Why Pats Fans Should Be Worried About Rivers....

[the taildragger]

dude, I really REALLY respect Philip's game.

I was actually proclaiming the Giants losers in that deal two years ago. Loved him in college. He's arguably the best QB to come into the league since Tom (and nobody coming in this year will trump him). He's a total winner and he'll be your guy for the next ten years.

In fact, I sent Mike Silver of SI -- an email buddy -- a scouting report prior to his article on Phil back in November.

I'm not going to go into why I like Rivers, suffice it to say, I could probably write a thesis on it.

BUT please don't compare his stats to Tom's in 2001. It's just silly.

You're comparing maybe the greatest array of offensive weapons in recent memory to maybe the all-time worst.

I would wish you luck next week, but we'll need all we can get...but I do have a ton of respect for Rivers.

If our gameplan is to make him beat us, he will.

 

[carolinatony]

Reading all of the "No way the Pats beat San Diego", posts in this thread makes me want to bet the farm on us.
Next week it will be, "no way the Pats beat Baltimore or Indy"; isn't this the way it is every year.

If our front, probably the best in the NFL as of late, can find a way to stop LT and put the game in the hands of Rivers I say we win. That will be tough but not impossible, especially with the way Wilfork, Seymour and Warren have been playing.

We will not have any trouble scoring points against SD.

 

[FloridaPatsFan]

The simple fact is that no matter what Rivers did during the season, it cannot be parlayed into playoff success. What I saw of Rivers in the past month was not the QB who was handling pressure all that well and playoff pressure has turned sure-handed QB's into idiots.

If the Chargers have to rely on Rivers to win the game, it might very well be check-mate for the Pats.

A good indicator of how Rivers is handling the pressure will be shown in his eyes before kickoff. If he looks nervous.....well, San Diego, you have a big problem. As well, if you see the Pats laughing and smiling.....its going to be a great day indeed.

 

[csfoster]

Reading all of the "No way the Pats beat San Diego", posts in this thread makes me want to bet the farm on us.
Next week it will be, "no way the Pats beat Baltimore or Indy"; isn't this the way it is every year.

If our front, probably the best in the NFL as of late, can find a way to stop LT and put the game in the hands of Rivers I say we win. That will be tough but not impossible, especially with the way Wilfork, Seymour and Warren have been playing.

We will not have any trouble scoring points against SD.

As obviously evidenced by the fact that you had no trouble scoring points against SD last year at your house.

 

[FloridaPatsFan]

As obviously evidenced by the fact that you had no trouble scoring points against SD last year at your house.

That game will help us sunday more than it will help the Chargers. We had significant injuries and you caught us on a bad day. If you think you'll be seeing the same Patriot team sunday, then perhaps you should go place a big bet on the Chargers.

 

[dngerhiboltage]

That game will help us sunday more than it will help the Chargers. We had significant injuries and you caught us on a bad day. If you think you'll be seeing the same Patriot team sunday, then perhaps you should go place a big bet on the Chargers.

i already did place a big bet. minus 5 is a joke. the Chargers win by 14, easily. i say change the thread's name to "Why Pats Fans Should Be Worried About LT and Gates". Between the 2, get this, 43 TD combined. LT 31 rushing/receivin plus 2 passing, Gates=9 TD.

or "why pats fans should be worried about chargers 3 front pass rushers". Edge rusher LB Phillips and Merriman and DE Castillo, combined 35 1/2 sacks alone (and missing 13 games combined). Whooooo, scary....

 

[3rtyse7en]

I don't know much about Rivers beyond the stats as I haven't seen him play at all, I do think any half-way decent QB would be OK in that offense. It's the offense as a whole I worry about.

The Pats don't care who the QB is, they were 2nd in the league to Baltimore in defensive passer rating at 66.1. They turned the ball over 5 times to Peyton Manning and only lost by 7, and Chad Pennington threw for 300 yds against them last week and they still won by 21.

I'm not saying he sucks, but I'm not worried about him more than any other good NFL starter. He doesn't bring anything "special" in and of himself.

 

[FloridaPatsFan]

i already did place a big bet. minus 5 is a joke. the Chargers win by 14, easily. i say change the thread's name to "Why Pats Fans Should Be Worried About LT and Gates". Between the 2, get this, 43 TD combined. LT 31 rushing/receivin plus 2 passing, Gates=9 TD.

or "why pats fans should be worried about chargers 3 front pass rushers". Edge rusher LB Phillips and Merriman and DE Castillo, combined 35 1/2 sacks alone (and missing 13 games combined). Whooooo, scary....

