Rivers showing caution amid long streak
Philip Rivers has eight children — eight names to remember long after his football career — and seeing their faces, along with his wife’s, he knew he had to say something.
Following the Chargers’ loss at Jacksonville, Rivers self-reported concussion symptoms last Monday, a challenging decision that threw his status for Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills in doubt.
“When you’re visiting with your wife and those eight babies are there, you go, ‘Why not?’ Even if you’re being extra cautious, ‘Why not?’ ” Rivers said. “It was the prudent thing to do.
“When you’re dealing with that — anything neck down, I tend to be pretty reckless with — but that isn’t something I wanted to play around with.”
Rivers was a full practice participant Thursday and Friday and was cleared to return by an independent neurologist Friday afternoon. Sunday, Rivers completed 20 of 32 passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns in a 5424 win.
“I thought he did fine,” coach Anthony Lynn said. “I thought he settled in and played a good game — no turnovers.”
Before Sunday, Rivers had made 194 straight regular-season and playoff starts. He was pretty sure No. 195 was never in jeopardy.
“I hadn’t been in that position before — it was a little bit of new territory for me,” Rivers said. “I really felt good as the whole week progressed. There was really never any doubt in my mind. A lot of it is really just proper protocol, going through the proper steps. Thankfully, that was all clear and good.”
Downtime A 37-point lead through three quarters allowed the Chargers to rest most of their starters in the fourth quarter, including Rivers, running back Melvin Gordon, receiver Keenan Allen, tight end Hunter Henry and defensive ends Melvin Ingram and Joey Bosa.
That could be significant considering the Chargers will have three days to prepare for Thursday’s Thanksgiving Day game against the Cowboys in Dallas.
“The rest was definitely needed, for sure,” Allen said. “It’s going to be a rough week.
“It was good that we got to sit out the fourth quarter.”
The break was especially important for the defense, which was on the field far more than the offense in the first nine games and relies heavily on the high energy and intensity of edge rushers Bosa and Ingram.
Bosa had another big game Sunday, with his thirdquarter strip sack leading to a fumble that Ingram returned 39 yards for his first career touchdown and four quarterback hits, two of which led to first-half interceptions.
“Playing the Thursday game will be tough on our body, but if we take care of ourselves, rest and prepare the right way, we’ll be ready to go,” Bosa said.
“We definitely need to make a run right here, and I think the short week rolling into Dallas will actually be good for us.”
The lopsided victory also did wonders for the blood pressure of the Chargers, who have lost four games by three points or fewer — two of them in the final seconds — and won another by one point on a field goal as time expired.
“I definitely haven’t won a game like this in a long time,” said Bosa, in his second year with the Chargers.
“It’s nice knowing you have it in the bag before it’s over, which it hasn’t been for every single game I’ve played here. My anxiety and stress were kept under control, luckily.”
Clean sheet
Of all the numbers and records and statistics of note compiled Sunday, none made Lynn happier than what he saw in one particular column.
“From what I hear, there were a lot of records in that game. But really, the only one I care about is penalties,” Lynn said.
“At halftime, the only stat I looked at was zero penalties. Anytime we’re playing that type of game, playing smart football, we’ve got a chance to win.”
Jahleel Addae was flagged for pass interference on the first play of the fourth quarter for the team’s only penalty.
“That’s definitely been a talking point. We have to play cleaner ball,” left tackle Russell Okung said.
“We can’t keep shooting ourselves in the foot.” Etc.
The 54 points Sunday were the fourth-most scored in a game in Chargers history and the most since a 5521 victory at Oakland on Nov. 22, 1981. … The six takeaways were the most by the Chargers in a single game since Week 8 of the 1990 season. The five first-half interceptions were the most in a half in team history. … With 80 yards in 20 carries Sunday, Gordon passed Gary Anderson for 10th place on the all-time Chargers rushing list with 2,271 yards. … If Tyrell Williams wasn’t a high hurdler during his high school years, maybe he should have been. After catching a short pass from Rivers on a crossing route in the first quarter, Williams leaped high over Bills safety Micah Hyde on his way to an 11-yard gain.