Post by Jay Paris

 

Sunday came and went but the Chargers stayed the same: resilient, consistent, focused and dare we say, morphing into tough guys? The Chargers steam rolled the New York Jets, 31-0, on a sunny Sunday in Mission Valley. Truth told, the game wasn’t that close in the NFL’s first shutout of the season and the first by the Chargers since 2012.

 

But the Chargers have had engagements like this before, against rivals with no business sharing the field with San Diego. Often the Chargers would play down to their opponent, instead of a lay up when one is offered.

 

We know and Chargers coach Mike McCoy, the living cliche machine, tells us often. On any given Sunday and you know the rest. Not this Sunday, where the Jets were a disaster on both sides of the ball.  Not this Sunday, when the Jets proved if you have two quarterbacks, you don’t have one.  Not this Sunday, when the Jets showed they were paper tigers in boasting of the NFL’s top run defense.

The Chargers haven’t run the ball in nine-on-seven drills in practice. Against the coach Rex Ryan’s renegades they went for a season-high 162 yards.

 

To run the ball in the NFL you have to be what?

 

Tough.

 

According to Philip Rivers, that’s a spiffy way to describe the Chargers.

The Chargers have won four straight and it’s because they use brains and brawn.

“I just think our toughness is what we’ve shown,” Rivers said, after heaving three more touchdown passes.  We’ll pass along the perception of the Chargers: lounging at the beach, chillin’ in the breeze and showing all the grit of a gnat.

No more, Rivers explained, but he’s heard it, too.

 

“Whether it’s Southern California, the vibe that you get our here of just a finesse group of guys who just like to throw it around and play in 75-degree weather — I think we’ve shown our toughness,” Rivers said.

 

I think we agree.

 

The Chargers never let the Jets get a sniff of being in this one.

With a New York offense that was more chuck-and-duck than ground-and-pound, the Chargers befuddled quarterbacks Geno Smith and Michael Vick.

With a New York defense weak on the back end, the Chargers let Rivers do his thing and that’s usually a good thing. He collected a 120 passing rating for a career-best, fourth-straight game and that’s no fluke.

All with Ryan roaming the premises and it’s always great to see him go, um, toes up.

 

“I thought I had the team prepared,” Ryan said. “But clearly that wasn’t the case.”

Case by case, the Chargers are building a portfolio of winning football, smart football and football that comes from the knuckles.

 

“I was surprised at how our entire football team struggled today,” Ryan said, and some of that was the Chargers’ doing.

 

Yep, the Jets are bad.

 

Yep, the Chargers are good, very good.

 

“We talk about it all the time, it’s not just being tough but who’s going to be the toughest the longest,” Rivers said. “Tough through four quarters, through 16 games, through a tough stretch.’’

 

Some rough patches of road await. But when it arrives, Rivers is confident his bunch will muscle-up.

 

“We just played tough and have been physical on both sides,” Rivers said. “And that’s awesome to see.”

– Posted by Jay Paris –

 

It’s a chant usually heard up north and now it’s time for Chargers fans to join in.

When Philip Rivers takes the field on Sunday, when he completes a pass, when he leads the Chargers to their fourth straight victory, a cry should rise from Qualcomm Stadium: “MVP, MVP, MVP.”

One month does not make a season, but what a flip of the calendar it’s been for No. 17.

“In my mind he is playing better than anyone in the National Football League at this point,” tight end Antonio Gates said.

That’ll raise some eyebrows in Houston, where linebacker J.J. Watt is lighting it up on both sides of the ball.  But imagine the Bolts’ lot in life minus the quarterback with the slow drawl and quick release.

Not a comforting thought, is it?

So while the Chargers search for a running game to complement Rivers, take a cue from our northern neighbors. As unsettling as that sounds.

Remember when the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant stepped to the foul line to the chants of “MVP, MVP, MVP!”

Did you hear Dodgers patrons serenade Clayton Kershaw with hoots of “MVP, MVP, MVP!”

And in Anaheim it’s not Mickey Mouse to yell “MVP, MVP, MVP!” when Mike Trout strolls to the plate.

Rivers deserves the same respect and so what if the rest of the league is just catching on.

In his 11th season, Rivers has never been better. Under coach Mike McCoy’s no-huddle, no-nonsense offense, Rivers has flowed. He’s completed 70 percent of his passes for 1,115 yards and nine touchdowns, against one interception.

That earned him the AFC offensive player of the month award, the fourth time he’s won it.

No other Charger has that many.

No other Charger, not named LaDainian Tomlinson has ever been MVP.

No wonder Rivers’ candidacy is picking up steam with the Chargers at 3-1 and atop the AFC West.

