This is a great time of year to be thankful for what we have, where we have been, and what the future holds. Although the Chargers have lost their way a bit in recent years, the month of December still holds such incredible promise! This advent calendar is an attempt to hearken back to these days of December joy. Each day will bring a new advent from the Bolts’ history that makes it wonderful to be a Chargers fan.

Dec. 03: December Football is Coming Back!

Can you feel it? It’s in the air. Not quite fall, but not quite spring. AH YES, winter! Chargers football has often been a force to be reckoned with in the winter.

Philip Rivers has led the charge in regards to this late-season renaissance.

Since taking over as quarterback of the San Diego Chargers in 2006, Rivers has helped lead them to a 35-17 record in games played in December and January.

In 2016, it was 35-14. After the smoke cleared from 2017’s odd resurgent year, the record stood at 40-15. The Chargers won all but one of their games last December, but their loss to the Chiefs was what kept them out of the playoffs (oh, and an 0-4 start).

In 2018, the Chargers are 1-0.

Clearly, from this growing sample, you could make out the trend that has gained real steam again.The Lynn years are a marked improvement over the McCoy years (in a variety of ways). The Chargers were, and again are, incredibly successful on the field come December.

Well, until recently...

As recently as 2014, NFL.com had this to say:

”Tom Brady has the best record (45-7, .865 winning pct) of any active starting QB in December. Philip Rivers has the 2nd-best record of any active starting QB in December (30-6, .833). This list has a big jump, where Peyton Manning sits in third place (46-20, .697).”

As of today, Tom Brady is now at 59-12 (.830) in post-November regular season football. Philip Rivers is now third on the list with 40-19 (.677).

From 2013 to 2016, the Chargers posted a 2-13 record for post-November football. Outside of that stretch, they have a .863 average. Yow!

But this is NOT an article on how sad they have been lately, it’s a celebration of how successful they have historically been in this month!

2006 - 5-0 (Philip Rivers begins starting for the Chargers)

2007 - 5-0

2008 - 4-0 (you’re starting to see where this December stuff comes from, aren’t you?)

2009 - 5-0

2010 - 3-2 (Philip Rivers marks his FIRST December loss)

2011- 4-1

2012 - 3-2

2013 - 4-1 (Mike McCoy begins his tenure)

2014 - 1-3

2015 - 1-4

2016 - 0-5 (We’ve seen enough of the real McCoy)

2017 - 4-1 - Anthony Lynn’s first year.

2018 - 1-0 - Unbeaten world champions

I don’t care who you are, that’s impressive. During Rivers’ first 8 years with the franchise, they went 33-6 in December. No, let’s reduce that further. In Rivers’ first 4 years with the Chargers, they did not lose in regular-season football after November. That just does not happen!

With an incredible win over the Steelers on Sunday Night Football this year, the Chargers look well-oiled for another fantastic December. There are some really tough teams yet to go, but they’ve already hurdled what most consider to be their second biggest challenge on the 2nd-half schedule.

-Jason ”December to Remember events are a limited time celebration” Michaels