Los Angeles Chargers: Bold predictions for Philip Rivers in 2019

Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers is in the latter stages of his career and is chasing that coveted Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Philip Rivers has had such a successful career as quarterback of the Los Angeles Chargers. In fact, statistically, Rivers should go down as one of the top-10 quarterbacks of all-time.

Rivers is eighth all-time in passing yards and can surpass either Eli Manning or Ben Roethlisberger if he plays longer than the two as well as Dan Marino, who has just under 7,000 more yards than Rivers.

Rivers is also sixth all-time in passing touchdowns ahead of both Big Ben and Manning and could also reach Marino, who sits at 420 passing touchdowns (46 more than Rivers).

Yet despite his great career, Rivers is often overlooked because of the many years of irrelevance on the Los Angeles Chargers as well as having to play at the same time as some of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time.

If Rivers does not win a Super Bowl, he will undoubtedly go down as one of the best players to never reach the mountaintop.

Luckily for Rivers, he has arguably the best roster around him since the team went 14-2 in 2006 and has a great chance of reaching the said mountaintop. It could happen in 2019 and here are three bold predictions for Rivers in the upcoming season.

1. He posts a career-high in passing touchdowns

Last season was a great year for Rivers and one of the greatest seasons that he has had in his 13 years as a starting quarterback.

Rivers threw for 4,308 yards with 32 passing touchdowns, just 12 interceptions and a 71.2 quarterback rating — the third-best of his career.

Rivers will set a new best in his 14th year as a start as he will set a new personal high in passing touchdowns. Rivers came two touchdowns shy of tying his personal best of 34 last season.

With so many weapons around him and a defense that is going to create a ton of turnovers and give the offense ample opportunities, Rivers is going to throw for 35 or more touchdowns in 2019.

2. He joins the 70 percent club

Not many people in the history of the NFL have completed 70 percent or more of their passes in a single season. There have been 10 such seasons in which a quarterback has completed 70 percent or more of their passes, belonging to seven different quarterbacks.

Rivers came very close to joining that club in 2013 when he completed 69.5 percent of his passes. Last season, he put together the second-best completion rate of his career, completing 68.3 percent of his passes.

With an improved offensive line, the massive amount of weapons and the Chargers’ ability to use the running game and not overly on passing the ball, all the signs are there for Rivers to get over that hump and become the eighth quarterback to ever hit 70 percent.

If he would have completed nine more of his attempted passes then he would have hit 70 percent last season. That is more than doable.

3. He is a leading candidate for MVP by season’s end

We do not want to outright predict that Philip Rivers is going to win the MVP but we do know that he is going to be one of the few favorites to win the award in 2019.

Rivers was actually somewhat in the discussion for MVP with Patrick Mahomes and Drew Brees late in the 2018 season. If the Chargers would have beaten the Baltimore Ravens and had the best record in the AFC, Rivers would have had a serious case for the award.

However, it would have still been pretty hard not to give it to Patrick Mahomes.

With 35 touchdowns, a 70 percent completion rate season and likely somewhere between 4,400-4,700 yards, Rivers is going to have the numbers necessary to win the award.

If the Los Angeles Chargers play up to their roster’s talent and have the best record in the AFC then it will be impossible to deny Rivers the award. He would have the stats, have the wins and definitely has the story behind him.