Philip Rivers, Antonio Gates' Instant Fantasy Reaction After Week 8

San Diego Chargers stars Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates ranked third at their respective positions in ESPN.com standard leagues entering Week 8's game against the Denver Broncos.

That makes both the Chargers' top-tier quarterback and trend-setting, pass-catching tight end No. 1 fantasy plays no matter who the opponent is. Rivers and Gates proved to be a dynamic duo yet again at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on Thursday.

Name	PASS	YDS	TD/INT	Fantasy Points
Name	REC	YDS	TD	Fantasy Points
Philip Rivers	30/41	252	3/2	19
Antonio Gates	5	54	2	17

NFL Network's Andrew Siciliano made a notable observation about Gates:

But Rivers did get a bit greedy and needed to press while his counterpart Peyton Manning was eviscerating the San Diego secondary. That led to two interceptions and a slight reduction in what his fantasy point total could have been.

ESPN Stats & Info noted how strong Rivers has been on a regular basis in 2014:

Before Week 8 began, Gates spoke about how he still keeps his competitive fire burning.

"I'm competing as hard as I can, running as fast as I can, and whatever I end up doing when it's all said and done, I'll be able to look back and say, 'Wow. I'm proud because I know I gave it my all,'" said Gates, per U-T San Diego's Kevin Acee.

Gates now has a whopping six touchdowns in his last four games, so even at age 34, he is proving that he is still among the best TE receiving threats.

If San Diego's rushing attack fails to produce more moving forward, it will be wise to keep deploying Rivers and Gates in fantasy. Although the Chargers lost on Thursday 35-21, they ought to still air it out a ton with Rivers pulling the trigger and Gates creating so many matchup problems on opposing linebackers and undersized cornerbacks.