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Chargers vs. Giants (Week 9)

Jon Forrest Written by Jon Forrest, Monday November 09 2009
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 Commentary on the Chargers' 21-20 defeat of the New York Giants

by Jon R. Forrest

 When Eli Manning refused to play for the San Diego Chargers when they selected him during the 2004 NFL Draft all respect for him was lost by diehard Bolts fans such as myself. Today, however, much of the contempt that was directed toward Manning was overshadowed by the play of Phillip Rivers as the Chargers ventured into the Meadowlands and narrowly escaped with a come-from-behind 21-20 victory over the Giants. Sweet redemption.

The back-and-forth battle between Phillip and Eli was initiated when Rivers threw a 10 yard touchdown pass to Vincent Jackson in the back of the endzone on the first play of the second quarter.  Due to the tough defensive line of the Giants, the Chargers were forced to throw the ball early and often in order to establish any type of offensive drive. 

Manning answered the call of Rivers, however, when he lead the Giants down the field on a drive that consumed nearly 11 minutes (the longest drive timewise since  Phil Simms was at the helm as quarterback in the early 90s) and 80 yards. The drive was capped by a 6 yard pass to Steve Smith, who currently leads the NFC in receiving. The Giants got some tough running from Brandon Jacobs along the way, as he repeatedly drug piles of Charger defenders to tack on a few extra yards after initial contact. 

After being even at the half, neither team could really get anything going until Rivers struck again with a 2 yard touchdown to Kris Wilson. When the Charger defense held the Giants to a field goal on their next drive, it looked like San Diego had the momentum in their favor. Although Rivers had less yards than Manning at the beginning of the fourth quarter, it appeared that he had the edge because he had lead his team to 2 touchdown scores while the Giants had to settle for a field goal. The momentum would shift to the home team, however, when the Chargers could not escape their own goal line and punted to Dominic Hixon, who returned the ball all the way to the San Diego 39 yard line.

Eli Manning has a knack for taking advantage of other teams' mistakes, which he proved when he put the Giants ahead with an 8 yard touchdown pass to Kevin Boss with 9 minutes left in the fourth quarter. The drive only took 6 plays, but more importantly took the wind out of San Diego's sails temporarily as time winded down.

On the next drive, Rivers was intercepted by Terrell Thomas, who took the ball all the way to the San Diego 4 yard line with 3:14 remaining in the game. Already up 17-14, the Giants looked to have the game well under control until a holding penalty brought them from the 1 to just outside of the 10 yard line. This penalty proved to be costly as the Charger defense stiffened up and forced Lawrence Tynes to kick a field goal with 2:07 left, putting the Giants up 20-14 and leaving the door open for Phillip Rivers and company to make a comeback.

The Giants defense, who had improved dramatically from the last 3 weeks, chose a wrong time to fold. Rivers picked them apart and lead the Chargers 80 yards down the field with precise passes and brilliant playcalling from upstairs. With 21 seconds remaining in the game, Rivers hit Vincent Jackson on a corner route for the game-winning touchdown for his second score of the game and an emphatic response to all of the dramatic Manning vs. Rivers undertones that were swirling around this game all week. 

Although the Chargers had more turnovers in this game, the main reason that they prevailed today was the fact that they capitalized on the rare opportunities that were given to them. When it came down to the wire, San Diego scored touchdowns and New York settled for field goals. Eli Manning may already have a Super Bowl under his belt, but that is in the past. Today Phillip Rivers proved to be more of a winner and showed Charger fans why we should have chose him in the first place. Well played, Phillip. Well played.

 


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