Time after time in the Chargers’ game against the Eagles, their offense faced a third down and put the ball into the hands of quarterback Philip Rivers.
Rivers delivered almost every single time and the Chargers are 1-1 after Nick Novak’s field goal with seconds to play gave them a 33-30 win over the Eagles. Rivers completed 12-of-13 passes on third downs over the course of the game, resulting in eight first downs and a touchdown with the Eagles handing the Chargers another conversion when safety Patrick Chung was flagged for holding. The last of those first downs set up Novak’s field goal as the Chargers moved the ball 51 yards in 104 seconds to win the game.
Rivers wound up throwing for 419 yards and three touchdowns to Eddie Royal, who now has five scores in the first two weeks. Antonio Gates added 124 yards on eight catches and Malcom Floyd had 102 in the first half before leaving the game with a neck injury suffered during a massive collision with linebacker DeMeco Ryans. The Eagles secondary was shredded all day long, with the safeties looking particularly bad, costing them a chance to go 2-0 behind an offense that percolated all afternoon.
Michael Vick threw for 428 yards and two scores and ran for another one in a very strong performance that only lacked for opportunities because of the defense. DeSean Jackson had nine catches for 191 yards and could have had even more if he and Vick hadn’t each made mistakes on a couple of deep balls when Jackson was behind the defense. Jackson also picked up a 15-yard taunting penalty after Vick’s rushing touchdown, however, giving the Chargers prime field position to come back for a touchdown after the Eagles grabbed a short-lived 27-23 lead.
They have a short week to try to fix the defense before they renew acquaintances with Andy Reid on Thursday night.