Why 2012 Is the Most Important Season of Philip Rivers' Career

San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers has had good years, namely the three-year stretch from 2008 to 2010 in which he threw for 92 touchdowns and just 37 interceptions and made three straight Pro Bowls. Rivers has also had one very frustrating year—the 2011 season, when Rivers tossed a career-high 20 picks as the Chargers went 8-8 and missed the playoffs.

But when push comes to shove, there's no season in Rivers' career as important as the upcoming 2012 season.

The Chargers are currently at a turning point as a franchise. Coach Norv Turner, who has been the head man in San Diego for all but one of Rivers' starting seasons, will enter 2012 on the league's hottest of hot seats. 

Turner just barely escaped 2011 with his job intact.

Another 8-8 finish—or worse—likely means Turner enters the unemployment line in early January. 

Rivers was quick to back Turner after rumors of his dismissal heated up back in December of last year.

From the San Diego Union Tribune:

"

Regardless of what happens the next two weeks, it would be crazy for Norv to not be here. We’ve won 48 games in five years. Norv can’t make every throw. Norv didn’t fumble. You can’t go, ‘Gee, Norv, why did you throw that pass?’

"

Rivers' support might have saved Turner's job then, but another average season might be too much for even Rivers to dig Turner out. 

For the Chargers to be more than average in 2012, Rivers will have to recapture his All-Pro form from 2008-10. If Rivers is still the same turnover-prone quarterback he was a year ago, San Diego will be hard-pressed to finish better than third in the AFC West. 

There were glimpses of a comeback to end 2011, however.

Rivers had a passer rating of over 130 in three of the Chargers' final four games, all wins. The Detroit Lions battered Rivers in a 38-10 loss in Week 16, but Rivers was near perfect in the three games sandwiching that debacle. 

Rivers threw for 294 yards and three scores in a 38-14 win over Jacksonville in Week 14, then followed that performance—arguably his best of the season—with 240 yards and three more scores in a 37-10 win against the Buffalo Bills. 

In Week 17, Rivers threw for 310 yards and three scores on just 26 attempts in the 38-26 win over the division rival Oakland Raiders. 

If Rivers can carry those performances over to 2012, the Chargers will likely be back in business. And not just in the AFC West, but the entire conference too. 

Anything less, and the Chargers could be looking at a major coaching staff overhaul to begin the 2013 season. 

Rivers knows it wasn't pretty in 2011, but he's confident the team will stick to the course. 

From ESPN:

"

Sometimes the course isn't always smooth. We've had a bit of bumpy ride the last two years , but there is plenty of history other places that if you just stick with it, stick with it, stick with it, you get to the top and that is what we are trying to get done.

"

Rivers shouldn't be so sure. Even general manager A.J. Smith's job could be on the line in 2012. He was on the ropes for a period of time following the 2011 season, but owner Dean Spanos kept him for at least another year. 

Spanos made it very clear that 2012 is a major season for the future of the franchise. 

From the previously linked ESPN report:

"

Obviously, I'm very sensitive to what the fans have to say. I've come to the conclusion that I can talk until I'm blue in the face that this is the right thing to do. But until we go out and win and change the course of where this team has been heading, get back into the playoffs and make a serious run for the Super Bowl, anything short of that isn't going to change their minds. We have to go out there next year and win.

"

Everyone in the franchise seems to have a clear picture of what's expected in 2012. 

While Turner is clearly on the hot seat, and Smith may have his own rapidly warming chair, it's on Rivers to keep this thing afloat. 

If he's the same player he was in the three years before 2011, or simply the same quarterback that finished the final four games of last season, the Chargers can rebound. But another showing of early 2011 Rivers is a death sentence for Turner, and maybe Smith. 

It's clear Rivers is facing his most important season over the next four months.