Article on Phillip Rivers! Interesting

[Not So Fast]

Chargers QB Rivers struggles with consistency, turnovers
By BERNIE WILSON, AP Sports Writer
November 14, 2007
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- So, what's wrong with Philip Rivers?
Nine games into the season, Rivers looks nothing like the Pro Bowl quarterback he was last season, his first as starter for the San Diego Chargers.
Rivers has matched his 10 touchdown passes with 10 interceptions. Throw in his five lost fumbles, and he's already committed four more turnovers than he did all last season.
Two of his interceptions and two of his fumbles have been returned for touchdowns. Overall, his turnovers have led to 58 points for the opponents.
Rivers' passer rating of 77.9 is 21st in the NFL. He was booed again Sunday night, when the Chargers escaped with a 23-21 win over the Indianapolis Colts after Adam Vinatieri missed a 29-yard field-goal attempt with 1:31 left.
Even after throwing a career-high six interceptions, Peyton Manning had a better passer rating Sunday night than Rivers, 49.4 to 30.6. Rivers completed only 13 of 24 passes for 104 yards, with two interceptions. He fumbled into the end zone in the fourth quarter, with linebacker Gary Brackett recovering for a TD.
Rivers keeps pointing out that the Chargers are 5-4 and leading the AFC West after winning four of their past five games.
Fans, though, keep wondering why he's so inconsistent.
"There's frustration anytime you don't play the way you want to, but you have to be able to take it in stride and keep getting better and keep working and know that it's keep grinding and working and you'll continue to get through it and that's what I'm going to do," he said.
"I haven't lost any sleep or any confidence. Just keep working and playing and I know I can get it done."
Rivers, who also slumped last December as the Chargers finished off a 14-2 season, said there's nothing wrong physically or with his mechanics.
"It's part of the game and the quarterbacks that don't allow it to creep in those situations and make those types of mistakes are the ones that are playing consistent and the ones that aren't doing it aren't," Rivers said Wednesday, when the Chargers started preparing for Sunday's game at Jacksonville. "I don't think it's anything more than that. You keep practicing and playing.
"Nothing's happened that's never happened to anybody before. It's not something new that's happened to me and I'm going to keep working through it."
The Chargers expected a more polished performance from Rivers this season, especially under the tutelage of head coach Norv Turner. While Turner is just 63-86-1 as an NFL head coach, he was acclaimed for his work with Troy Aikman as offensive coordinator with the Dallas Cowboys in the early 1990s.
"When he's had time and when things have gone good for him, he's made a lot of big plays," Turner said about Rivers. "We're working through some things and we just have to eliminate the negative play and ultimately that's his responsibility."
Turner, meanwhile, has taken heat for his playcalling.
"We evaluate it every Monday," he said. "We look at it and there's always times when you look and say, 'Hey, we could have called this and it might have been better; that play, the call we liked, we didn't like the result of it.' I think it is part of the deal. I started calling plays in 1991, so fortunately I've called a lot of good ones, and unfortunately I've called some that didn't work out too well."
WoW, talk about being optimistic:eek: I guess its better than being a doubting Thomas or to lose your confidence but there is no DOUBT Rivers will have to play MUCH BETTER and SOON IMO. :( :( NSF

[HefeRaton]

The bigger problem here is the Oline. He has almost no time and is rushed ALOT. Like any QB if your Oline can't stop anybody you are going to be rushed into making mistakes. I think they should go to the no huddle, that would help these guys get defenses on their heals and the get our offense into a rythm.

[SB]

This happens time and again. People complain about a qb, then you point out that he is missing half the OL from last year. "Duh":)

[Tremor Therapy]

Interesting, but I was listening to a local sports hack radio show the other day, and they brought on Vency Glenn, an ex-Charger defensive back, and asked him what he thought might be the problem.
Well I have listened to Vency Glenn from time to time over the years, and the guy seems to have it down. His response was that this season Rivers just seems incapable of going through his read progression on any play. He drops back to pass and just stares down the primary receiver throughout his entire route, and that this is giving the defense the edge. What he noticed last year was that Gates was perpetually open, and Rivers always looked for him. Now this year Gates is being double and triple covered, so when Rivers drops back to pass and Gates is not open, Rivers does not know what to do.
The one positive he noticed was that on quick 3 step drop and fire routes, Rivers is getting the ball out very well. However, the down side that Vency noticed was that he is still firing the ball to the primary receiver even if they are covered. Vency did go on to say that there was more to Rivers problems, and did mention the inability of our offensive line to give him ample time to throw the ball, but Vency also countered that by saying Rivers is just not picking up the defensive coverages like he did last year. I have to admit, that my opinion on what Vency was saying is that Rivers is just not playing well at all.
Funny though, Vency did not pick on Norv too much. What he did say was that this team needs a big time attitude adjustment. What he was alluding too is that he felt the Chargers were spending too much time trying to figure out what they are not doing instead of knuckling down, getting pissed, and just going out and playing Charger football (whatever that means).