Spouting off with stats.....You know what is a very likely scenario for sundays game? Rivers throws for 300 yards and a touchdown. But will have 2 interceptions that are back breakers. LT runs for 125 yards, but has difficulty running inside the 20 and SD settles for FG's. And in the end, despite your teams appearance to dominate statistically, you lose because the Patriots are a team with a history of winning against all odds and the losing team spends the offseason asking themselves "How did we lose? we were a better teams than they are"

 

[csfoster]

Spouting off with stats.....You know what is a very likely scenario for sundays game? Rivers throws for 300 yards and a touchdown. But will have 2 interceptions that are back breakers. LT runs for 125 yards, but has difficulty running inside the 20 and SD settles for FG's. And in the end, despite your teams appearance to dominate statistically, you lose because the Patriots are a team with a history of winning against all odds and the losing team spends the offseason asking themselves "How did we lose? we were a better teams than they are"

And there you have it. The defining key to this game will be which team does best in the Red Zone. Neither team's gameplan should include settling for a field goal when within it in the first half or for that matter most of the 2nd half.

There is likely a greater chance that the first team that does settle for a field goal, particularly in the Red Zone, will in the end lose this game.

 

[Return of the Nizz]

i already did place a big bet. minus 5 is a joke. the Chargers win by 14, easily. i say change the thread's name to "Why Pats Fans Should Be Worried About LT and Gates". Between the 2, get this, 43 TD combined. LT 31 rushing/receivin plus 2 passing, Gates=9 TD.

or "why pats fans should be worried about chargers 3 front pass rushers". Edge rusher LB Phillips and Merriman and DE Castillo, combined 35 1/2 sacks alone (and missing 13 games combined). Whooooo, scary....

This pretty much sums up the ******s who have been here this week. They can't even count to 43.

 

[IcyPatriot]

Since Belichick came to the Patriots no young 1st year playing QB has made the Patriots look bad ... none. So, unless Rivers is better than Manning, Young or any young QB who has ever faced the Patriots he is going down.

There are only 2 ways the Chargers can win.

Running attack featuring LT

Defense

that's it .. only those 2 and #1 isn't going to do it either.

Defense ... shutting down Brady and the offense is the only way to win..and not very likely at that.

 

[nickelbolt]

Since Belichick came to the Patriots no young 1st year playing QB has made the Patriots look bad ... none. So, unless Rivers is better than Manning, Young or any young QB who has ever faced the Patriots he is going down.

There are only 2 ways the Chargers can win.

Running attack featuring LT

Defense

that's it .. only those 2 and #1 isn't going to do it either.

Defense ... shutting down Brady and the offense is the only way to win..and not very likely at that.

Soooo... you're saying that there's no way the Chargers can pass effectively, run effectively, or stop the Patriots offense this Sunday?

Got it.

I still want to watch the game anyway. You know... just in case you're wrong. Which, according to your logic... isn't very likely.

 

[bolts_fan]

Spouting off with stats.....You know what is a very likely scenario for sundays game? Rivers throws for 300 yards and a touchdown. But will have 2 interceptions that are back breakers. LT runs for 125 yards, but has difficulty running inside the 20 and SD settles for FG's. And in the end, despite your teams appearance to dominate statistically, you lose because the Patriots are a team with a history of winning against all odds and the losing team spends the offseason asking themselves "How did we lose? we were a better teams than they are"

Absolutely right. Do you know how well the Chargers do in the red zone vs. anyone this year? Of course regular season does not equal playoffs, but you have to wonder...

 

[Patriot_in_NY]

Even with all this, he's clearly no Brady but like others have said, there are signs. Brady is a freaking monster... 3 SB in the past 5 years and winning it all as a first year starter? Hell yeah Brady is one sick motherf*cking QB. The guy's a beast and one of the best in the NFL right now... much better than the overhyped Peyton Manning.

But discount Rivers at your own risk.

The one thing no one is talking about - and I think it's a very key point - is that with Belichick at the helm in the postseason, Pats fans can rest assured we will be prepared.

