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Rivers Runs Too Deep

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By ROY CUMMINGS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 22, 2008

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Philip Rivers is in rare company. But not just because he leads all NFL quarterbacks in passer rating. Rivers, who completed 21 of 31 throws for 287 yards and a career-best four touchdowns Sunday, is one of only two quarterbacks to leave a game against the Bucs at Raymond James Stadium this year with a better passer rating than he had going in. Rivers came into the game with a 101.4 mark. In beating the Bucs he posted a mark of 136.7 and he did so rather effortlessly. Aided by a rushing attack that kept the Bucs off-balance and perhaps by a defense that played a little soft in coverage, Rivers moved the ball around to a variety of receivers and quickly drove the Chargers downfield in drive after drive. Scouts will tell you Rivers has a tendency to run hot and cold and that he sometimes tightens up in big games. Maybe they're right. But Rivers was as hot as could be and there was nothing tight about him.

UNSUNG HERO
LaDainian Tomlinson is no longer the engine that drives the Chargers train. Philip Rivers is. The Chargers lean more on Rivers' arm than on Tomlinson's legs but that doesn't keep Tomlinson from playing a key role in the offense. He's still the guy defenses have to worry about first and foremost because he's still as good a runner as there is in the league. He proved that again Sunday, when he ran 21 times for 90 yards. The numbers aren't the kind that will make a fantasy owner happy but they're the kind that help real teams like the Chargers win. When Tomlinson runs the way he did Sunday he forces defenses to devote more players to the run. That opens up more passing lanes for Rivers. Rivers is good enough to beat a lot of defenses without the aid he gets from Tomlinson, but when he has a day like he did Sunday, Tomlinson makes that job a lot easier.

KEY DECISION
A lot of teams would have been content to take a 17-10 lead into the locker room at halftime, but the Chargers weren't. With just 10 seconds to play in the second quarter, they took another shot at getting points and it paid off. San Diego probably doesn't take that chance if Darren Sproles doesn't return a kickoff 28 yards to the Chargers 36, but once he did the Chargers threw deep in an effort to get into field goal range. Philip Rivers' throw of 25 yards to Vincent Jackson moved them to what seemed to be the edge of field goal range, but Nate Kaeding's 57-yard kick split the uprights with plenty of room to spare.

QUIRKY PLAY
The Chargers really outsmarted themselves on the kickoff that came in the wake of their first touchdown. Ahead 7-0 and looking to avoid putting the ball in the hands of Bucs return man Clifton Smith, they called for kicker Nate Kaeding to drill a low bouncer. He succeeded in that attempt, but the ball still wound up in the hands of Smith, who fielded it at his own 17. Given that head start and a couple of good blocks, Smith turned the squib kick into a big play for the Bucs, returning the ball 72 yards to the San Diego 11. Four plays later the Bucs tied the game.

CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS
Antonio Bryant's 71-yard TD reception in the third quarter was the longest play from scrimmage for the Bucs this year. ... DL Jimmy Wilkerson recorded his fifth sack of the season in the second quarter. Wilkerson, a part-time player, is tied with Greg White for the second-most sacks on the team this season. ... PK Matt Bryant's 49-yard field goal was his 31st this season. He needs two more to break Martin Gramatica's team record, set in 2002. ... QB Jeff Garcia's 7-yard TD run in the third quarter capped a 13-play, 78-yard drive that took 7:19 to complete. In terms of time, it was the longest drive of the year for the Bucs. ... P Josh Bidwell tied Mark Royals for the most punts in team history. Both have 414.

INJURY UPDATE
QB Jeff Garcia suffered a nasty gash across the bridge of his nose, but the injury should not affect his ability to play Sunday. Of greater concern is his sore right calf, but Garcia came away from the game reporting no new damage, so a week of limited practice time should allow him to continue.

OUR TAKE
There will be a lot of talk about the Bucs offense today, about how the running game has suddenly been halted and how the Bucs failed to keep pace when they got into a shootout with the Chargers. The problem with the Bucs, though, is not offense, it's defense. The Bucs got to 9-3 largely on the play of their defense. Now they're 9-6 and it's largely a result of the play of their defense. The Chargers moved the ball at will against the Bucs on Sunday, and it was the third time in as many weeks a team has done that to them. That's almost unheard of in these parts. Time was when all the Bucs needed to win a game was 17 points from the offense. That's pretty much how it was earlier in the year, but not anymore. The Bucs can still get to the playoffs and win a game or two once they get there, but they won't do it if their defense doesn't improve.

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