It’s one thing for Rivers to be noticed in our cul de sac of the West Coast. But the chatter regarding Rivers is gaining momentum among the NFL talking heads and insiders.

And with the Jets coming in this week, the New York Jets, the East Coast will get a full heaping of Rivers.

Considering the Jets’ ability to stop the run and their shaky secondary, Rivers could accumulate some impressive numbers. Of course Rivers, always the son of a prep coach, will trade gaudy stats for a good ol’ victory.

“I don’t care if I complete 58 percent for 180 yards,” Rivers said. “If we find a way to win.’’

Rivers is getting discovered, in part, because of his exceptional stable of receivers.

He’s always had good targets over the years in Keenan McCardell, Chris Chambers, Vincent Jackson, Antonio Gates and Malcom Floyd.

Gates and Floyd are still running routes, and when joined by Keenan Allen, Eddie Royal and Ladarius Green, it’s a wealth of unselfish hands.

“There are no prima donnas on the team,” Gates said. “Every week it’s someone stepping up.’’ With Rivers standing tall in the pocket, going eeny, meeny, miny, moe as he picks defenses apart as they pick their poison.

Double teams are effective, unless the savvy Rivers is dissecting a coverage in his pre-snap read. He’s quick to check into a pattern, or receiver, that gives the Chargers the most on their return.

“That’s what we focus on,” Gates said. “No telling who it might be this week.’’

For four straight weeks, it’s been Rivers. And if everyone else is finally zeroing in on this San Diego treasure, that’s on them.

“We believe in each other,” Gates added. “And what ever the defense gives us, we try to take advantage of it.’’

Their biggest edge comes from the man releasing those passes. None of his colleagues can match Rivers’ passer rating and it’s true his streak without an interception has hit 117 straight heaves.

“He’s playing at a high level,” Gates said.

Everyone is starting to realize it, too.

“It’s never been a secret of what he is capable of doing,” Gates said. “We have all the confidence in the world that he can get it done.’’

Same goes for Chargers fans doing their part. Sunday is their day to clear their throat, to be loud and proud, and let Rivers be associated with three celebrated letters: “MVP, MVP, MVP!”

When Paul McCartney shouted “Go Chargers” recently at Petco Park, he really meant “Go Rivers.”

One doesn’t go anywhere without the other.

Does this season’s long and winding road end with the Bolts in the playoffs and Rivers as the MVP?

For the Chargers, that would be more than A-OK.

– Posted by Jay Paris –

Rex Ryan was on the phone and that’s always a hoot.

The Jets and their one-time bombastic coach, Ryan, roll into town on Sunday. The Chargers will attempt to stretch their winning streak to four, and if doing so at Ryan’s, uhm, feet, all the better.

Ryan was yapping Wednesday with the San Diego media about this weekend’s date. It was mostly coach-speak, and my hasn’t he pumped the brakes on his bravado.

Losing three of the first four and not having a reliable quarterback will tame the wildest of souls, even Ryan.

Ditto losing the 2009 and 2010 AFC Championship Games, and not getting a sniff since.

Ryan’s place on this week’s conference call was so different from the last visit in 2012. That’s when the jolly coach always aiming for the NYC’s newspapers back page unleashed a zinger than got play from sea to shinning sea.

Remember Norv Turner? Thought so. He was then-general manager A.J. Smith’s pick over Ryan when the Chargers cashed out Marty Schottenheimer after the 2006 season. After Ryan previewed the game in 2012, he was asked a what if. As in “what if you were selected over Turner to coach the Chargers?”

He who hesitate is just that, and Ryan wasn’t. Before the Jets’ public relations flak’s elbow could find Ryan’s ribs, Ryan blurted: “Oh we would have won a couple of rings. Those teams were loaded.”

Ryan soon went into a backpedal so fast that if Derek Cox did the same he would still be a Charger But Ryan was right — those teams of LaDainian Tomlinson, Philip Rivers, Shawne Merriman, Lorenzo Neal — were loaded.

Their were Pro Bowlers sprinkled around the field and on both sides of the ball.Ryan’s indirect stab at Turner made for bold headlines and an uncomfortable pre-game meeting with Turner. Later Ryan said he apologized to Turner for his remarks. But in recalling Ryan’s needle we’re reminded of “what a shame that storied Chargers era passed with the highlight being an 2007 AFC Championship Game appearance.

That’s a polite way to describe losing one game shy of playing for a Super Bowl ring. Like those several Ryan boasted would be gracing his fingers by now. We’ll never know.

Just like we’re unsure if Ryan’s quick reply two years ago was him being a blowhard or a realist. Like it was with Ryan that day, isn’t it interesting to play what if.