Lets just get it out of the way............. Rivers is every bit as good as Tom Brady was/is. He's not, but you guys won't hear anything except that, so I'll give it to you right up front.

Rivers is the second coming of Brady. But the one thing that RIVERS MUST DO that Brady never had to do; that's face a Belichick defense in his "coming out" season. And that is really the KEY to all this. All day long, you can spout stats and debate which QB is better, blaa, blaa, blaa. The bottom line If I was a Bolts fans, I would not worry about as much about Brady as I would about Belichick.

Trust me, Brady & co. will score on you. Probably in the neighbor hood of 24-27 points. If you think they'll come in flat, you're deluding yourself. Your D will get touched for a few scores. The thing you guys will have to overcome is the Belichick scheme. I truly believe that LT will be held {somewhat} in check, right around 110 yds and a score or so. Beyond that, if Rivers can handle the scheming and cover the rest, you'll win. If not, he'll toss a costly pick or two and you will likely lose.

It'll be a good game for sure.

 

[nickelbolt]

Lets just get it out of the way............. Rivers is every bit as good as Tom Brady was/is. He's not, but you guys won't hear anything except that, so I'll give it to you right up front.

Rivers is the second coming of Brady. But the one thing that RIVERS MUST DO that Brady never had to do; that's face a Belichick defense in his "coming out" season. And that is really the KEY to all this. All day long, you can spout stats and debate which QB is better, blaa, blaa, blaa. The bottom line If I was a Bolts fans, I would not worry about as much about Brady as I would about Belichick.

Trust me, Brady & co. will score on you. Probably in the neighbor hood of 24-27 points. If you think they'll come in flat, you're deluding yourself. Your D will get touched for a few scores. The thing you guys will have to overcome is the Belichick scheme. I truly believe that LT will be held {somewhat} in check, right around 110 yds and a score or so. Beyond that, if Rivers can handle the scheming and cover the rest, you'll win. If not, he'll toss a costly pick or two and you will likely lose.

It'll be a good game for sure.

Tell ya' right now... if LT gets over 100yds, then the Belichick scheme will be under serious fire. Because he is going to gear his gameplan to stop LT from running at all costs. That will be the primary objective. Stopping him means under 100 yds. Once he goes over that mark, the safeties will be creeping up and biting on play action...

As for Rivers. Don't think that all of us have annointed him the next Brady. The majority of Chargers fans have too much respect for Tommy Boy to go that far. But he also is not your typical 1st year QB. And if those safeties start creeping up trying to stop LT (assuming he's on the pace you mentioned), Philip can hit the big throws when he needs to. Just ask the Seahawks, Bengals, Broncos and Steelers. Those were his biggest games thus far, from a pressure standpoint. And he came through every time they needed him to step up.

 

[Patriot_in_NY]

Tell ya' right now... if LT gets over 100yds, then the Belichick scheme will be under serious fire. Because he is going to gear his gameplan to stop LT from running at all costs. That will be the primary objective. Stopping him means under 100 yds. Once he goes over that mark, the safeties will be creeping up and biting on play action...

As for Rivers. Don't think that all of us have annointed him the next Brady. The majority of Chargers fans have too much respect for Tommy Boy to go that far. But he also is not your typical 1st year QB. And if those safeties start creeping up trying to stop LT (assuming he's on the pace you mentioned), Philip can hit the big throws when he needs to. Just ask the Seahawks, Bengals, Broncos and Steelers. Those were his biggest games thus far, from a pressure standpoint. And he came through every time they needed him to step up.

And I have too much respect to think we'll contain LT to 50-60 yds. You're probably right, we need to hold him under 100. He'll rip a few for 12-13 on us, but what we must do is prevent him from galloping wildly in our backfield. Then your right, we'll be pulled right into a place we don't wanna be and RIVERS will have his chances.

Believe me, If it comes down to putting the ball in LT hands or Rivers, I'll take Rivers. He's shown some brilliance, but he's shown he mortal at times too. We need to make him think HE has to win this game because the running game not as effective as he's used to. Once he feels he has to win it, he'll press a bit, perhaps make a bad decision or two (ala Penninton last week).

In fact ALL QB's (new and old) are susceptible to do that. It's our best hope anyway.

