Rivers will put Chicago Bears' secondary to the test
Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers has been to five Pro Bowls, but this could be the most prolific season of his 12-year career.
Monday night on national television, a shaky Chicago Bears secondary playing behind as inconsistent pass rush will try to cool off Rivers in San Diego.
Rivers is the trigger man for the NFL's No. 1 offense in total yards and passing yards, but he will be without his go-to guy, Keenan Allen.
Allen was the No. 1 receiver in the league before he suffered a lacerated kidney last week, ending his season with 67 receptions for 725 yards.
But the Bears still are wary of the wily Rivers, who has other quality options in the passing game.
The Chargers have six players with higher averages per catch than Allen's 10.8.
Running back Danny Woodhead (39 catches), tight ends Ladarius Green (27 catches) and Antonio Gates (22) and wide receiver Stevie Johnson (24) all average between 11.0 and 11.8 yards per catch.
Wide receivers Malcom Floyd (21 catches) averages 19.5 yards per reception, and Dontrelle Inman (9 catches), now the No. 3 wideout, averages 15.8 yards.
"Obviously, losing a really good player like (Allen) sets them back a little bit," said Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. "But it won't change their offense one bit. And with a quarterback like Rivers, the receivers look even better."
As Bears defensive end Jarvis Jenkins said: "Philip Rivers can take a guy off the streets and still make him into a 100-yards-a-game guy. They still have a lot of weapons. Just because Keenan Allen's not in their doesn't mean that they're lacking anything."
Rivers has started 152 straight games since he became the Chargers' No. 1 quarterback in 2006. His 270 touchdown passes are 13th in NFL history, and he has thrown for more than 300 yards in five straight games.
As Denver Broncos head coach for the previous four seasons, the Bears' John Fox saw Rivers twice a year. Fox's recollections of the 6-foot-5, 228-pound gunslinger go back to when he was the Carolina Panthers head coach and Rivers was at North Carolina State.
"He's just a tremendous competitor, even when he was in college," Fox said. "Maybe not the most beautiful technician and all those things, but he's had great success. He did in college, and he has carried that into his pro career."
The Chargers are 2-6, a half-game worse than the 2-5 Bears, and they've dropped four straight. They've lost games by 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 points, and their defense has allowed at least 24 points in all eight games.
But Rivers keeps rolling along. He leads the NFL with 2,753 passing yards, is third with 18 touchdown passes and seventh with a 102.1 passer rating.
River is on pace to throw for 5,506 yards, which would be a league record. During the four-game losing streak, he has thrown for 1,505 yards, 10 touchdowns and 3 interceptions, including a 503-yard effort in a 27-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Oct. 18.
"He's an excellent quarterback," Fangio said. "He throws the ball very well short, intermediate and deep. He's got great command of their offense.
"He does a lot of things at the line of scrimmage for them, getting them in and out of plays. He's very accurate. He's definitely in the upper echelon of the quarterbacks in the league."
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