December football – Philip Rivers is a cut above!

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.

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.

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!