That's the snapshot for the San Diego Chargers behind center. Aside from undersized, uberscrappy QBs (Stan Humphries and Drew Brees) the Chargers have had eight junkyard leftovers commanding the offense. They went for the flash (Jim McMahon), the "proven winner" (Jim Harbaugh), the "tools" (Billy Joe Tolliver, John Friesz), the place holder(Mark Malone), the faceless (Craig Welihan), the old (Doug Flutie) and finally the new (Ryan Leaf). The Chargers were an unsurprising 41-87 during those years with just one .500 season, under Harbaugh (8-8).
There's an old saying, "A great quarterback only comes around once in a generation." It took the Chargers two quarterback generations to find their Terry Bradshaw.
And Phillip Rivers couldn't come along soon enough for a beleaguered fan base.
The comparisons to Charger saint, Fouts, border on hyperbole because he has been that good. Through his first 10 games, Fouts completed 44.8 percent of his passes (87-194) and threw 13 interceptions to six touchdowns. Rivers, through his first 14 games (spanning three seasons), completed 65.5 percent (199-304) with 14 touchdowns and four picks.
Of course, it's a little disingenuous to the hall of famer to compare his first season to the North Carolina State product. Fouts, who played behind Johnny Unitas during his first season for the Bolts (1973), was given the reins for good the next season. Rivers had two years to prep for this season while backing up Brees.
Those two years have proven invaluable.
Granted, Fouts didn't start with an offense as explosive as what Rivers was given this season - when you have the best running back since Barry Sanders in the backfield your job becomes infinitely easier - but it's interesting that Fouts didn't reach the 2,000-yard mark until his fourth season. Rivers needed 14 games.
The guys on the gridiron believe in their not-so-young QB. The defense can spot the opponents 10 (Pittsburgh), 17 (Kansas City) or 21 points (Cincinnati) and Rivers keeps the squad together. Once Coach Marty Schottenheimer loosened the collar and let the kid run on his retractable leash (see Oakland and Baltimore games) the Chargers have rolled. They lead the league in scoring (33 points per game, 35 touchdowns), and much of that can be put on Rivers' shoulder. Marty hates turnovers - he benched Brees during the 2002 season after too many INTs that were more due to the offensive line than the shrimp - and Rivers has kept the ball secret-service safe. He's had three picks this year and lost one fumble. If I had a baby and needed it thrown, I'd let Rivers do it. That's trust.
And Charger fans haven't had much to trust in the 19 years the Bolts have played Wheel of Quarterbacks. Maybe fans can let that wall of distrust crumble and enjoy a quarterback who could take San Diego to the game that will not be mentioned (it happens in early February, do the math.)
Turn over that leaf, folks, let it blow into the river and watch it flow away into oblivion.
2 comments:
I have to admit, it is hard not to think about post-season play. I mean -
come on now...what these Cardiac Kids last week...a year ago you would have
been able to hear the implosion from the moon! But not this years squad.
The kid has it...I mean...for a guy that hasn't played a whole hell of a lot
all I see is cool. Steady feet, steady reads, little panic - o.k. some panic
(uncanny knack for finding a way to draw the flag for intentional
grounding - "For the love of Mars, Philip THROW IT AT MARTY, not the
ground!")
I think what I like is I see a smile on that face...wide grin'n teethy as
hell - the "I love this stuff" type of smile that tells me that there isn't
anything else this guy would want to be doing on a Sunday afternoon...I hope
he never loses that.
And it looks like he has made a believer out of the other guys on offense,
as well as the big guy - Marty seems to at least respect him.
I know what I want for them, I don't think I can be in the slightest
disappointed in the team, as long as they don't decide to play the role of a
fart in the windstorm that is December.
As to whether this kid is the second coming of Danny Boy, I think he may
well be. But I am looking for all of them and everyone of the them to
individually decide that they will take the step that Air C and even the
Humphries years could not - not just go, but persevere.
So that we can say that we no longer will sit at the kid's table, that we
will be taking that Drumstick and will have our fingers on the wishbone with
the expectation that we will have the bigger half after all is said and
done. We are hungry...so now let's eat!
I can't really comment on a Rivers/Fouts comparison because unfortunately I wasn't even aware of football back in the Fouts glory years. All I have to go off of is the myth and the legend so it's hard for me to know exactly what he could do. But I can tell you what I do know about Rivers: At the beginning of the season when everybody was on his jock about how good he would be, I just held my breath and said nothing because I wasn't going to believe the hype until I saw it for my own eyes, and now I believe.
I also agree with the above comment that there is a spark in Rivers. He loves what he's doing and he's fired up. You can also tell his teammates respect him which is so important to a teams chemistry. I like the kid and I think he's only going to get better.
GO BOLTS!!!!
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