[MKEELINE]

That is a quarterback that has no confidence in his offensive line, the playcalling and/or his receivers.
It might just be a big learning curve for a guy that has only played 25 NFL games. One season as a starter, then forced to learn a new, more complicated system. One thing Marty did real well was keep it simple, which hurt him in the playoffs, when teams have two weeks to prepare for you.
Rivers will be fine. For those calling for Volek, you've obviously never seen him play. There's a reason that a guy with five 400+ yard NFL games can't start somewhere.
Oh, and Vencie Glenn is a great guy and he knows what he's talking about.
You make a great point about Rivers learning curve. I think he's having a tough time with the new system, but, he's only 9 games in. He seems to be having a tough time with his read progession, he seems just to lock and load on one guy. He knows he doesn't have much time so he's rushing things, which leads to bad decisions with the football.
I don't care if you have Jesus in cleats, if you don't get time to make the reads your going to have trouble. But, the o line is only 9 games into this system also. Just as Rivers is struggling, so is the o line.
As far as backups are concerned, I think you could do ALOT worse than Volek. There's alot of backups out there with zero 400+ yard games, much less the kind of experience he has. I don't think they should go to Volek yet, but do you stay with Rivers if he keeps playing this poorly? I'm a fan of Rivers. I really think the kid is going to be a really good QB(only time will tell), but he is REALLY struggling right now.
GO BOLTS!

[Tremor Therapy]

What was really interesting was his take on the defense. One of the radio guys started talking about the Bears, and Vencie said that no one on the Bears was bitching about their offense ineptitude as loud as the Chargers are. The Bears defense new that they were the strength of the team, so they just went out and stuffed the other offense in a 3 and out, or 5 or 6 plays and out, and gave the offense the ball back, giving them more chances to score. He made some excellent points stating that good teams suck it up where they need too.
His case in point was that our special teams was an advantage against the Colts, and we used it to our advantage. He stated it in no uncertain terms, the special teams is what was the difference in the game. Now he did mention that the offense stunk up the Murph, and that the defense did not play exceptionally well even though they did get 6 interceptions.
You could definately tell he new what he was talking about...but SWB, I did not get the feeling that he was sold on Rivers. He was definately critiquing him pretty hard, and was wondering how a guy that has been in the NFL for this long, with as big a write up as AJ is giving him can be playing at such a poor level, and seemingly incapable of making the simplest of adjustments or reads. His criticism started me thinking again, that they need to pull the play book apart, and go back to a more simplistic game plan. Maybe this can get some confidence back into our offense!

[Ziggy]

most every QB will go through a lull, as does most every player of every sport.......The unflappable Tiger Woods even hits slumps.
When they hired Turner last year they said part of the reason was continuity of the offensive unit....but it seems little is the same for the offensive game play, different blocking schemes...........does this mean they need more time to absorb Turners style or vice versa(Turner adapt to players' strength)???
Rivers doesn't look comfortable like he did last year, O-line play seems to have dropped off, or is that because of having to learn new schemes?
To many unanswered questions to evaluate any one single player, it is a team sport afterall.

[Ziggy]

remember, Rivers had two years of learning Marty's system before being thrown in as a starter.......I personally think he has trouble grasping Turners more aggressive and faster paced system, along with the rest of the offense.......I mean the O-line can't seem to make any real wholes for the NFL MVP to get through.....something just ain't clicking with these boys.:(

[Tremor Therapy]

Ziggy,
Its funny how everyone is also down on LT. I was listening to the same hacks (Billy Ray and Scott) and they mentioned that "everyone might just want to lay off LT, as there are only 2 guys in front of him with more yards from scrimmage." That just seemed out of wack, but if you check it out, its true. LT is third in yards form scrimmage.....makes me think that style points must count really high!

