Philip Rivers tries to explain his interceptions

Reuters

Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers is getting a lot of questions about why he’s throwing so many interceptions — a career-high 15 picks this season, with seven more games to play.

Rivers’ answer? “I think it’s a combination of some things,” he said on XX Sports Radio in San Diego, via SportsRadioInterviews.com.

Rivers said that he’s not the only one who deserves the blame for the interceptions, noting that some have been tipped at the line of scrimmage and others have bounced off his receivers’ hands.

“Unfortunately there have been some that have been tipped and couldn’t find the ground and those happen every year,” Rivers said. “There’s also been some that could’ve been caught but have been dropped. Those happen.”

However, Rivers also acknowledged that he has to take some of the blame on himself.

“There’s been a couple of poor decisions and a couple of poor throws,” Rivers said. “I think there’s certainly times when there’s throws I can make and I didn’t make them. There’s really no other excuse, just make a better throw.”

Ultimately, Rivers said, he can’t dwell on the mistakes he’s made.

“I’m not happy with as many turnovers as I’ve had but they’re gone and I can’t change any of them,” he said.

Rivers is right that he can’t change the interceptions he’s already thrown. But if the Chargers are going to make the playoffs, they’ll need Rivers to turn things around soon.

25 responses to “Philip Rivers tries to explain his interceptions

  1. raaaaiiiiiiiiidddeeerrrrrrsssssssssssss!!!!!!

    The back of River’s Jersey should read “Wimbley” …. he owned him Thursday.

  2. I do give Rivers that some have been tipped passes but really most are his fault and making bad decisions. You can see him trying to force it…insert joke here. Sorry I had to do that. But as a Bolt fan, it’s like a slow death watching him play like this. Fire Norv! GO Bolts!

  3. He doesn’t really need to explain the interceptions as anyone who has witnessed them knows what happened. There will always be some that get tipped no matter the QB but really the big difference has been his decisions/accuracy compared to previous years. He has tried to force some throws and under/over threw others that he didn’t do previously.

  4. and can Norv Turner’s PR guy get him a proactive acen solution contract/commercial or what !?

  5. When I watched SD and Oakland, I thought “He has to have some sort of injury.” However, the more I watched, the more it look like he was in Brett Favre sand lot mode.

    Go back and look at his two early TD passes. The receivers were fairly well covered, and he threw the ball in there for the receiver to fight for. Either or both of these could/should have been picked off. Then the last INT in the endzone was in double coverage, ugly. Just like Favre would do when he pressed.

    He’s forcing the ball and not making good decisions. Not sure if that is injury, poor coaching, feeling rushed by the line or what. But I thought it was pretty pronounced.

  6. It seems to me big ben in Pittsburg went through this and so did other top rated QB. He’s a great QB and this will all pass when we get a decent offensive line. The problem with the Chargers is AJ Smith’s selections on the O line and D line, not Rivers. Rivers is running for his life every time the ball is hiked.

  7. Well, at least he acknowledges that some were his own poor decisions…………perfectly acceptable, as all QB’s throw a few up like that….Unless your Brett Favre, who blamed all his pics on receivers running the wrong route.

  8. This is A.J.Smith’s / Norv’s fault more than Rivers..this year the team just got old..add in injuries..a head coach that wants to just be the players friends and it all shows up on game day..look back at all the talent AJ Smith let walk.He let Sproles leave..mike turner leave K.Burnett go he knew Floyd was injury prone/bob sanders and cooper were done for, knew Gates was on one good foot…has yet to go draft a great passrusher to help replace Merriman….has never drafted a great strong saftey either.. and in the o-line is very soft..recivers cant get seperation…since 06’07’ the team has falling apart… Rivers takes the heat…AJ and Norv..you both can go…you two blew it..your both Fired.

  9. His interception rate is directly tied to his running game. One goes up when the other goes down.

  10. the “tipped” excuse didnt work for eli last year. lets see how rivers fares. of course, rivers throwing motion is a complete joke and he doesnt have an all-world back to dump off to anymore…..maybe that has something to do with his bad play this year.

  11. Philip ultimately came to the conclusion that the interceptions were the result of players on the opposing team catching passes intended for his teammates. Now that he has diagnosed the problem he can finally take some measures to rectify it.

  12. It’s karma, plain and simple. What quarterback has spent more time over the years berating teammates on the field for mistakes and poor play?

    Well, okay, Peyton Manning.

  13. This is old news, yet hardly anyone on the national stage is recognizing the huge difference Spoles made to Rivers. Phillip is forcing the ball down the field because he doesn’t have the sure-thing check down option that he had in years past. Yes, Tolbert can catch, but he’s not as effective (or consistent) as the little guy. Combine a QB who thinks he can make any throw any time, plus Gates who’s running on one leg, plus VJ who’s been a headcase (and overrated) for years, and this is what you get. One need only watch the Saints to realize AJ screwed the pooch yet again.

  14. I always thought Rivers was a great teammate even though I never cared much for his on field demeanor. His saying some of his passes should have been caught but were dropped makes me think ill of him as a leader. That’s a HUGE no no. Since he’s never to my knowledge pointed fingers before I think that indicates he’s feeling a great deal of pressure.

  15. Maybe its time everyone realizes Rivers has played in one of the perennially crappiest divisions in football….now that his competition is getting better, he is getting worse. Coincidence? I dont think so. Everyone likes to reminisce about the Manning trade…I bet if Phil the non-thrill Rivers has spent the last 8 years in the NFC east his numbers would have been like this all along.

  16. “Rivers is right that he can’t change the interceptions he’s already thrown.”

    See, now this is the kind of in-depth analysis that keeps me coming back to PFT

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