Philip Rivers Passes Dan Fouts for Most Passing Yards in Chargers History

San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers passed Dan Fouts on Thursday night for the most passing yards (43,041) in franchise history, according to Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune. 

Rivers finished the game 18-of-29 for 178 yards and a touchdown in San Diego's win over the Denver Broncos.

"The great thing is [Philip] Rivers became our all-time leading passer," Chargers head coach Mike McCoy said after the win. "What a stud."

"This one was definitely special," Rivers added. "I think even making it more special was wearing the uniforms we had."

The achievement is a testament to both Rivers' longevity and continued effectiveness under center. He's one of 18 quarterbacks in NFL history with at least 40,000 passing yards, and by surpassing Fouts, he jumped into 13th on the league's all-time yardage list, per Pro-Football-Reference.com:

Rank	Player	Yards
1	Peyton Manning	71,940
2	Brett Favre	71,838
3	Drew Brees	62,171
4	Dan Marino	61,361
5	Tom Brady	58,434
6	John Elway	51,475
7	Warren Moon	49,325
8	Fran Tarkenton	47,003
9	Vinny Testaverde	46,233
10	Eli Manning	45,572
11	Drew Bledsoe	44,611
12	Ben Roethlisberger	44,491
13	Philip Rivers	43,057
14	Dan Fouts	43,040
15	Carson Palmer	41,186

Rivers' passing of Fouts in passing yards will further stoke the debate as to who's the best quarterback in Chargers history.

Fouts arguably left a bigger legacy as part of Don Coryell's revolutionary "Air Coryell" offense. Fouts also played in an era when league rules didn't favor quarterbacks as much as they do now.

Over his 15 years in the league, Fouts led the NFL in passing yards on four occasions and was the leader in passing yards per game for six years. Rivers was the league leader in both categories once (2010).

However, Rivers is the more efficient passer, boasting a 64.9 career completion percentage entering Thursday night compared to 58.8 percent for Fouts. Fouts also threw 254 touchdowns to 242 interceptions compared to 292 and 138, respectively, for Rivers.

Rivers will likely join Fouts in the Pro Football Hall of Fame one day. Before then, he'll want to climb one mountain that eluded Fouts—winning a Super Bowl.