Philip Rivers

Week 9 - So far in 2012, Rivers has fewer points than Brandon Weeden, Christian Ponder, and Russell Wilson.  If you are still holding out hope that Rivers will be a QB1 this season, it is time to let go.  At this point he barely even qualifies for QB2 in most leagues.

Week 6 - Rivers finally had a big game as he threw for 354 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT against the Saints.  Hopefully that game gets his mojo moving in the right direction, and Rivers is a high end QB2 in all formats for week 6 at home against Denver.

Week 5 - Philip remains a QB2 after his 209 yards passing/ 2 TD/ 1 INT performance against the underwhelming Chiefs in week 4.  If he can’t light them up, it could be a very tough year for Rivers and his fantasy owners.  Next up is one of the leagues worst defenses in the Saints.  Rivers’ fantasy owners need to hope the Saints jump out to a large lead causing Philip to throw more than the 23 times he did last week, otherwise this could end up being the Ryan Mathews show.

Week 4 - Rivers looked absolutely lost against the Falcons defense in week 3 as he managed just 173 yards passing, 0 TD’s/ 2 INT.  We haven’t given up on him yet, but it looks like Norv Turner wants to run the ball more with Ryan Mathews in the fold, which could be bad news for Rivers’ fantasy owners.  Week 4 sees the Chargers taking on a KC Chiefs team which got lit up by the Buffalo Bills in week 2, so Rivers still makes the top 12 fantasy QB’s for the week, but he is a borderline option at best.

Week 3 - Philip Rivers has been back to his gunslinger ways in 2012, as he found his backup TE Dante Rosario 3 times in week 2 for TD’s, and he narrowly missed a TD in the 4th quarter which would have given him 4 on the day.  Rivers enters week 3 as a low QB1 in all formats, in what should be a shootout with the uptempo Falcons of Atlanta.

Week 2 – We realize this ranking may confuse some owners, as we have Rivers ranked in the top 10 for week 2, but he received a bump in the rankings because other QB’s have tough matchups.  Guys like Griffin, Romo, and Vick face solid passing defenses, which dropped them back, while Rivers has a relatively solid matchup against the Titans.  Rivers didn’t impress in his season debut, posting just 13.04 points against the Raiders, but that was due in large part to Norv Turner’s play calling as the Chargers didn’t take many shots downfield.  Rivers enters week 1 as a low ranked QB1.

Week 1 -  Philip Rivers and the Chargers open the 2012 season against a division opponent in the Oakland Raiders.  The Raiders had the 27th overall passing defense a year ago, which bodes well for Rivers and the Chargers wide receivers.  Last year against the Raiders, Rivers threw for 310 yards, 3 TD’s and a pick in the season’s final matchup, and we expect him to pick up where he left off, which pushes Rivers into the top 10 QB’s for Week 1.

Preseason Analysis

Philip Rivers 2011 season was hard to explain, many experts believed he must have been masking an injury as his velocity was down and his accuracy was off which led to  a career high 20 INT’s and just 27 TD’s.  We are projecting a bounce back season for Rivers as he sets out to prove that he belongs in the discussion with the top 10 QB’s in the league.  He comes recommended as a low #1 QB for the upcoming fantasy season, and we wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up in the top 7 QB’s in 2012.

Philip Rivers (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Philip Rivers career statistics: