Sports Then and Now

Philip Rivers had the Chargers back on course against the Kansas City Chiefs.

San Diego look like divisional contenders in the NFL betting lines once again, after they ended a rut of three straight defeats to overcome Kansas City 31-13 on Thursday night.

The Chargers (then 3-4) went into the game knowing a loss would be disastrous for their efforts to claim top spot in the AFC West but a return to offensive form soon righted previous wrongs.

Indeed, so determined were San Diego to rid themselves of October’s nightmare that they scored their first touchdown in six quarters on the first drive.

Quarterback, Philip Rivers, looked back at his best – finding Seyi Ajirotutu with an arching pass to progress the team downfield, before throwing a neat 14-yard pass to Antonio Gates, who took the touchdown tight in the near left corner, securing the Chargers’ first touchdown since week six.

Buoyed by their defensive resilience last week against Cleveland, in which they conceded just one touchdown, San Diego maintained a solid wall of defense to reduce Kansas to field goals until the last quarter, by which time it was all over with three more Chargers scores.

After the game Rivers told NFL news reporters that he was happy to be back to winning ways: “It was good to play well but more importantly, it was good to win a game. We needed a win in the worst way. Games like this, wins like this, can jump start us.”

Indeed, Chargers fans will be hoping that their season can get back on track after a wayward fall and, with Rivers in this kind of form, they could yet overcome the Broncos for AFC dominance before the regular season is out.

Rivers completed 18 of 20 passes for 220 yards and made two touchdowns. Interestingly, it was only the sixth time in NFL history that a quarterback has completed 90% or more of his passes, and if Rivers can continue this form next week at Tampa, confidence will by sky high in the Chargers camp.