Philip Rivers bristled at the notion that he needed to be fixed after turning over the ball 47 times the past two seasons, but it appears new coach Mike McCoy and offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt have done just that.
Rivers was masterful in the 33-30 thriller over the Philadelphia Eagles, leading the Chargers to their most yards in a game since 1985.
"Philip Rivers just seemed to know everything we were trying to throw at him," cornerback Cary Williams said, via CSN Philly. "They were able to understand what we were trying to do as a defense. They did a great job in their preparation, a great job in their game plan.
"They understood some of our calls," Williams added. "It looked like he knew exactly what DeMeco (Ryans) was calling to a degree, he knew exactly what we were in, to a degree. Some days you get out-witted, some days you get outplayed, and today was one of those days. ... He just found the matchups. Philip Riversis a great quarterback."
Rivers has been especially effective against the blitzes of the Eagles and Houston Texans, leading the NFL in touchdowns and accuracy percentage under pressure.
More important, he finally managed to take the fourth-quarter monkey off his back.
According to U-T San Diego, Rivers had not led the Bolts to a game-winning drive in over three years since directing four game-winners in 2009. He was responsible for 13 such drives in the four-year span before LaDainian Tomlinson left for the New York Jets in 2010.
Rivers' sterling performance might have been a byproduct of a porous Eagles secondary that has surrendered a 34:7 touchdown-to-interception ratio over the past 16 games, but the first two games are a sign of obvious progress for a quarterback seeking a return to Pro Bowl form.
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