The San Diego Chargers' losing streak is over and their winning streak is now at 1. Against a Jacksonville Jaguars defense that had no pass rush and no Cornerbacks due to injury, Philip Rivers and the San Diego offense came to life and showed what they are capable of.
El Capitan completed nearly 80% of his passes for 294 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 turnovers. It was his best game of the season, and will certainly quiet the rumors that he's playing injured. More than anything, tonight proved that with all of his weapons healthy and time to throw, Rivers is the same QB he's always been.
Ryan Mathews finished the game with 112 rushing yards and 1 rushing TD on just 13 carries, for an astounding 8.6 yards per carry average. It seemed like halfway through the second quarter, Norv Turner decided to set up the run with the pass instead of the other way around and it worked for 28 unanswered points.
Greg Manusky's defense wasn't able to keep Maurice Jones-Drew from having a great game (188 total yards, 1 TD), but with a lead they were able to get enough pressure on Blaine Gabbert to shut down everything but an erratic short-passing attack. There are still questions about whether this defense is worth a damn in a close game or when San Diego is trailing.
It's time to let the dreamers dream. As Wonko stated after the Broncos game, the Chargers playoff hopes remain alive. As fans, we should get behind this team that has finally showed us a good performance and hope that they can have everything go their way like it did in 2008. Right? I think so.