Bolts & Dolts: Philip Rivers' Wasted Years

Bolts

Philip Rivers - 28/37, 301 pass yds, 3 pass TDs

I didn't put it in his stat line, but here's the most important stat of the day for Rivers: zero turnovers. With an offensive line that was so injured that it became an actual joke, the announcers calling Kenny Wiggins "Lenny Wiggins" and calling Chris Hairston "Carl Hairston", Rivers managed to get sacked just once and protected the ball while still being very productive.

Malcom Floyd - 4 catches (6 targets), 92 rec yds, 2 rec TDs

Unfortunately, this final season of Malcom Floyd's career may be the most appropriate. Inconsistent, but dominant. Beautiful, but unappreciated. Masterful, but pointless.

Against a secondary as poor as the Baltimore Ravens', Floyd was able to gallop and leap and do all of the things that make him a unicorn in today's NFL. I wish he had a chance to showcase his skills on a bigger stage at some point, but instead he'll retire quietly, a blip on the radar during an era when the Chargers didn't have an incredible amount of success.

Stay healthy, Malcom. The last thing we want is for things to end for you the way they appear to have ended for Steve Smith Sr.

Ryan Carrethers - 7 tackles

When a nose tackle ties for the team lead in tackles, you know he had a good game.

Carrethers, who has had to fight his way on to the field against the wishes of the coaches (it would seem), essentially shut down the middle of the line for any sort of run play. After a quarter, he was getting regularly double-teamed, which led to....

Melvin Ingram - 6 tackles (4 solo), 1.5 sacks

The best game of Ingram's career, statistically. (Weird stat: Ingram has two games with 1.5 sacks this year and zero sacks in the other six games.)

Ingram wasn't dominant or consistent, but he did have a knack for getting to the QB when it mattered the most. Had the team won the game, he'd be the second biggest reason why it happened.

Dolts

There's so many, I'm going to try and go through these quickly.

Melvin Gordon - 18 carries, 54 rush yds, 5 catches (7 targets), 7 rec yds

A big reason why this team is 2-6 is because they regularly focus all of their energy on trying to get Melvin Gordon going and he just....well, at this point in his career.....he stinks. 23 touches for 61 yards? Against one of the worst defenses in the league? How embarrassing.

Danny Woodhead - 3 carries, 9 rush yds, 2 catches (3 targets), 36 rec yds

I'm not blaming Danny here. His numbers, for the amount of snaps he got, are fantastic. This is a follow-up to the Gordon point above.

The team's most expensive running back was inactive. Their best running back spent most of the game on the bench. And everybody wants to blame the offensive line?

Brandon Flowers - 4 tackles (3 solo)

Use whatever comparison you want. Shareece Wright, Derek Cox, they're all relevant. Flowers was a top 10 CB in the league last year and is maybe a bottom 10 CB this year.

Jahleel Addae - 5 tackles (4 solo)

Maybe the stupidest player to wear a Chargers uniform in the last decade. Addae's got loads of talent, but he can't seem to go 20 minutes without picking up a back-breaking penalty or injuring himself with poor form. Having this guy as a starter on defense is a sign of how little talent/depth there is on that side of the roster for Tom Telesco. Addae is a special teamer at best.

Jimmy Wilson - 4 tackles (2 solo)

Somehow, worse than Addae. The last two games haven't just shown how valuable Eric Weddle is, they've also shown what a trainwreck Wilson is at safety.

Jacoby Jones

Negative yards. The man has negative punt return yards this season after playing four games. He has moved backwards more than he has moved forward. For that, he will make $1.7 million this year. Hopefully, the team doesn't pick up the $3 million in salary he's owed next year.

The look on Tom Telesco's face as he greets Jacoby Jones into locker room kind of says it all pic.twitter.com/Cx4mRJ8EYz

— Marty Caswell (@MartyCaswell) November 2, 2015