of Keenan Allen for a 1-handed pick. It wasn't all doom and gloom in his performance; he made a couple of perfect passes right on the money to Allen in traffic. And it's tough to be too critical, because Rivers does sometimes just get the ball to his playmakers and let them make plays. It has sort of been his M.O. for much of his career. But it would just feel better for his owners if the passes he was making in this game were consistently crisp and in stride rather than too far behind or in front of the intended targets.

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Buccaneers | Philip Rivers an option for Tampa Bay? (Mon Jan 20, 01:44 PM) - Los Angeles Chargers QB Philip Rivers is set to become a free agent at the end of the league year and recently moved from San Diego to Florida in order to be closer to his family in Alabama. The combination of the two is fueling 'a lot of buzz' that Rivers may be a potential target for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, according to CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora.

Our View: We should see Rivers playing elsewhere in 2020. The long-time Chargers starter could be an option for the Buccaneers but they have to first decide whether or not they'll be moving on from Jameis Winston. The buzz around the league is that the Colts may also have interest in Rivers.
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