The Chargers could trade Philip Rivers, but they’d probably screw that up too.

It makes some sense on the surface of things. The Chargers are, once again, an absolute disaster, losing three games in excruciating fashion by blowing fourth-quarter leads. Rivers isn’t part of the problem. He’s completing almost 68 percent of his passes, 7.8 yards per attempt, has 1,110 yards, seven touchdowns and just one interception.

The Chargers signed Rivers to a four-year, $83 million extension this year, but the structure of the contract doesn’t make it especially prohibitive for trading him. The cap hit doesn’t top $22 million until the last year, and it’d be easy for a team to wiggle out of after 2018.

Then again, the Chargers really, really need as much fan support as they can get ... something that they don’t have much of after losing so much lately, the Bosa holdout and that whole alienating fans by threatening relocation thing. If they could fire Mike McCoy and make the right kind of moves in the offseason, they might be competitive again sooner than you think. But that’s admittedly a huge leap of faith for a team that hasn’t done much of anything positive, on the field or off.

Rivers may just have to spend his last years in San Diego, putting up amazing numbers in obscurity.

THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL

The Cardinals’ playoff odds are starting to slip away. So much for being Super Bowl favorites.

MANZIEL IS AVAILABLE: Johnny Manziel’s four-game suspension is over. Don’t everybody rush to sign him at once.

ONE GUY STEVE SMITH: Steve Smith will talk trash about every player in the NFL except Josh Norman. There’s mutual respect between the former teammates.

THE PERFECT COMBO: The Cowboys’ offensive line paved the way for Ezekiel Elliott’s best game yet. Elliott is electric, but the Dallas offensive line is even better.

PANIC TIME: NFL panic index, Week 5: What happened to the superstar quarterbacks? Also, Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston have a bad case of the sophomore slump. Who else should be panicking this week: Jaguars, Chargers, Rams & Texans.

A WARNING FROM BRANDON MARSHALL: Brandon Marshall has a message for the Giants about Odell Beckham Jr. “Those guys over there need to be really careful. They don’t need to be speaking out on their teammate. They need to keep that in-house, because they can lose him.”

CLEAT WEEK: Over 400 NFL players have signed up to wear alt-cleats Week 13. The NFL is loosening up its stringent uniform rules for a special cause.

QUIT HARASSING GRONK ABOUT YOUR FANTASY TEAM: Rob Gronkowski is optimistic his hamstring is getting better, so stop harassing him about your fantasy football team. The Gronk has been severely limited by a hamstring injury this season, and fans are complaining to him about the impact on their fantasy team.

CHARGERS LOSE VERRETT: Jason Verrett’s season is over. The San Diego Chargers have lost yet another starter to a season-ending knee injury. This time, it’s the best player on the defense.

“LIE TILL YOU DIE” Browns’ Joe Thomas says refs “lie till you die” on fumble ruling. Joe Thomas said officials stuck with their call on Duke Johnson’s fumble because they were fooled by Washington players acting as if they had the ball.

ANOTHER BLOW FOR THE BEARS: Bears WR Kevin White to injured reserve with a fractured fibula. White’s second season is turning out a lot like his first season in the NFL.

50,472 POUNDS: The total weight of all the Starting O-linemen in the NFL is 50,472 pounds. Washington’s linemen weigh the most. Atlanta’s the least, when you add them all up.