Philip Rivers News: Pro Sports Daily

Big gaffes again haunt QB Rivers in loss

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November 17

San Diego Union-Tribune

"Philip Rivers was not down, not bowing his head. He accepted his plight and vowed to move on. But he was ticked off. At himself. "I want to do all I can on every play to help us win," Rivers said. "I fell short on a few today." The Chargers defense did not allow a touchdown in Sunday's 11-10 loss to the Steelers. It also could be argued that neither did it make stops when it had to do so. But the blame for this loss fell on the offense and its leader. In a game on a sloppy field, in the cold, Rivers had statistically his worst game since Nov. 11, 2007, a span of 20 games. He did not throw a touchdown pass for the first time in 17 games and finished with a passer rating of 43.6. It has ..."

Aggressive mind-set keeps Rivers confident, successful

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November 10

San Diego Union-Tribune

columnist Tim Sullivan

"Philip Rivers called it a "silly throw," and then he didn't. Two minutes into his post-game news conference yesterday afternoon, the Chargers quarterback was backpedaling rhetorically, adjusting on the fly, searching for the precise phrase for an imprecise pass. "I shouldn't say 'silly throw,' " Rivers said. "You can totally cross that one out. Silly was the wrong word. It was just a poor throw. I left it inside and short." Things happen in the heat of the moment that can seem silly in slow-motion, but it's useful to remember that an NFL quarterback isn't out there lining up putts. He's reacting to something he sees, or thinks he sees, and he's trying to do it before some defensive brute ..."

Rivers smart enough to forget his gaffs in heat of the moment

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November 10

San Diego Union-Tribune

columnist Tim Sullivan

"Philip Rivers called it a "silly throw," and then he didn't. Two minutes into his post-game news conference Sunday afternoon, the Chargers' quarterback was backpedaling rhetorically, adjusting on the fly, searching for the precise phrase for an imprecise pass. "I shouldn't say 'silly throw,' " Rivers said. "You can totally cross that one out. Silly was the wrong word. It was just a poor throw. I left it inside and short." Things happen in the heat of the moment that can seem silly in slow-motion, but it's useful to remember that an NFL quarterback isn't out there lining up putts. He's reacting to something he sees, or thinks he sees, and he's trying to do it before some defensive brute ..."

Rivers hardly satisfied with his season so far

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November 6

San Diego Union-Tribune

"Philip Rivers leads the NFL in passer rating, touchdown passes and average gain per attempt. "That's why stats don't tell you the whole story," Rivers said. "While I've been playing good, these last two games there have been critical mistakes that essentially cost us." That's a little harsh on the self-criticism, but it's also the truth. The Chargers quarterback is perhaps the only position player on the team who has lived up to (or surpassed) expectations. He might be the only Charger headed to the Pro Bowl. He is better then he's ever been, by far. And he is terribly disappointed in himself. Fourth-quarter interceptions have eradicated possible comebacks the past two games, a span ..."

Turnovers muddy Rivers’ day

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October 20

Buffalo News

"LaDainian Tomlinson and the San Diego running game have been struggling all season, so if the Chargers were going to beat the Buffalo Bills on the road Sunday, they needed a big game from Philip Rivers. Rivers was responsible for all three of San Diego’s turnovers, including a fourth-quarter interception deep in the red zone on a drive that could have given the Chargers the lead. Instead, San Diego fell to the Bills, 23-14, at Ralph Wilson Stadium. The Bills (5-1) got the statement victory they were looking for while the Chargers (3-4) fell south of .500, a place no one expected them to see prior to the season, when they were considered one of the favorites to win the AFC. Rivers placed ..."

Rivers - and his Chargers mates - ran through them

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October 13

Boston Globe

"With a nagging toe injury limiting Chargers star running back LaDainian Tomlinson, the San Diego passing attack has been forced to carry the load. And that's been no problem for Philip Rivers. Despite wide receiver Chris Chambers being inactive, the Chargers signal-caller was unstoppable in last night's 30-10 blowout of the Patriots. Rivers was 18 for 27 for 306 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. It's clear Rivers is up to the task of sparking the offense. "Philip's been awesome," said Vincent Jackson, who had five receptions for a game-high 134 yards. Playing against a team that has knocked him out of the playoffs the last two seasons, Rivers made sure everyone knew that the ..."

This week's film session gets no thumb's-up from Rivers

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October 9

San Diego Union-Tribune

"Every week Philip Rivers watches a lot of film on the upcoming opponent's defense. Among the things he will watch, if applicable, is how he fared against the opponent in their most recent meeting. Watching his last game against the Patriots, the Chargers quarterback saw himself limping around a frozen field with his right knee braced as he completed 19 of his 37 passes in the AFC Championship Game in January. "It certainly brings back memories, and some tough ones just watching the tape," he said. " ... Watching the AFC Championship Game is tough to watch. It brings back a lot of thoughts, of plays you wish you would have made, how you felt and all the different kind of scenarios that ..."

Philip Rivers earns praise from Bill Belichick

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October 8

Boston Herald

"Football players are tough. That’s a given. But when a coach like Bill Belichick singles out a player for his grit, that’s an even greater compliment. The player in question? San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers, who played in last season’s AFC Championship Game with a badly damaged right knee. “I think Rivers has really grown as a quarterback. I thought especially last year, in the playoff game, playing with the injury, I thought he showed a lot of toughness and grit - that wasn’t the greatest day to pass the ball, there in January,” Belichick said of Rivers, who had reconstructive surgery during the offseason to repair a torn ACL in his knee. “I thought that he made some excellent throws ..."