[SB]

no one on the Bears was bitching about their offense ineptitude as loud as the Chargers are.
LMAO. The Bears are going with Grossman this weekend.
My point is that some idiots start calling for a new qb when that is the last thing they need. Fix the OL, get defense, running, special teams, then get a new qb.

[Ziggy]

Ziggy,
Its funny how everyone is also down on LT. I was listening to the same hacks (Billy Ray and Scott) and they mentioned that "everyone might just want to lay off LT, as there are only 2 guys in front of him with more yards from scrimmage." That just seemed out of wack, but if you check it out, its true. LT is third in yards form scrimmage.....makes me think that style points must count really high!
I'm not down on LT at all, he just ain't getting any lanes to run thru and that opens up plays the defenses can put to our Offense..
I truely believe that something they changed with the O-line tactics have made the difference. If Rivers has the extra 2-4 seconds to find a receiver without feeling like he's gonna get nailed he can do it, but this year he has looked very hurried in almost every game....The two games when they were able to keep him protected he had good games.:idea:
.
I have not or almost never listen to them radio shows, they just spout off for ratings..........ala Jim Rome. :D:D

[Tremor Therapy]

Ziggy,
I did not mean you had problems with LT, just that the fish hacks had been saying he might have lost a step, or were wondering what was wrong with him. And I agree with most of the o-line comments, but in some other instances I don't.
Did you happen to catch the MNF broadcast of the Seattle game? They did a breakdown of the time in the pocket that Seattles quarterback got to throw the ball, and he was releasing the ball within 2-3.5 seconds. And I have to tell you, the plays where he did not throw the ball until 4 seconds seemed like the quarterback looked at the other 21 guys on the field...I mean it seemed like an eternity for him to be back in the pocket. There was one play where he stood in the pocket for 4.5 seconds, and he must have taken 20 baby steps, and patted the ball 10 times as he was slowly moving into the pocket as it collapsed.
After seeing that, it is painfully obvious to me that Rivers just doesn't know the system or the playbook. Even in the games where is getting hounded, he had 10-15 snaps where he got that 2-4 seconds, and was just unable to make a decent throw, or improvise to make a play. I think Norv's playbook is broken, and the team may underachieve until next year.

[Not So Fast]

A lot of good intelligent comments and on Hot Boat yet, YAHOO:D
There are a few that I put stock in:
1. Regardless of the protection for Phil, he misses his targets by a considerable amount even when he has time too often. And I'm not talking 30+ yard attempts, he's missing very short throws. Why, I dont know but he has to improve this part of his play and quickly!
2. Lt is not the type of back to bust throught the middle of the line without holes, aka Larry Johnson, Christian Okoye. if they continue to pound him up the gut he will either be hurt or lose his desire. He needs an opening period!
3. Why is it that Chris Chambers didnt have a ball come his way until the end of the first half, and Gates didnt have that many either yet we threw to the new kid (dont ask me to name him, Legame Adawnle, who knows, he is supposed to be good though) and even threw to Lorenzo Neal :confused:
4. As I believe Ziggy said the one big reason for bringing in loser Turner was continuity on offense from last year so what happened to that theory:idea: Obviously something has changed:idea:
And In my opinion it's Turner thats the blame, his whole coaching staff also. Do they have a QB coach?? gotta blame the top dog for this failure IMO.
All I know is if you lose a game then so be it, but to play like the Bolts are playing right now is an embarassment for a team with this talent level.
Next game dont get no easier:( GO BOLTS!!!!!!!!!! NSF

[Ziggy]

Ziggy,
I did not mean you had problems with LT, just that the fish hacks had been saying he might have lost a step, or were wondering what was wrong with him. And I agree with most of the o-line comments, but in some other instances I don't.
Did you happen to catch the MNF broadcast of the Seattle game? They did a breakdown of the time in the pocket that Seattles quarterback got to throw the ball, and he was releasing the ball within 2-3.5 seconds. And I have to tell you, the plays where he did not throw the ball until 4 seconds seemed like the quarterback looked at the other 21 guys on the field...I mean it seemed like an eternity for him to be back in the pocket. There was one play where he stood in the pocket for 4.5 seconds, and he must have taken 20 baby steps, and patted the ball 10 times as he was slowly moving into the pocket as it collapsed.
After seeing that, it is painfully obvious to me that Rivers just doesn't know the system or the playbook. Even in the games where is getting hounded, he had 10-15 snaps where he got that 2-4 seconds, and was just unable to make a decent throw, or improvise to make a play. I think Norv's playbook is broken, and the team may underachieve until next year.An earlier post I kinda said the same thing that he ain't grasping Turners schemes, then followed it up by mentioning he had 2 yrs on the bench learning Marty's before thrown in the mix.....Perhaps my assumption that he had a good football sense was wrong. I always felt Brees what a smart QB with less physical talent than Rivers.....maybe.
I'm hoping he's going through a learning curve on Turners program as well as many of the other offensive players.