 

[nickelbolt]

And I have too much respect to think we'll contain LT to 50-60 yds. You're probably right, we need to hold him under 100. He'll rip a few for 12-13 on us, but what we must do is prevent him from galloping wildly in our backfield. Then your right, we'll be pulled right into a place we don't wanna be and RIVERS will have his chances.

Believe me, If it comes down to putting the ball in LT hands or Rivers, I'll take Rivers. He's shown some brilliance, but he's shown he mortal at times too. We need to make him think HE has to win this game because the running game not as effective as he's used to. Once he feels he has to win it, he'll press a bit, perhaps make a bad decision or two (ala Penninton last week).

In fact ALL QB's (new and old) are susceptible to do that. It's our best hope anyway.

Yep. Philip doesn't need to be great for the Chargers to win, he just needs to be smart. Thankfully, he's proven to be both at varying times through the year. I'll take smart for this game... and GREAT for the Championship Game.

This is going to be the best game of the weekend. Just great football, no BS.

 

[VJCPatriot]

There's actually really no magical number that would constitute "stopping" LT. Rather the Pats defensive objective is to stop San Diego drives short of scoring. The Pats play a bend but don't break defense. The yardage doesn't matter nearly as much as the final score on the scoreboard.

That being clarified, I think holding the Chargers' OFFENSE to under 20 will constitute a victory for the Pats defense. And forcing some turnovers from the inexperienced Rivers would be the icing on the cake.

We're not scared of Rivers. He is a Brady wannabe. But as the Patriots proved to the Carolina Panthers and Delhomme - there's only one Patriots and there's only one Tom Brady. Everyone else is just a pretender.

Hope you enjoy eating your crow on Sunday. It's a dish best served cold.

 

[Boston Jay]

Tell ya' right now... if LT gets over 100yds, then the Belichick scheme will be under serious fire. Because he is going to gear his gameplan to stop LT from running at all costs. That will be the primary objective. Stopping him means under 100 yds. Once he goes over that mark, the safeties will be creeping up and biting on play action...

As for Rivers. Don't think that all of us have annointed him the next Brady. The majority of Chargers fans have too much respect for Tommy Boy to go that far. But he also is not your typical 1st year QB. And if those safeties start creeping up trying to stop LT (assuming he's on the pace you mentioned), Philip can hit the big throws when he needs to. Just ask the Seahawks, Bengals, Broncos and Steelers. Those were his biggest games thus far, from a pressure standpoint. And he came through every time they needed him to step up.

It's all about turnovers and red zone conversions.. If you run for 200 yards and get 3 field goals then that doesn't help much.. unless of course you hold the opposition to a TD or two FGs and a safety.

 

[csfoster]

Tell ya' right now... if LT gets over 100yds, then the Belichick scheme will be under serious fire. Because he is going to gear his gameplan to stop LT from running at all costs. That will be the primary objective. Stopping him means under 100 yds. Once he goes over that mark, the safeties will be creeping up and biting on play action...

As for Rivers. Don't think that all of us have annointed him the next Brady. The majority of Chargers fans have too much respect for Tommy Boy to go that far. But he also is not your typical 1st year QB. And if those safeties start creeping up trying to stop LT (assuming he's on the pace you mentioned), Philip can hit the big throws when he needs to. Just ask the Seahawks, Bengals, Broncos and Steelers. Those were his biggest games thus far, from a pressure standpoint. And he came through every time they needed him to step up.

No annointing allowed until after Sunday's game.

Seriously, the point was not that Rivers is better than Brady rather it was that Rivers has a just as great a chance if not better than Brady did as a first-year starter to win in his first play-off appearance(s) due to the better talent that surrounds Rivers.

The point was that Rivers is not a rookie QB but rather like Brady, he has spent time on the bench getting ready for his first year as a starter and like Brady in 2001, Rivers has performed well in all circumstances leading up to his first play-off game as best attested to by the fact that Rivers has the highest 4th quarter QB rating in the NFL.

The most valid point raised by Pats Fans thus far when comparing Brady and Rivers as first-year starters is that Brady had the luxury of not going up against Bill B. in the play-offs.

To be sure Bill B. will develop a game plan to confuse Rivers. But what is unsure is whether or not he can also develop a game plan that effectively limits the impact of the great talents of the players that surrounds Rivers which he has used effectively all season. And for Pats Fans information, that talent includes McCardell and Parker both of whom will be healthy and on the field at the same time for the first time since the middle of this season.