Rivers' ribs are acting up after two rough weeks in the trenches

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October 7

San Diego Union-Tribune

"Philip Rivers didn't get hit as much Sunday in Miami as he did the previous week in Oakland. But the back-to-back weeks of playing teams that got to him had him receiving treatment yesterday for the second straight day on his bruised ribs. "Just a couple bumps and bruises," Rivers said. "Nothing big." There are a few others - guards Kris Dielman (thigh bruise) and Mike Goff (knee strain), strong safety Clinton Hart (strained shoulder) and fullback Mike Tolbert (sprained ankle) - who can say the same thing. All of them will play Sunday against New England, though they could be rested in practice this week. But the Chargers will be without outside linebacker Jyles Tucker again this week and ..."

Rivers, sluggish offense melt in Miami's heat and humidity

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October 6

San Diego Union-Tribune

"Yes, the Chargers have mirrors in their locker room. They're going to need them. To a man, members of the Chargers offense can't put their finger on what's wrong with them. They are pointing fingers at themselves, though, and you can count on two hands the number of reasons why. That's the same number that was on the visitors' side of the scoreboard. "Ten points," said dispirited running back LaDainian Tomlinson. "For us, that's a struggle." Ten points are all that aerial-minded San Diego scored against a Miami Dolphins team rated among the worst in the NFL pass defense, a category wherein the Chargers happen to rank 32nd of 32 teams, incidentally. One touchdown. One field goal. ..."

As one of the NFL's top QBs, Rivers earns special treatment

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September 23

San Diego Union-Tribune

"He wears a red mesh vest over his jersey throughout the week, a tradition in the National Football League, where quarterbacks are thus designated as the "Untouchables" in drills. This time, though, the red on Philip Rivers' uniform was blood. It wasn't from a vicious hit under the chin or a finger smacked against an opposing helmet, for as Rivers himself noted, the New York Jets barely laid a glove on him all night. Rather, it was from the needle-puncture wound where Rivers had taken an intravenous fluid injection at halftime. "I kept seeing him run to the sideline and I couldn't see what they were doing," teased running back LaDainian Tomlinson. "While we were on the bench I saw them ..."

Philip Rivers: Calm amid the raging storm

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September 22

San Diego Union-Tribune

"If not for three points, a mere 26 seconds, Philip Rivers is being compared with Joe Montana. Too much, too soon? Perhaps. But factor in the overtime victory at Tennessee last December and the one-legged performance in January's AFC Championship Game, and Rivers is building a legacy of heroics. He is doing that regardless of the Chargers' 0-2 start going into Monday night's game against the New York Jets, it's just not quite what it might have been. "These are the situations you dream about," Rivers said this past week. "But winning them is the key." True, few have probably ever dreamed of leading their team back from nine points down with 10 minutes to play and 14 down in the third ..."

Paths converge yet again for Rivers, Jets WR Cotchery

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September 21

San Diego Union-Tribune

"Even before they'd met and become trusted teammates and friends, they'd met. In addition to being the Alabama Player of the Year in football his senior year at Athens High, Philip Rivers was a hot-shot basketball player whose greatest challenge one night was just to get the ball up the court against the quicker, smaller guy covering him, Jerricho Cotchery of Birmingham Phillips High. "I was checking him the whole game," said Cotchery, now a receiver with the New York Jets. "I shut him down." About to play against Cotchery again Monday night, Rivers does not dispute the account, but will amend it to include the reason Cotchery was assigned to guard him so closely that night. "The game ..."

Rivers' biggest critic in Denver is QB himself

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September 15

San Diego Union-Tribune

"Considering all that's gone down between him and the Denver Broncos and even their fans, he didn't expect to get any breaks in the Mile High City. Around here, Philip Rivers' middle name could be Muddy. So here's the twist. Rivers actually may have won some locals over with the intrepid way he brought the Chargers back Sunday, turning the boos to fearful quiet with a career-high 377 yards passing and three touchdowns. But the guy who rode him the hardest was Philip Rivers. "We put up 38 points, our red-zone offense was real good, but I missed two easy touchdowns," Rivers said. "I'm kicking myself about that." He wanted three passes back, passes that led to two Nate Kaeding field goals. ..."

N.C. State's Rivers can only watch as time ticked away

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September 8

Charlotte Observer

"San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers wasn't used to being in this position, watching the opposing team drive down the field in a game's closing moments, then winning it on the last play. But there he was, on the Qualcomm Stadium sidelines, as his Carolina Panthers counterpart, Jake Delhomme, drove his team to a game-winning touchdown as time expired Sunday. Delhomme's 14-yard pass to tight end Dante Rosario gave the Panthers a 26-24 victory. "We've won a lot of games like that," said Rivers, a former N.C. State player. "That last play will be replayed over and over. It's what's going to stand out. If it's incomplete you win. It's complete, they win." Rivers had already done his ..."

Rivers led by example in AFC title-game loss

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July 23

San Diego Union-Tribune

columnist Nick Canepa

"On Jan. 20, 2008, Philip Rivers became the undisputed leader of the Chargers. If there had been doubts before then, they ended on a day when global warming somehow missed Foxborough, Mass. The Kid became The Man in the New England chill. The Chargers quarterback was unable to do enough to overcome the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game. But few people knew he played without an anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Even fewer knew he had undergone arthroscopic surgery to remove loose cartilage in the joint the previous Monday."