Rivers still needs title shot to join super elite
A couple of months ago I was talking to a San Diego radio talk-show host when he asked if there were any quarterback out there I'd rather have than the Chargers' Philip Rivers.
"Is this a trick question?" I asked.
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| Philip Rivers' playoff ledger: eight TD passes, nine interceptions and a 3-4 record. (Getty Images) |
"OK, then, give me Peyton Manning or Tom Brady," I said. "You can throw Ben Roethlisberger in there, too."
And now he knows why.
Manning, Brady and Roethlisberger have won big games. In fact, they have won six Super Bowls, including five of the past six. Rivers not only hasn't won one, he hasn't been to one. And until he does he cannot and will not be included in a dialogue of today's elite quarterbacks.
Too bad, too, because it's one of the few lines missing on his résumé He has won four straight division titles. He has a regular-season winning percentage of 71.8. He's been to a conference championship game. He led the league in touchdown passes. He led the league in passing. He's been named to two Pro Bowls and drew MVP consideration this season.
What he hasn't done, of course, is go to a Super Bowl, and that keeps him in the rear-view mirrors of Peyton, Brady and Roethlisberger ... at least for now.
"The number one thing that's pushing me and all of us is to win a championship," he told me after a last-minute defeat of Cincinnati last month. "Certainly, from an individual standpoint, at the end of the day that has a lot to do with how you're measured. This team wants to win a championship, and certainly a quarterback's dream is to win at least one."
Maybe that never happens with Philip Rivers, but I hope I'm wrong. Good things should happen to good people, and Rivers is a quarterback -- and a guy -- I both like and respect.
But let's say it doesn't. That doesn't mean he won't be recognized some day as one of the game's best. Heck, Dan Fouts and Warren Moon are in the Hall of Fame, and tell me how many Super Bowls they reached.
Uh-huh, as many as Rivers.
What it does mean, though, is that when you're talking about the best of the best of the best in today's NFL, Philip Rivers will always take the chair behind Manning, Brady and Roethlisberger. Sorry, but that's just how it goes.
"I think it comes with time," Rivers said. "You've got to go out and do it, and that comes with time. To be mentioned with those guys who have done it ... you've got to go out and earn it."
And that's where Rivers' game comes up short.
Look, don't get me wrong. I'd love to have Philip Rivers quarterback my team. The guy is an outstanding quarterback, a solid teammate and someone who is smart with the football. More than that, he's one of the best and most gracious interviews on the planet. But I'd love to have Manning, Brady and Roethlisberger on my team more, and last weekend's loss to the New York Jets underscored why.
Rivers didn't lose that game. But he didn't win it, either, and that's why we're always looking at a Big Three that doesn't include him. Yeah, I know, things might've been different if Nate Kaeding made a field goal or Rivers' teammates didn't get stupid with penalties. But those things happen, and you overcome them or else.
In the 2006 AFC Championship Game, Manning had to overcome a 21-3 deficit to the almighty New England Patriots when he just as easily could have gone into the fetal position. But he didn't. Instead, he led the Colts to 32 second-half points against an opponent that eliminated them in two of the previous three playoffs.
When he followed by winning his first Super Bowl his ticket to Canton was punched.
I've seen similar gut-checking moments from Rivers -- with this season's last-minute drive against the New York Giants or a last-minute march against Tennessee in 2007 as examples -- but I haven't seen his biggest plays in his biggest games.
Granted, he played on one leg in the 2007 AFC Championship Game loss to New England, and he gutted it out without running back LaDainian Tomlinson and tight end Antonio Gates. He still lost, and one of these days his luck -- or the luck of the Chargers -- is going to have to change for Philip Rivers to move to the next level.
It can happen. It should happen. But it must happen.
There is so much about Rivers to like: He's accurate, he's tough, he's charismatic and he wins. But he and the Bolts don't win the games they must win, and Sunday's loss was the latest example. Rivers had two interceptions, one of which was unlucky, the other horrible.
The unlucky one didn't cost San Diego; the horrible one did. In fact, it put the Chargers behind for good, and it made me think of that part of Rivers' game that needs to go -- and that's the interceptions.
Rivers has seven games of playoff experience, and, quick now, how many of those do you think didn't include an interception. I'll spare you the exercise: None. You heard me. He hasn't played one playoff game without making a mistake, and on Sunday he made two of them.
For his playoff career, he has eight touchdown passes, nine interceptions, a completion percentage of 58.5 and a passer rating of 79.05. More important, he is 3-4.
Philip Rivers is one of the game's outstanding quarterbacks and maybe ... OK, probably ... one of its top five. But let me ask you this: You have one game to win and one quarterback to choose. So who is it? Manning? Check. Brady? I'll second that. Roethlisberger? Another big 10-4.
Then we get into muddy waters. Drew Brees or Philip Rivers? That one is too close to call. Eli Manning or Philip Rivers? I ran an informal poll of GMs and player personnel directors lately, and most of them sided with Rivers. But Manning has been to the playoffs four of his five years as a starter and won a Super Bowl by beating an opponent that some were trying to anoint as the greatest team of all time.
I'm not saying that makes him better; I'm just saying he's done something Philip Rivers has not.
Rivers has plenty of time to catch up. He's 29, with a franchise that is so rock solid it won 11 or more games in three of its last four seasons. Plus, he improves every year. But while the gap between him and the upper echelon has narrowed, a gap still remains because Rivers and the Chargers haven't figured out how to make it to a Super Bowl -- and wait 'til next year, folks.
"I don't measure our success on what's out there," Rivers said. "I know what matters is what's in here [the locker room], the 60 football players and staff. We have a mutual respect for each other and know we can get it done. But, sure, you go out and do it, and those things will come."
So go out and do it, Philip. Your legacy as a quarterback and a leader may depend on it.
