The Chargers were staring down the possibility of yet another lost season after an 0-4 start to 2017. It made Philip Rivers question his future in the NFL.
Philip Rivers is the NFL MVP candidate almost nobody is talking about
Rivers’ play might get the Chargers in the playoffs for the first time since the 2012 season.
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Jeanna Kelley has been covering the Falcons for The Falcoholic since 2011 and the NFL for SB Nation since 2015.
“Gosh, (are these) my last four games with the Chargers?” Rivers asked, according to Annie Heilbrun of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Rivers, now 36, considered retiring following the 2015 season. That year, he played behind an offensive line that ranked 28th in the league. Rivers, who absorbed 107 hits from opposing defenses, battled through rib and back injuries. The Chargers finished 4-12.
The next season wasn’t much better. The Chargers only won five games in 2016, and they had a move to Los Angeles — which Rivers didn’t want — hanging over his head.
Rivers still lives in San Diego with his wife and eight children. The rocky start this season coupled with a hellish commute could certainly push one to consider calling it a career.
But then the switch flipped for the Chargers and they went 7-2 in their next nine games. The only losses came at the hands of the Patriots and the Jaguars, both teams that are virtual locks for the postseason. Now the Chargers are 7-6 and in a position to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2012 season, thanks in large part to Rivers’ MVP-caliber play.
Rivers turned the Chargers’ season around
Rivers has thrown for 3,611 yards this season, trailing only Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, and Matthew Stafford. He’s also on pace for 28 touchdowns and nine picks this season. That would be the the fewest interceptions Rivers has tossed in any season since 2009.
While Rivers has always been a prolific passer, advanced stats tell us that he is the best quarterback in the league right now. Football Outsiders’ Defense-adjusted Value over Average analysis ranks him No. 1 based on how valuable Rivers is to his team on a per-play basis.
Rivers has also been busy setting new career highs and hitting notable milestones through the first 13 games of the season.
- This is his 10th consecutive season with 3,500 or more passing yards. Only Rivers, Drew Brees, and Peyton Manning have pulled that off in the Super Bowl era.
- Last Sunday marked three straight games for Rivers with 200-plus yards in the first half for the first time in his 14-year career.
- Week 14 was also Rivers’ fourth straight game with a passer rating over 100. He hasn’t done that since early in the 2014 season.
- In last week’s win over Washington, Rivers hit 49,444 career passing yards. He passed Warren Moon for the ninth-most passing yards in NFL history.
Rivers just seems to be getting better as the season goes on. In the Chargers’ last four games — all wins — he’s averaged 337 yards per game and thrown eight touchdowns with no interceptions.
“This is the best I’ve seen him play. He’s on,” his teammate Melvin Gordon said, via Dan Wolke of the LA Times. “You know, you want carries and things like that, but you can’t complain, baby. Can’t complain, the way he’s throwing that thing right now, I’m cheering more than anybody else.”
The Chargers need Rivers to keep playing at an MVP level
No matter how great Rivers has been since the team’s tough start, the Chargers’ success is not all his doing. The defense is allowing just 17.3 points per game, good for second in the league. The pass rush, led by Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram, is about as scary as it gets for opposing quarterbacks. The Chargers are tied for fifth in the NFL with 37 sacks.
Even more notable, Rivers actually has some help on offense for once. Keenan Allen has been healthy enough to play in every single game so far after playing in just nine games over the last two seasons. And Gordon provides some balance on the ground and another reliable receiving target.
But Rivers is the reason the offense keeps clicking. He is the Chargers’ most valuable player, and with the way they’ve turned their season around, he deserves consideration for the league’s award, even though the odds are stacked 12 to 1 against him.
But Rivers isn’t worried about personal accomplishments. He’s focused on winning.
“I think individual recognition, things come when people have success. If that comes with us having a lot of success, certainly, you’d be grateful,” Rivers said. “We’ve got a good thing going. Hopefully, we can keep it going.”
The Chargers still have a ways to go, and just three games to do it. They’re on the outside looking in at a wild card spot right now.
If they can beat the Chiefs this Saturday, the Chargers will take over as the leaders of the AFC West. Even if they drop this one, they’re not out of it with two other winnable games left on the schedule. They’ll need to take care of business against the Raiders and the Jets, and competition for those AFC wild card spots will be tight between the Chargers, Bills, Titans, and Ravens.
But if Rivers keeps playing like an MVP, their chances look pretty good.
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