Raiders pressure got to Chargers’ Philip Rivers
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
It was another bad outing Thursday for Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, who is suddenly putting up Tim Tebow performances as he failed to rally his team in a 24-17 loss to the Oakland Raiders.
With the Chargers threatening to tie it, a Rivers pass was intercepted in the end zone by Matt Giordano with 3:22 left. It was Rivers’ NFL- and career-high 15th interception. Rivers was sacked on consecutive plays near midfield to end the game. He fumbled on the final play, giving him an NFL-high 19 turnovers.
Rivers completed 23 of 47 passes for 274 yards in the game. He was sacked six times as the Raiders overwhelmed the Chargers offensive line, which has been hampered by injuries.
‘Obviously some of the offensive linemen went down and we smelled blood and we just went after him,’ Raiders defensive tackle Richard Seymour said. ‘All week our defensive coordinator said, ‘Hey, they can score from anywhere on the field and it’s going to be up to our defensive front to get pressure on the quarterback.’ We knew we could get it done but it was going to be a collective effort.’
San Diego struggled in the first half, going three-and-out four straight times after getting a 20-yard field goal by Nick Novak on the opening drive.
Rivers was only 4 of 11 for 44 yards for a passer rating of 49.1 in the first half.
Meanwhile, Radiers quarterback Carson Palmer, who started the season in semi-retirement, finished the game 14 of 20 for 299 yards, with one interception.
ALSO
Union decertification could mean no season
NBA lockout: Should the players union decertify?
-- Houston Mitchell