Rolling on the Rivers

It is a tale of two quarterbacks.

The MVP

Both come from kinda sort of similar paths to their respective positions; Philip Rivers was drafted by the Giants and traded to the Chargers for Eli Manning in a whirlwind trade in 2004, where he sat and then replaced incumbent and injured Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers was taken late in ’05 where he sat and then replaced incumbent Brett Favre after he retired and unretired until everyone was tired.

The differences came quickly. Rivers rapid ascension put the Bolts on a path to the playoffs and they have been in the hunt every year. However, Rivers has never been able to deliver the Big One when needed. San Diego has to be considered one of the most disappointing teams of the ‘00’s with their inability to take a talent laden team to the top. Even with Antonio Gates, LaDanian Tomlinson and a host of other high flying weapons the Chargers have fallen vastly short of the mark, while the guy Rivers replaced became reborn on the Bayou where Brees led the previously inconspicuous Saints to the Promised Land.

Rodgers needs no such send up here; if you don’t know of his accomplishment you’re either from Mars or are a Vikings fan trolling Packer sites.

Bolts QB Philip Rivers

Rivers has the big arm and a big game and can talk trash with the best of them. But his rocket launcher of a right arm has been misfiring at an alarming rate this year. Against the Packers he tossed 4 TD’s against 3 INT’s… that is unless you count the two – not one but TWO – picks that Packers Charlie Peprah and Tramon Williams took to the house. In fact, had Peprah not been so gassed at the end of the game it would have been 3 pick 6’s, an embarrassing stat for a rookie let alone a polished vet.

Rivers looked like his All Star self to start the game, picking the Pack’s D apart with tight tosses and balancing it with a smooth running game as he marched San Diego in to open a Charger lead. At this point anyone in front of or behind the green and gold had to be wondering “Is this it? Is THIS the game that….”

Nope.

CB Sam Shields

Not as long as one A. Rodgers continues to find a phone booth and emerge. Blathering on about Rodgers is like showing off your new Rolls Royce. Enough superlatives have been written about Rodgers at this point, both as a player and as a man that to do any more would redundant. Heretofore we shall simply refer to Mr. Rodgers by a name that suits him best: The MVP.

The MVP comes right out and plays a little game of anything you can do, I can do better. This type of approach puts an inordinate amount of pressure on pother teams, their coaches, and especially their QB’s. The Packers and the MVP are forcing every team into a game they cannot win – See If YOU Can Match This. It is a sports version of a Vegas casino. The house ALWAYS has the edge, and no matter how good you are, how well you play, the house will get you every single time. Eventually, the house wins because the house has the edge.

The 3 Amigos - Jennings, Driver, Nelson

In Green Bay the edge is not only the MVP but his running mates. Just how exactly is a teams supposed to prepare to stop the Packers these days? Who exactly do you want to try to take away? Greg Jennings? Jordy Nelson? James Jones? Jermichael Finley? Donald Driver? And what if you mistakenly double someone – who is there to bottle up emerging RB James Starks? With his study time and ability to check off plays at the liner the MVP can slice and dissect almost any type of D thrown at him. A sack here, a sack there is no sweat. It’s just a few more yards to make up. And when a team guesses wrong the MVP makes them pay dearly for it.




Antonio Gates grabs one

 

Playing against Rivers and San Diego is so much simpler. Double Antonio Gates and take away the outside receivers and force Rivers to beat you. Of course, it doesn’t help when Sam Shields gets turned around leaving a wide open Vincent Jackson over the middle or when gambling S Morgan Burnett bites on a play action or prematurely abandons over the top deep help to stuff a fake run. It’s the gamble a gambling team makes, and sometimes pays for.

But this is a completely different Philip Rivers this year. He has been off target, inconsistent, and has thrown more picks than any other time in his career. The whispers are that he is not 100%, he has lost some arm strength, he is nursing a shoulder injury but won’t come out, he’s in a funk. There are all sorts of theories as to what is ailing him but the simple fact is Rivers no longer delivers a ball as he once did.

The ball leaves his hand just fine. But watch closely, especially on his out throws. Somewhere in midflight the ball does a sudden imitation of a Billy Kilmer knuckleball and begins to float and wobble. 3 picks for Rivers on the worst Sunday of his career? It could have been 6. Whatever is happening to Rivers is as hard to fathom as learning the Chinese language.

Clay doing what Clay does

The Packers defense this has been much maligned, especially against the pass. Yes – the Packers D is ranked 31^st in the league overall. But that stat does not tell the whole story. The Packers are middle of the Pack when it comes to sacks. Currently they are ranked 16^th in sacks, a somewhat average figure especially considering Clay Matthews III. But even a fourth year doofus knows enough to double team a guy who sometimes needs to be triple teamed. Overall Matthews’ sacks are down, but he is still as disruptive a force as exists in football.

There is one glaring omission when considering the Packers defense as a whole, and that’s the offense itself. The Pack’s offense is so proficient at registering points that they are forcing teams into a different game altogether. Witness San Diego. Rivers scores on the opening drive? Big deal. Here comes the MVP and crams it right back in the face of Rivers and the Chargers. And the gauntlet of challenge is summarily dropped. The Packers make score look so damned easy that the sense of dread and “Uh, oh, here we go” is palpable. Other teams take the bait and shoot themselves in the foot trying to keep up.

They simply cannot match the Packers point for point, player for player. Not this year. And now when an MVP is having not just his finest year as a pro, he is on a path to one of the greatest seasons in the history of the game, the other teams QB feels that heat and tries to if not outdo him, at least try to match him. It has proven to be a futile exercise this year. Teams are forced altogether in giving up on running the ball, eating the clock and keeping the MVP off the field. But watching him something takes over and the opponent’s game plan gets blown to hell. Rivers comes out winging and forgets a couple things the stat sheet says.



Hang on to the rock! Randall Cobb
retuning a kick



While Packers rank at or near the bottom of the entire league in overall defense and in pass defense, they are also currently 1^st in INT’s with 19, and they also sport a 3^rd best turnover ratio of + 11 (+1.4%/game). When rookie Randall Cobb stops muffing punts and kickoffs that ratio will only go up. The Packers play a ball hawking type of D and give up yards. They also not only give up points, they put them up as well. Even when Rivers appeared to bring San Diego back from the brink out emerges the MVP to stomp his foot down with authority. At the end, James Starks showed his completeness as a back by pounding the ball inside to keep the clock and the Packers and the chains moving. Starks is becoming the big back with breakaway speed and strength that make the Packers offense a full range arsenal. The great teams do two very distinct things – they score at the end of a half and they move the chains, control the clock and pick up first downs late with a lead. Two checks appear on the Packers list for these feats.

The cumulative effect of a high scoring offense coupled with a ball hunting D can break most QB’s. The NFL has only seen a half season, and bad QB’s look bad, and so do the good ones. Even All Stars like Philip Rivers.