By Rich Renza
Of manverusbook.blogspot.com

San Diego’s 2010 season was a bitter disappointment to their fans. And, after an early playoff exit to finish the ’09 season, at home against the upstart Jets, the public has largely written off these Chargers. The public is mistaken. Here we have a team with a top-shelf quarterback, an excellent defense, and playmakers on the offensive side of the ball, looking to make up for a humbling campaign last year. The 2011 Chargers are far more likely to win the AFC West than any other team in their division, and the motivation to prove that last year was a fluke should propel them deep into the Playoffs this year.

Last year’s drop-off to 9-7 from a 13-3 record in 2009 might lead you to believe that the wheels simply came off. That wasn’t entirely the case. They started off the season on an awful 2-5 run, but it wasn’t due to a lack of talent on the field. They lost a Monday Night Football game in Week 1 to the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead, under monsoon-like conditions, in front of fans who raised their intensity to match the stormy weather. The Chargers racked up 389 total yards (197 for KC), but gave up some huge plays, including a 94-yard punt return by Dexter McCluster that would be the first of several special teams lowlights over the next few weeks. In Week 3, San Diego outgained the Seattle Seahawks in total yards 518–271, and still managed to lose the game as their special teams gave up two kickoff returns for touchdowns. Their third loss at Oakland, in Week 5 snapped a 13-game winning streak against the Raiders. You might find this hard to believe, but they outgained Oakland 506-279, yet lost due in-part to a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown. They lost by 3 points to St. Louis the next week, then again by the same margin in Week 7 against New England. In that game, the Chargers held the Patriots to 38 yards in the first half, but were down 13-3 at intermission due to costly turnovers. San Diego’s last hope, a 50-yard Kris Brown FG attempt to send the game into overtime, hit the upright sending their record to 2-5. They rolled through seven of their next eight opponents, and then lost a must-win game at Cincinnati, with the game time temperature below freezing, ending their playoff hopes.

What can we tell from dissecting their 9-7 disappointment? Special teams played a huge part in three losses, and contributed to a fourth, an occurrence which is not likely to happen again. The Chargers addressed the issue by hiring former Tampa Bay Special Teams coach Rick Bisaccia to stabilize the unit. Assuming that the Chargers make a marginal improvement in that area, we can expect their win total to climb. Vincent Jackson’s lengthy holdout last year did not help matters on offense; his return will aid the Chargers considerably. While the running game suffered last year, Phillip Rivers showed that he is capable of picking up the slack, with many considering him to be a front-running MVP candidate halfway through the season, even when his team was at or below .500. Bringing in Takeo Spikes, and taking a flier on the oft-injured former defensive standout Bob Sanders will only help their already stout defensive presence.

In their division, Kansas City is a young team with a solid foundation, but often teams like these make a huge leap one year, and then tend to take a step back the next (i.e. the 2007 New Orleans Saints). Oakland won 8 games in 2011, but with a new coaching staff, and the loss of Nnamdi Asomugha, question marks remain if they can stay near the .500 mark. The Broncos have changed their starting quarterback and their head coach, and will likely be non-competitive in their transitional stage.

The Chargers are a team that won nine games, and narrowly missed the playoffs. We can see that without the special teams mishaps, they would have represented the AFC West in the Playoffs. Now, we have that same team, intact for the most part, having addressed their glaring issue, who are motivated to take back the division that they have dominated for the past several years. That makes San Diego a bit of a dark horse team this year, and I expect them to return to the Playoffs with a strong 2011 season.

If the old adage is true, that the best teams in the NFL play their best football in December than you could make a strong case that Philip Rivers is the best QB in the game. This league is truly a team effort and all of the success and/or blame can not and should not fall on the shoulders of just one person. However, there has to be more too it and we think there is and his name is Philip Rivers.

Back in 2004, the San Diego Chargers selected a QB from Ole Miss with a football pedigree name, Eli Manning. For whatever reasons, the Manning camp didn’t want Eli in San Diego and they did what they had to do to get him out. Quickly a trade ensued and Eli was off to the New York Giants and Philip Rivers, who was taken 4th in the Draft was headed to San Diego. This will forever link the two the QB’s as they march forward with their careers.

Philip Rivers finds a way to get it done!

Also in the 2004 QB class was Big Ben Roethlisberger who has already won 2 Super Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Eli Manning has also won a Super Bowl with the Giants and because of those feats, they are often more talked about and celebrated than Philip Rivers but here are some facts that may change the way you think about #17 in Powder Blue.

In his first full year as a starter, the Chargers went 14-2. Since then the QB from NC State has a record of 44-18. So far this season he has 25 TD’s and only 9 Interceptions. He owns a Quarterback rating of 102.8 and a completion percentage of 64.6. Going into yesterday’s contest Rivers has a league best 13.6 Yards per Catch. That is an impressive average but still not the best stat we could find.

Rivers is proving himself to be one of the elite QB's in the NFL!

What’s the most impressive about Philip Rivers isn’t his 4th Quarter comebacks like he did earlier this year against the Giants. Or his blowout wins like he had against the Broncos in Denver. No, his most impressive stat is that he wins when his team needs to win the most. In the month of December Philip Rivers is an astounding 17-0! In 2006 Rivers won all 5 games he played in that month. In 2007 the Bolts went 5-0 again in December. In 2008 the Chargers found a way to win all 4 contests and worked their way into the playoffs. So far this season the Rivers led Chargers are unbeaten again in the month of December and have won the AFC West for the 4th straight year.

Often times in the media, the guys who live in the big cities or have won a few Super Bowls get all the attention as up and coming QB’s or are deemed the next big thing. Out in San Diego they have a guy who all he does is win. When the game is on the line he runs the 2 minute drill as well as anyone in the league and in the final quarter of the season, 17-0 stands alone!