Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers put his name into the NFL record books in a 45-10 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
Rivers completed the first 25 passes he threw in the game, breaking a record set by Mark Brunell in 2006, when he was playing for the Washington Redskins. In finishing 28-of-29 (96.6 percent) on the day, Rivers also set a new mark for completion percentage in a game where a quarterback had a minimum of 20 pass attempts.
Ryan Tannehill also completed 25 consecutive passes back in 2015, but he did that over a two-game span.
His first incompletion didn’t come until late in the third quarter. Still, Rivers will be much happier with a good team win than all of those high marks.
The Chargers bounced back from a tough loss to the Denver Broncos by taking out their frustrations on the Cardinals. The Cardinals actually got out to a 10-0 lead in this one.
After falling behind 10-0, Rivers took his team on an 8-play drive that was jumpstarted by a 27-yard pass to Travis Benjamin. Later, on 3rd-and-goal, Rivers found Mike Williams for a 9-yard touchdown pass in which Williams made a nice play on the ball. That was all the Chargers needed to shift momentum and bring a tidal wave of offense onto Arizona.
The Chargers finished with 414 yards of total offense to the Cardinals’ 149. Defensively, Joey Bosa registered two sacks and Derwin James had an interception.
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The only bad news for the team was that Melvin Gordon, who was questionable to play before the game, left with a knee injury. In his absence, Austin Ekeler stepped up, particularly in the passing game. He caught 10 passes for 68 yards and ran for 35 yards and a touchdown.
Third-string running back Justin Jackson chipped in as well, rushing for 57 yards on seven carries.
By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, Geno Smith was taking snaps at quarterback.
The Chargers kept pace with the Kansas City Chiefs, who were on their bye week, at the top of the AFC West division.
We’ll need to keep tabs on Gordon. Though this was a big win for the Chargers to restore confidence after a tough loss, that could be a devastating injury.
The Chargers will go on the road to face the Pittsburgh Steelers next week in a game that was ‘flexed’ to Sunday Night Football.