Rivers saves the day... Again

The game at the Meadowlands between the Chargers and the Giants came down to the final drive. In the end it was Phillip Rivers’ bringing his team back from the brink of defeat as he’s done so many times already in his young career. Rivers touchdown pass to Vincent Jackson with 21 seconds remaining brought a game that had gone back and forth from the beginning to a dramatic conclusion giving the Charger a 21-20 victory over New York.

Things began about as poorly as it ended for the Giants. The G-Men embarked on an 11 play drive that lasted over seven minutes to start the game. However, their inability to pick up a yard on a third and one and a subsequent botched field goal attempt left them with nothing to show for their efforts. The Giants missed their chance to take the early lead and a few possessions later the Chargers opened up the scoring when Rivers hit Vincent Jackson with a ten yard TD.

On the ensuing drive the Giants finally found the end zone and the equalizer. Eli Manning lead his team on yet another time consuming march, moving the ball 79 yards on 16 plays with a time of possession of 10:35. Manning’s touchdown pass to Steve Smith tied the game at 7. The game went into halftime knotted at 7-7.

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In the second half the Chargers jumped out in front again. Late in the third quarter Rivers threw what would be his second of three touchdown passes on the day, connecting this time with Kris Wilson to give San Diego a 14-7 lead. The Giants answered with a field goal and then held the Chargers to a three and out on their next possession, sacking Rivers for a loss of seven on the series. New York then drove down the field and took their first lead when Manning found Kevin Boss in the corner of the end zone for six.

As the game neared an end, Manning appeared to be outdoing Rivers statistically. Much had been made about the match up because of the link between the two who were traded for each other on draft day back in 2004. Rivers had been efficient for the most part though not nearly as sharp as Eli. And when the Chargers star QB threw his second interception of the day with a little over three minutes left in regulation it looked like Manning had surely outshined him. But the Giants couldn’t put the Chargers away even with a first and goal at the four yard line. New York committed a costly holding call and ultimately had to settle for a Tynes’ three-pointer.

It was all set up for Rivers to stick it to the Giants with a game clinching drive. Rivers didn’t disappoint. With just over two minutes remaining he lead the Chargers from their own 20 yard line to the New York 18. On the next play he hooked up with Vincent Jackson once more for the score and after Kaeding’s extra point San Diego pulled off the upset by the narrowest of margins. Manning finished with the better stats, a higher completion percentage, QB rating, and no picks, but Rivers got what matters most, a win.

By Steven Mondelli
ProFootball-fans.com San Diego Chargers Correspondent