The Chargers quarterback won't be heard faulting his offensive line, consistently praising their work in the trenches despite pressure allowed with all-too-constant frequency, and he won't be seen pointing a finger at his receivers. But his supporting cast lacked in support Sunday in a 27-3 loss to the Falcons.
Never mind, for a moment, Atlanta was the Chargers' toughest opponent yet and deserves plenty of credit for forcing the issue.
In the locker room after the game, tight end Antonio Gates and wide receiver Malcom Floyd both accepted blame without prompting, saying they need to do a better job of looking the ball into their hands and completing the catch.
Their key drops aside, the pass protection struggled with Rivers under pressure on both his interceptions.
Rivers, sacked once, completed 21 of 38 passes for 173 yards. It was his lowest yardage total in a game since the 2009 season, and the performance broke a streak of 11 straight games with at least one touchdown pass.
Rivers had a 45.2 quarterback rating, his lowest since a 11-10 loss in Pittsburgh in 2008.
He expressed confidence the team can rebound next week against the Chiefs.
NOTES: Three of the Falcons' four touchdowns directly followed Chargers gaffes. In the second quarter, a Ryan Mathews fumble and Rivers interception each turned into scoring drives. In the fourth, punter Mike Scifres mis-hit a punt from the back of his end zone, sailing out of bounds at the Chargers' own 32-yard line. Scifres is as consistent as they come in the battle for field position, so the error was rare. Said Scifres: “It'll never happen again. I can tell you that.”
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