Rivers Sets NFL Record with 215 Completions Through 7 Games

San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers has completed 215 passes this year, setting a new NFL record for most completions through the first seven games of a season, per Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN Stats & Info).

With his team struggling to establish a running game amid a 2-5 start to the season, Rivers has put together four straight outings with 38 or more pass attempts, 336 or more passing yards and multiple passing touchdowns.

In addition to completions, he leads the NFL in pass attempts (311) and passing yards (2,452), also ranking third in touchdowns (15), fourth in completion percentage (69.1), eighth in yards per attempt (7.8) and seventh in passer rating (99.2) among all qualified quarterbacks.

Rivers is on pace for 491 completions and 5,605 passing yards, both of which would be single-season NFL records, surpassing the marks set by Drew Brees in 2011 (468 completions) and Peyton Manning in 2013 (5,477 yards).

His 215 completions through seven games just barely beat Rich Gannon's previous record of 214, set in 2002 for the Oakland Raiders, per Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN Stats & Info).

Gannon finished that season as the NFL leader in completions (418), pass attempts (618) and passing yards (4,689), though he did trail off from his record-setting pace through seven games.

Rivers still has a long way to go before any of the potential records are actually likely to be broken, but with an upcoming Week 8 matchup against the 28th-ranked Baltimore Ravens pass defense (283 yards surrendered per game), he should maintain his record-setting pace for at least another week.