Philip Rivers might one day be a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He's a Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers legend no matter how and when his tenure with the team ends, and he's rarely represented what's ailed that long-suffering, snake-bitten organization.
But it's about time for the Bolts to start the next chapter.
They'll christen a new stadium next year, and in the process they'll try to build a new fanbase after three awkward, somewhat nomadic seasons in suburban L.A.
They should do so with a new face at quarterback.
It's become apparent after the Chargers' 24-17 Monday Night Football loss to the AFC West-leading Kansas City Chiefs that the Bolts will miss the playoffs for the fifth time in the last six seasons, and it's impossible to absolve Rivers.
DJ Gallo @DJGalloEtcPhilip Rivers is the all-time NFL leader in making rookie mistakes after age 35.
The soon-to-be 38-year-old has thrown seven combined interceptions in back-to-back one-score divisional losses. Those defeats came by a total of nine points, which isn't unique for a team that has turned heartbreak into an art form and hasn't lost by more than one score this season. Rivers often looked lost in the last two, and if not for his many mistakes and woeful inaccuracy, the Chargers might have won both.
Under those circumstances, they'd be tied for the division lead. Instead, we're ready to eulogize the 2019 Chargers, as well as Rivers' 16-year run with the team.
Monday's special affair in Mexico City bore the closest resemblance to a Chargers home game since the team left San Diego. The Chiefs didn't play well and lost their top wide receiver, Tyreek Hill, to a hamstring injury early in the first quarter. Los Angeles was healthier and coming off extra rest. There's no excuse for the hole the Chargers dug when they fell behind 24-9 in the third quarter, but they could have survived that if their so-called elite quarterback had merely been competent with the game on the line.
Aside from an aberrational 50-yard completion to Mike Williams to keep hope alive with about a minute remaining in a seven-point game, Rivers completed just four of his 10 pass attempts on a failed two-minute drill that culminated in a game-sealing interception.
We shouldn't have been surprised. Altogether, Rivers is just 15-of-36 with zero touchdowns, three picks and a 14.5 passer rating in the final two minutes of one-score games this season.
ESPN Stats & Info @ESPNStatsInfoPhilip Rivers has thrown 7 interceptions in his last two games, the most in any two-game span in his career. Monday was his 61st loss by 7 or fewer points as a starting quarterback, the most by a starting QB in the Super Bowl era. https://t.co/uAGc3JzLPw
That makes it a lot harder to tolerate the fact that his 85.5 passer rating ranks in the bottom 10 among qualified, current starting quarterbacks, while only Jameis Winston of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers has thrown more picks.
As per usual, Rivers' pass protection has not been satisfactory. But MVP candidates Russell Wilson and Deshaun Watson have faced just as much pass-rush pressure, and Matt Ryan has greatly outplayed Rivers despite a similar lack of support from his offensive line.
Rivers has more than enough support elsewhere. Few quarterbacks in the NFL have arsenals that compare to a skill-position group featuring Keenan Allen, Williams, Austin Ekeler, Hunter Henry and Melvin Gordon III. All of those guys were active and productive with the ball in their hands Monday night, and the Chargers' talented defense limited Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs' high-powered offense to 24 points. They forced Kansas City to punt six times, with four of those coming in the fourth quarter.
And yet Los Angeles again fell short.
Tim Graham @ByTimGraham“The hard-luck Chargers have lost five games this year by (nominal amount of) points! You gotta feel for Philip Rivers!” Heard it for years. What’s the common denominator?
We're past the point of believing it'll eventually happen for Rivers, who has thrown more passes than all but six quarterbacks in NFL history. He looks frustrated and defeated, both in the pocket and between plays. You'd have to imagine that's also how his teammates feel, as do the few Chargers fans who actually show up at the miniature soccer stadium the franchise temporarily calls home.
The Chargers need new energy before they move from there to the brand-new SoFi Stadium, and this offseason is likely to present a glaring opportunity to move on. Not only is Rivers scheduled to become a free agent, but several younger big-name quarterbacks—Cam Newton, Teddy Bridgewater and Gardner Minshew II, to name a few—could become available in the new year.
Of course, the Chargers also in line for a top-12 draft pick, which could give them a shot at a blue-chip incoming quarterback such as Justin Herbert or Joe Burrow, or they could take Tua Tagovailoa and wait for him to take the reins in 2021.
John Middlekauff @JohnMiddlekauffRivers still sees it, even anticipates it, but his touch/physical tools are clearly diminishing. Which shouldn’t be that weird, he’ll be 38 in two weeks. Manning was a worse version of this in ‘15/16. When you have an avg arm and lose your touch it’s over
Rivers is having a bad year—one that seems to be getting worse as it wears on. And he's continually let his team down in critical moments. This season is pretty much a lost cause, and the odds that he'll redeem himself in his age-39 campaign are slim.
Combine that with the circumstances surrounding the 2020 quarterback market, and from almost every practical standpoint, this is the right time for Rivers and the Chargers to part ways.
Brad Gagnon has covered the NFL for Bleacher Report since 2012.
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November 18, 2019 at 10:19PM
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Philip Rivers' Time Is Up, and the Chargers Need to Find Replacement in 2020 - Bleacher Report
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