Greg Cosell’s Film Review: The brilliance of Philip Rivers
Philip Rivers made many great plays in the San Diego Chargers’ comeback win last week, but a sequence of back-to-back plays showed just how smart of a quarterback he is.
In the second quarter, on second and 7 he hit running back Ryan Mathews for a six-yard catch out of “11” personnel (one running back, one tight end) against the Baltimore Ravens’ nickel defense. Mathews blocked, then released quickly out of the backfield and was open for an easy catch. For third and 1, the Chargers stayed in “11” personnel and the Ravens changed to a base defense with four defensive backs to play the down and distance.
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The Chargers run a no-huddle offense but not to hurry a defense up, like the Eagles do. Rivers wants to research the defense at the line. And he did here. He got to the line, saw the new defensive look and the matchup of tight end Antonio Gates on linebacker Courtney Upshaw, knew that it was a positive matchup for the Chargers, and hit Gates on a 23-yard crossing route.
That’s great quarterbacking.
I think Rivers is a classic example of what it takes to play quarterback in the NFL. He doesn’t have quick feet. He’s not what you’d call athletic in the conventional way you think of athleticism. But he knows how to play quarterback from the pocket, in all areas.
One way that shows is how good he is before the snap. He is one of the best in the NFL at controlling the game at the line of scrimmage. Here’s another example of that:
On the Chargers’ first third-quarter possession, they faced a third and 10. San Diego came out in a 3-by-1 set (three receivers to one side, one receiver to the other side), and the Ravens ran “quarters” zone coverage with four defensive backs each taking a deep fourth of the field. Baltimore had an unconventional look up front. The center was covered by a nose tackle, then there were three defenders up on the edge to Rivers’ right, and two more up to the edge on his left, and then another appeared to his left as a cornerback showed blitz. The corner crept up and tipped off that he was blitzing late in the play clock, but it was a little too early because Rivers had time to adjust. Rivers changed the protection to account for the pressure side, his left.
With the blitz taken care of, he hit Malcom Floyd on a deep post for a 59-yard gain. Floyd was open because Ravens defensive back Lardarius Webb, playing the quarters safety, jumped on a corner route by Gates. That’s a classic route combination to beat “quarters” coverage.
There has been a conversation this week about whether the movement quarterback will be phased out starting next season. I think you’re starting to see it trend that way. If you’ve read my posts here you know that I have strong views on how the quarterback position should be played, and it’s from the pocket. I don’t think you can be a dynamic, movement quarterback and also a nuanced, pocket quarterback. And the most important part of the position is mastering pocket play, in my opinion, and the guys who aren’t able to do that are leveling off. They’re not getting better.
Rivers is a prototype of what I believe the position should be. He is great before the snap, he knows where to go with the ball based on route combinations and the coverages he sees, and he’s tough in the pocket. Although Chargers coach Mike McCoy has shortened their route concepts in his two seasons, San Diego is still mostly a deep or intermediate passing team. And Rivers will wait and wait and wait in the pocket until the route is open and then throw it. And I don’t know that there’s anybody better at anticipation throwing. He’ll start his delivery and you have no idea where the ball is going, then his receiver breaks right into where Rivers delivers the pass.
Against Baltimore, Rivers showed a little bit of all his quarterbacking skills.
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NFL analyst and NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell watches as much NFL game film as anyone. Throughout the season, Cosell will join Shutdown Corner to share his observations on the teams, schemes and personnel from around the league.
