Reich keeping Rivers grounded this year
Life with a new NFL team is working out for Philip Rivers for the same reason his first season leading the Chargers was a success.
“Marty Ball” and Rivers are a winning combination.
Sunday in Chicago, the Colts and Rivers won their third consecutive game by once again featuring their defense and ground game, instead of asking Rivers to f ling the ball.
Rivers handed off eight straight times to help salt away the 19-11 victory against the Bears. The Colts’ defense improved its NFL-best scoring average, now at 14 points.
The Colts (3-1) have a fair shot at helping Rivers win his first divisional title in 11 years because coach Frank Reich, after allowing his 38-year-old quarterback to throw 46 passes in the Week 1 loss at Jacksonville, has channeled Marty Schottenheimer.
When the Chargers went 14-2 in 2006, Schottenheimer, their coach, understood running back LaDainian Tomlinson was the team’s best player.
Also, Schottenheimer trusted a Wade Phillips-coached defense that would lead the NFL in sacks and finish seventh in points.
Rivers was a first-year starter who’d backed up Drew Brees for two seasons.
He was better than most young quarterbacks, but Schottenheimer and playcaller Cam Cameron had Rivers throw fewer passes than 12 of the other 16 passers who started 15 or
more games that year.
It wasn’t time for Gunslinger Phil to run the show, nor is it now.
Rivers responded in ’06 by earning the first of eight Pro Bowl berths.
He threw for 22 touchdowns and just nine interceptions, the latter still a career low. In the fourth quarter, he directed four comebacks that led to victory.
The best player on the Colts offense is the left guard, Quenton Nelson.
Wisely, the Colts feature him.
Sunday, after Rivers passed them to a 7-3 lead,
the Colts pounded out five runs behind Nelson.
When Rivers ordinarily would have sprinkled in a few passes — ahead 13 points with 11 minutes left — he handed off eight consecutive times including on third-and-13. Again, Nelson led the way.
It made sense, and not only because Nelson is the first All-Pro lineman to block for Rivers.
Where inexperience challenged Rivers in 2006, old age limits him now.
His arm strength is below average, though his release is still quick.
His foot speed appears further reduced than in recent years. For example, a Bears lineman chased him
down within a few strides, though Rivers had a head start.
Rivers is better than a game manager, though. He can whip any defense at football chess.
He created a big gain in the second half by confusing Bears linebackers with his pre-snap adjustment. The call sprang a running back for an easy catch and run.
Rivers’ knack for developing his pass-catchers into playmakers is evident, too. He gives them a chance to get the ball, without getting clobbered.
The Colts teammate who wears No. 21 can’t be compared to Tomlinson, but third-year pro Nyheim Hynes has become a useful two-way threat. Colts tight end Mo Alie-Cox can’t be likened in talent to Antonio Gates, though the Virginia Commonwealth alum, too, played basketball and not football in college.
Rivers found him for the first touchdown Sunday and has set him up to average 18.1 yards across 10 catches.
Tom and Phil
While Rivers was plotting and plodding his way to victory Sunday, another oldster threw five touchdown passes with his new team.
Tom Brady zipped strikes downfield to lead the Bucs past the Chargers.
Brady — who didn’t allow hard shots from Denzel Perryman and Joey Bosa to unsettle him — has aged better than any quarterback in NFL history. Driving the ball from an over-thetop delivery, he showed much more power than Rivers. He moved better, too, even at 43.
Yet in his one “Marty Ball” season, Rivers outplayed Brady in a playoff game. Unfortunately for him, the Chargers made too many mistakes that afternoon in Mission Valley. Brady would take the next seven games opposite Rivers. When a champion is vulnerable, it’s best not to miss your punch.