Whether Philip Rivers is willing to admit it to himself, he has dropped off. 2013 is a crucial year for the San Diego quarterback who has seen a fall from grace in recent seasons. Many have been wondering where the quarterback has been going wrong and Chargers fans are hopeful that the new scheme by coach Mike McCoy will fix the quarterback's struggles. Just do not use "fix" in front of Rivers.
Rivers took issue to the fact that most media is claiming he needs to be fixed this season. The quarterback had brought the Chargers to multiple playoff appearances until a recent skid had the team finish 7-9 in 2012 and saw coach Norv Turner fired. It was the third year the Chargers missed the playoffs.
"The thing that's gotten to me this off-season is, 'Who's going to fix Philip?'" Rivers said, via the Los Angeles Times. "That phrase, I almost laugh it off. That drives me nuts, really. There's no question I'm responsible for some of the plays and some of the games we haven't won. I'm not going to shy away from that. But we can go sit in there and watch a lot of tape from last year, and I'll ask you, 'What do you want to fix?' It's just about eliminating some of the bad plays."
But Rivers' statistics indicate something must be fixed. In 2010, Rivers completed 66 percent of his passes for 4,710 yards and 30 touchdowns. However in the last two seasons he has dropped in every category while increasing his interceptions. In 2011, he completed 62.9 percent of passes with 20 interceptions. In 2012, he completed 64.1 percent of his passes with 15 interceptions.
A new scheme by McCoy and offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt could be just what Rivers needs to get back to 2010 form. He no longer possesses the arm strength to be a downfield attacker. The coaching staff plans on moving away from that sort of offense and into something that will help Rivers complete more of his throws.
Rivers understands that the last few seasons have been a disappointment to fans. He felt as if he let a lot of people down and his play was hurting the team. Now with a new coaching regime, he has plenty of faith that the Chargers will be back at the top in now time.
"I never lost confidence," Rivers said. "But there's no question that when you have games like that, you don't feel the same way. When you've made that throw three or four games in a row, it's a lot easier to pull the trigger the next time."
