Philip Rivers' Leadership, Play Reason San Diego Chargers Are Playoff Contenders

With their season in limbo, the San Diego Chargers traveled to the east coast and beat the Baltimore Ravens, 34-33. Based on the way the Chargers had played over the past five weeks, a road win seemed highly improbable against a good team like the Ravens.

The Chargers have quarterback Philip Rivers to thank for keeping them in the playoff race. Rivers’ leadership and elite-level play is a big reason they now sit atop the wild-card standings.  

What Rivers was able to do in Baltimore Sunday is what makes him a true franchise quarterback. Rivers put the team on his back. He guided his team to victory in a way that only the best can.

Rivers finished with 383 passing yards, three touchdowns and one interception on 45 pass attempts. He completed an impressive 75.6 percent of his 45 passes.

Player	Date	Opp	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	Int
Tommy Kramer	1980	CLE	38	49	77.55	456	4	0
Matt Schaub	2012	JAX	43	55	78.18	527	5	2
Philip Rivers	2013	at PHI	36	47	76.6	419	3	0
Ben Roethlisberger	2014	IND	40	49	81.63	522	6	0
Drew Brees	2014	BAL	35	45	77.78	420	3	1
Philip Rivers	2014	at BAL	34	45	75.56	383	3	1

As far as individual performances go, Rivers had one for the books. Only five quarterbacks have ever done what Rivers did Sunday—complete at least 75.5 percent of 45 or more passes for at least 383 yards and three touchdowns. Rivers is also the only quarterback ever to have done it twice and the only quarterback to do it on the road.

More important than the stats was what Rivers was able to do when. The Chargers absolutely had to have a win, and Rivers knew it. Down 33-27, Rivers drove his team 80 yards for the go-ahead touchdown at 1:44 on a one-yard pass to wide receiver Eddie Royal.

Pivotal to the team’s performance Sunday was the ability of Rivers and wide receiver Keenan Allen to get on the same page. The two hadn’t been able to connect with much frequency in recent weeks, but Allen came up big for Rivers in the game and on the final drive. It’s as if Rivers knew getting Allen on track was going to be vital for the playoff push.

Allen finished with 11 catches for 121 yards and two touchdowns. On the final drive, he had catches of 14 yards, 12 yards and seven yards. Allen also made the key block on Royal’s game-winning touchdown catch.

It’s not uncommon for Rivers to show his emotions on the field, and Allen has been the object of his wrath on several occasions. Instead of redirecting more targets to his reliable options like tight end Antonio Gates and wide receiver Malcom Floyd, Rivers got back on the same page with Allen just in time.

That’s not to say Rivers didn’t distribute the ball. Gates finished with seven receptions for 83 yards, Floyd finished with three receptions for 85 yards and Royal finished with nine receptions for 81 yards. It was the first time in Chargers history that four players had over 80 receiving yards, per Michael Gehlken of U-T San Diego.

Rivers got on the same page as Allen without negatively affecting his teammates. In fact, it probably helped San Diego’s other receivers and contributed to why the Ravens struggled to stop the Chargers all afternoon.

“When you’ve got a great quarterback like Philip Rivers, you’ve got a chance to win every game as long as there’s time left on the clock,” said head coach Mike McCoy after the game, via Kevin Acee of U-T San Diego.

Rivers seemed to understand just how big a victory it was for the Chargers Sunday, but that didn’t change him. He’s always talking “we” instead of “I” in key moments, but this one was almost entirely on him.

“What this put us in a position to have a chance to do, all that was riding on it was huge,” Rivers said via Acee. “And the way it happened was just awesome. It was just such a battle.”

Per Acee, Rivers kept telling offensive teammates that the defense was going to hold the Ravens to a field goal with about two minutes left and the Chargers were going to win by one. Then with no timeouts, Rivers drove the Chargers 80 yards for the game-winning score.   

It’s not just that Rivers said it was going to happen; it’s that he made it happen. The players believed Rivers, and they calmly moved the ball down the field. No panic. No major mental errors. Just a perfectly orchestrated offense thanks to Rivers.  

Lesser quarterbacks panic. Lesser quarterbacks hesitate before throwing the ball to a wide receiver like Allen, who hasn’t been on the same page as him this season. Rivers didn’t do any of those things, and his team responded in kind.

The offensive line gave Rivers just enough time. The wide receivers made some plays on any passes Rivers didn’t throw perfectly. That’s a testament to the talent the Chargers have, but that might not shine without Rivers’ leadership.

If the Chargers are going to survive a brutal schedule down the stretch, Rivers will have to keep playing at this level. If he can do it against the Ravens in Baltimore, there is no reason he can’t against the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos in San Diego or on the road against the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers.

Rivers has the Chargers in position to make the postseason once again. A weak defense, five centers and virtually no running game for weeks may have slowed him down for a bit, but Rivers weathered the storm as only he and a few others in this league seem able to do.