New England Patriots: 5 observations from ‘lights out’ win over Chargers

Frustrating Philip Rivers

In this much anticipated showdown between Tom Brady and Philip Rivers, it was once again Brady coming out on top as the Los Angeles Chargers veteran quarterback fell to 0-8 in games where Brady was on the opposite side.

It started out like it was going to be an offensive showdown.  After the New England Patriots took the opening kickoff down the field for a touchdown, Rivers fired back by connecting on a bomb to a wide open Keenan Allen.

The double move Allen put on Stephon Gilmore tied the game at 7-7, but that was the last we really heard from the Chargers ‘offense till the second half.  Following that drive, the Patriots’ defense really settled in and frustrated Philip Rivers.  With consistent pressure, they had the veteran quarterback scrambling to find something offensively.

With a few knockdowns and sacks, they also had him pleading on a consistent basis with the officials. The key coming into the game was getting pressure on Rivers and that’s what the Patriots did by mimicking a defense similar to the Baltimore Ravens.

Following the game, Bill Belichick summed it all up:

"“Again, [Philip] Rivers does a real good job of getting the ball out of there. I thought we got good pressure on him but he still was able to step up and somehow avoid it and get the ball out.  I thought our players rushed- our defense, we had a lot of guys – linebackers, d-linemen, in a couple of cases DBs – but I thought we put constant pressure on him.  I thought he handled it well like he always does but we just kept battling.”"

In all, Rivers ended up with over 300 yards passing and three touchdowns, but much of that came after the game was already decided.  With players like Adam Butler and Trey Flowers motoring around him all game, Rivers had to rush a lot of deep passes that played right into Bill Belichick hands.