Tweet
Originally posted by richpjr
View Post
-
Yes sir. Well said."...of course that's just my opinion, I could be wrong." -
Comment
-
QB Watch: Chargers' Philip Rivers
October, 23, 2013
OCT 23
9:00
AM ET
By Eric D. Williams | ESPN.com
RECOMMEND0TWEET3COMMENTS0EMAILPRINT
A weekly examination of the San Diego Chargers’ quarterback play.
Rivers
Rewind: Philip Rivers set a franchise record by completing his first 14 passes, finishing 22-of-26 for 285 yards, including a 29-yard touchdown to Eddie Royal in a decisive win at Jacksonville. Rivers also eclipsed 30,000 career passing yards, becoming the 38th player in NFL history to accomplish that impressive feat. Rivers joined Dan Fouts (43,040) as the only signal-callers in franchise history to throw for more than 30,000 yards.
Fast-forward: Rivers takes a much-needed break with the bye week, getting an opportunity to heal some nagging injuries before returning to action on Nov. 3 at Washington. Rivers and his wife, Tiffany, also are expecting the birth of their seventh child any day.
Royal plays through pain: Royal, San Diego’s slot receiver, hadn't had a touchdown reception since Week 2, but corralled his sixth touchdown catch in the first half of his team’s victory over the Jaguars. Royal suffered a toe injury two weeks ago against Indianapolis and did not practice all week. Royal toughed it out, playing 44 snaps for the Chargers and finishing with four catches for 69 yards.
Prediction: Can Rivers keep up his torrid, statistical pace for the rest of 2013? I don’t see any signs of him slowing down, as long as he plays within the framework of offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt’s take-what-they-give-you system. Rivers leads the league in completion percentage (73.9) and is second in the NFL in passing yards (2,132) and passer rating (111.1).Comment
-
Philip Rivers
Brady's throw was impressive, but if there's a rival to it, it's this one by Philip Rivers on Monday Night Football against the Colts.
2-9-IND 22 (12:10 2nd Quarter) P.Rivers pass deep left to K.Allen for 22 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
The key read for Rivers on this play is the safety, Delano Howell. The Chargers run a great little route combination with Ryan Mathews and Antonio Gates moving outside toward the sideline with Keenan Allen sneaking in behind them.
Howell bites on Gates' route - and it's easy to see why when you look at Rivers' helmet and shoulders after the play-action. However, once Rivers sees Howell step in that direction, he wastes exactly no time in throwing it to the back of the endzone for Allen, leading him just enough to slide under it.
Watch:
I mean, really?
Here's how it breaks down. As you can see below with a little more perspective, Allen appears to be covered up well on the sideline 'go-route' and Howell breaks for Gates' underneath route toward the sticks.
Howell, in his defense, almost immediately recognizes the ruse, and tries to break on the deeper route by Allen. However, what he doesn't realize is that Allen is rounding his route off into the middle of the field and not going straight up the sideline.
Rivers pulls the trigger.
Howell is now turned around and the time it takes him to flip his hips and change direction is precisely what Rivers had planned for. He slips it in just past the outstretched arms of the safety he just duped.
There is a reason Rivers had been among the league's elite at quarterback and looks to be back in that company again this year.
Hashtag thepowderbluesComment
-
UT:
The football lobe in his brain was highly active, and the mouth, of course, was always ready to run. So when Philip Rivers was a kid playing football in the schoolyard, he dreamed even then of how he’d run his offense.
He knew great quarterbacks were like the best battle strategists. In mere seconds, they could analyze various points of attack and exploit a defense’s weakest front. And one of the joys of the position is that you are the leader. It’s all on you. You’re the only one who can change that play.
“I think it’s what you dream about as a kid,” Rivers said. “Playing quarterback, watching plays, seeing plays, doing all of those things. I think that’s one of part of the position that every quarterback enjoys.”
More than in any of his 10 NFL seasons, it seems this year Rivers is calling upon his experience, knowledge and belief in himself to manage an offense that was new to him only a few months ago. Often operating with no huddle and the freedom to check away from a play anytime he sees fit, Rivers’ strengths seemingly have been re-established after a couple of years wandering into a territory of trying to do too much.
The Chargers are 4-3 as they rest in their bye week, but their quarterback’s play has been second to few. Rivers leads the league in completion percentage (73.9) and is second in the NFL in passing yards (2,132) and passer rating (111.1).
After throwing a combined 35 interceptions in the two previous seasons, Rivers has been picked only five times this year while throwing 14 touchdowns. Despite some red-zone issues, he is close to a pace that would match the career-high 34 TDs he recorded in 2008.
Integral in that success, it seems, has been the no-huddle attack instituted by offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt. In all but the Week 6 victory over the Indianapolis Colts, the Chargers and Rivers have gone significant stretches without a huddle – not so much to make the game a sprint, but to slow it down so that Rivers can analyze everything in front of him.
The gist: Why should a savvy quarterback stand with his back to the defense in a huddle when he can spend 10 more seconds calculating all of his options?
“I think, in particular, the no-huddle gives us the ability to get in and out of plays at the line of scrimmage,” Rivers said earlier this season. “It’s the flexibility we have because of the play-clock advantage we have. … I’ve been able to have my eyes on the defense for a long time before each snap if I need to.
“I think it helps the receivers and tight ends as well. (Antonio) Gates has been playing for 11 years. He understands what he’s seeing too. So it’s not just my eyes.”
Chargers veteran receiver Eddie Royal, who already has six touchdowns this season, said he likes the rhythm the no-huddle provides.
“When you eliminate the time between plays, you can just go out there and react, and I think guys play better,” Royal said. “You relax. You don’t over-think things.”
It’s all so logical that you wonder why more teams don’t do it.
“It takes a pretty smart quarterback to know what the best options are all of the time,” Chargers center Nick Hardwick explained. “(Rivers) is a very smart, with unbelievable football knowledge. He seems to have a photographic memory. He knows what he wants to do, and it’s just up to us to execute.”
If the execution of the no-huddle can sometimes look like Rivers is rounding up kindergarteners after recess, there is a method to it all. Head coach Mike McCoy, Whisenhunt, Rivers and quarterbacks coach Frank Reich – a backup to Jim Kelly in Buffalo’s “K-Gun” no-huddle offense in the ‘90s – establish various options while game-planning during the week.
“There’s not a lot of freewheelin’,” Rivers said.
Rivers is given several options for each defensive look, and it’s usually from that menu that he chooses the play if required. But it’s not like he’s changing every play either.
It’s often very obvious to announcers and fans when Rivers is changing a play on the fly, and when, say, the subsequent run gets stuffed for a short gain, the quarterback knows what the constituents are thinking on their couches: Why, Rivers, why?
“If you see a look you like, just let it run,” Rivers said. “Then there are other times when you check to a play, and you think, ‘Aw shoot, they’re doing something different.’ You’re not always going to be in the perfect play. Sometimes you just have to snap and live with it.
“Sometimes you think, ‘Aw, that was a bad decision. We should have done this.' But you’ve got to move on to the next play. I think the biggest thing is no negative plays.”
The Chargers started the season 2-3 going with the no-huddle, and though Rivers threw for 411 yards against the Raiders in Week 5, San Diego rushed for only 34 yards and lost. The next week, against the Colts, they didn’t run much no-huddle, had a more balanced attack (147 yards rushing, 227 passing) and won. In last week’s win over Jacksonville, the no-huddle returned and the Chargers’ scale was nicely weighted (276 passing, 158 rushing).
“We’ve been saying from Day 1 that we’re going to change from week to week,” McCoy said. “Sometimes it can change from quarter to quarter.”
Keep the other team guessing is the key.
“I don’t care if we run huddle or no-huddle,” Hardwick said, “as long as we have a chance to lean on them with tempo and energy. The goal isn’t to be the fastest team on the field and run the most plays. The goal is to be efficient, to wear them down, get to the fourth quarter and win the game.”Hashtag thepowderbluesComment
-
Congrats to Rivers on the birth of child #7Hashtag thepowderbluesComment
-
Maybe to celebrate he'll throw for 7 TDs on Sunday!AdiposeComment
-
There is so much quality TV nowadays, and dude is a millionaire, you gotta think he has at least one good TV no?Originally posted by oneinchpunch View Post
Congrats PR... A good Catholic having a ton of kids... I love it!Comment
-
There's no amount of television, no matter how I great, that I could possibly enjoy more than making love to the woman I love! I don't think that's really a Catholic thing, but then I'm a committed Catholic so maybe it is.Originally posted by TBF View Post
AdiposeComment
-
@sdutCanepa: The baby's name should be Last.Hashtag thepowderbluesComment
-
I like Finie better.Go Rivers!Comment
-
Rivers is Catholic, but his wife, Tiffany, is converted Catholic. FWIW. Bet she's wishing she had been able to convert Philip.
Comment
Comment