Philip Rivers could become the third player to throw 5000 yards in a season
San Diego Chargers quarterback, Philip Rivers, is on pace for 5083 passing yards this season. The record for most passing yards in one season is held by Dan Marino, who threw for 5084 yards in 1984. The only other player to throw for over 5000 yards in a
season is Drew Brees, he threw for 5069 yards in 2008.
Rivers is averaging 317.7 yards a game, and has a quarterback rating of 105 after the first 10 games of the season. The Chargers’ passing offence is ranked first in the league, but the Chargers have a difficult schedule remaining, and they’re fighting for
a playoff spot. The combination of those two factors could hinder Rivers’ quest to become the third person in NFL history to pass for over 5000 yards in a season.
San Diego plays in Indianapolis this Sunday. The Colts are ranked second in passing, and the game is likely to turn into a shootout as Rivers and Peyton Manning trade touchdowns. Indianapolis has the NFL’s eighth best passing defence, and they’ll be looking
to limit Rivers to less than 300 yards passing.
In the two weeks that follow the Colts game, the Chargers face two division rivals that are having surprisingly good seasons in the Kansas City Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders. Both teams have already beaten the Chargers once this season, but San Diego will
have home field advantage in both those games.
Kansas City is leading the AFC West, but they are ranked 25th in their pass defence, and Rivers should be able to put up significant yards in a game that will be considered the Chargers most important of the season.
Oakland has a much better pass defence than Kansas City. They’re ranked fourth in the league, and the Chargers may need to rely on their ground attack to win. It’s another important game as the Chargers are currently tied with the Raiders in the division.
The Chargers finish the season with three games against the 17th, 18th, and 20th ranked pass defences (San Francisco 49ers, Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos), and none of those teams seem very good at stopping the run either.
If Rivers falls behind his projected totals against the Colts and Chiefs, he may be able to make it up against these weaker defences.
One other potential factor is if the Chargers manage to clinch a playoff spot early, they may be inclined to limit Rivers’ play in the final game. Right now the team sits at 5-5. They trail the Chiefs (6-4) and are tied with the Raiders (5-5). The Chargers
also trail in the wild card race.
If the Chargers manage back-to-back wins against their division rivals, who could also find wins hard to come by as the season winds down, they could find themselves clinching the division before their final game against Denver (3-7).
Coaches don’t like playing their top players just to break records. It will be interesting to see what veteran coach, Norv Turner, will do with his starting quarterback should that scenario arise.
Rivers already has a couple of notable records under his belt. This year he set the record for most yards after 10 games (3251), and he has the highest passer rating of all time for quarterbacks that have made at least 1500 pass attempts (97.6).
He has yet to win a Super Bowl, and his drive to be a champion will override his desire to break Marino’s record, but the two may very well be aligned.
If Rivers wants to pull his team into the playoffs, it may take 5,000 passing yards to do it. While the team’s defence is the best in the league in preventing yards against, they’re only 14th in points against, and the team has a penchant for
losing games against division rivals this season.
Monday night marked the first divisional win for the Chargers this season, they’re now 1-2, and they’ll need to improve that record if they want a berth in the playoffs this year. Rivers is the key to that happening.
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