[Ziggy]

A lot of good intelligent comments and on Hot Boat yet, YAHOO:D
There are a few that I put stock in:
1. Regardless of the protection for Phil, he misses his targets by a considerable amount even when he has time too often. And I'm not talking 30+ yard attempts, he's missing very short throws. Why, I dont know but he has to improve this part of his play and quickly!
2. Lt is not the type of back to bust throught the middle of the line without holes, aka Larry Johnson, Christian Okoye. if they continue to pound him up the gut he will either be hurt or lose his desire. He needs an opening period!
3. Why is it that Chris Chambers didnt have a ball come his way until the end of the first half, and Gates didnt have that many either yet we threw to the new kid (dont ask me to name him, Legame Adawnle, who knows, he is supposed to be good though) and even threw to Lorenzo Neal :confused:
4. As I believe Ziggy said the one big reason for bringing in loser Turner was continuity on offense from last year so what happened to that theory:idea: Obviously something has changed:idea:
And In my opinion it's Turner thats the blame, his whole coaching staff also. Do they have a QB coach?? gotta blame the top dog for this failure IMO.
All I know is if you lose a game then so be it, but to play like the Bolts are playing right now is an embarassment for a team with this talent level.
Next game dont get no easier:( GO BOLTS!!!!!!!!!! NSF
Something is definetly amiss with the offensive unit.....:confused:
I was one that was not opposed to Turner being brought in, thinking its his system so it made sense.
Was Turner a stop gap for the Headcoach position until a better candidate is available....I know Cower name has been tossed into that mix but recently I began thinking perhaps thats why Rivera took the job so quick, it basically was a step backwards for him:idea:
I don't know, but its pissing off the fans whatever the reason is, we are now beyond disapointed.

[duffster]

Ziggy,
I did not mean you had problems with LT, just that the fish hacks had been saying he might have lost a step, or were wondering what was wrong with him. And I agree with most of the o-line comments, but in some other instances I don't.
Did you happen to catch the MNF broadcast of the Seattle game? They did a breakdown of the time in the pocket that Seattles quarterback got to throw the ball, and he was releasing the ball within 2-3.5 seconds. And I have to tell you, the plays where he did not throw the ball until 4 seconds seemed like the quarterback looked at the other 21 guys on the field...I mean it seemed like an eternity for him to be back in the pocket. There was one play where he stood in the pocket for 4.5 seconds, and he must have taken 20 baby steps, and patted the ball 10 times as he was slowly moving into the pocket as it collapsed.
After seeing that, it is painfully obvious to me that Rivers just doesn't know the system or the playbook. Even in the games where is getting hounded, he had 10-15 snaps where he got that 2-4 seconds, and was just unable to make a decent throw, or improvise to make a play. I think Norv's playbook is broken, and the team may underachieve until next year.
Face it Turner sucks and it's over. I'm done with ball sports it's time for Supercross.
Alan did you tell ShockwaveBob that you are moving out to the hood?

[Not So Fast]

Legedu Nannee is going to be a very, very good receiver in the NFL. It may not be for the Chargers, but it will be for somebody. Think of a faster Art Monk. The kid will catch just about anything you throw at him and he's fearless over the middle. He's basically the only Charger that will go over the middle. Even Gates shy away from balls out in front of him over the middle.
Thanks, I knew you would know his name:D My son says he will be a very good reciever, big and strong!!. I would keep him and let Vincent "Hands of Stone" go away. NSF

[Ziggy]

Cowher and Marty are very close. I can't see him coming in here after how the Chargers treated Marty.I've heard that too but money talks in this biz.....not that it'd happen but one never knows....hense the thought about Ron Rivera.:idea: