The push for NFL MVP has, for much of this season, been a three-horse race between quarterbacks Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Brett Favre. But recently, Favre has fallen off the pace, throwing four interceptions in his last three starts, opening the door for another challenger.
Enter Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, who has injected himself into the MVP conversation. Rivers has thrown 25 touchdown passes against only nine interceptions entering Friday night’s game against fellow MVP candidate Chris Johnson and the surging Titans.
Is it possible that Manning — in one of his greatest seasons (33 TDs, 14-0 record) — can be walked down by Rivers in the MVP race? Possibly. But a far likelier scenario is for Rivers’ Chargers to walk down Manning’s Colts en route to the Super Bowl.
San Diego — flying under the radar of Indy’s run to perfection — has peeled off nine straight wins since opening the season 2-3. Going back further, the Chargers are 16-4 since Dec. 4, 2008, when they began a streak of four straight wins to capture the AFC West title. Rivers, who signed a $92M contract extension in the offseason, is a big reason why. In his last 20 games, he has thrown 39 touchdown passes.
“We want to make a run in the postseason and that starts Christmas night,” Rivers said via conference call Tuesday afternoon. “I think you have to continue to play as consistent as you can and at as high a level as you can. When you do that, the respect and recognition comes with it.”
Rivers and the Chargers are earning that respect. They have eliminated Indy from the playoffs in each of the last two years. In a league where every team seems to have a foil, the Chargers are kryptonite to the Colts in January. It’s openly thought that the Bolts and Colts are on a collision course to meet in the AFC title game. And if that happens, a San Diego win would go a long way to push Rivers into the upper echelon (re: Manning, Brady, Brees) of NFL quarterbacks.
