San Diego Chargers Daily Links: January 7, 2014

A Wild-Card Extravaganza - Bill Barnwell
It would be fair to say that the Chargers team that showed up for this win looked almost nothing like the unit that fell to the Bengals on December 1. I mean, there was probably a bolo tie in Philip Rivers's locker somewhere back then, but those Chargers certainly didn't play like these guys.

ReFo: Chargers @ Bengals, Wild Card Round - Steve Palazzolo
Despite throwing the ball only 16 times, Rivers played an excellent game making some big-time throws, particularly in the second half. His first beauty came at the 2:19 mark of the first quarter as he broke free from pressure, scrambled to his left, and lofted a perfect pass to Danny Woodhead, just over the reach of Rey Maualuga.

2013 PFF All-Pro Team - ProFootballFocus.com
Quarterback: Peyton Manning (DEN) Was there ever any doubt? Manning was our top-ranked quarterback and a consensus pick by our five judges. His numbers may actually be slightly flattering, but there’s no denying his +43.3 grade was significantly better than Rivers’ +26.5. Second Team: Philip Rivers (SD)

Clutch Encounters: Wild Card - Scott Kacsmar
There was really nothing special about what the Chargers did on offense. Philip Rivers only threw 16 passes, completing 12 of them for 128 yards and a touchdown. Before the last run inflated the stats, the ground game produced 37 handoffs for 134 yards (3.62 yards per carry). The Chargers did have two of their usual time-consuming touchdown drives, but time of possession was no big deal with Cincinnati coming out on top at 30:32.

Audibles at the Line: Wild Card Weekend - FootballOutsiders.com
A. San Diego needs to realize they're really good at throwing the ball and actually throw the ball instead of running it. B. If they're going to run it because they think they're good at running it, they need to run the ball when it makes sense to do so, like in fourth-and-short situations.