Chargers: The most disappointing players of the 2019 season
The Los Angeles Chargers had many disappointing aspects of their 2019 season in general, but four players in particular did not live up to the heights they needed to for team success.
Coming into 2019, the Chargers had high expectations. Personally, my prediction was 11-5. No one on the staff here at Bolt Beat had the team below 10-6. Several factors are responsible, but there were some players who simply didn’t live up to expectations.
The underperformance of a number of players hurt the team, but it was the underperformance of these four players that really cost the team some wins.
For the purposes of this piece and mentioning the players that were on the field the longest with the biggest impact, injuries won’t be used as a deciding factor. While Nasir Adderley not getting on the field was disappointing, the circumstances were out of his control when he hit injured reserve. The same is true of someone like Russell Okung, who battled pulmonary embolism and nagging injuries throughout the year.
Philip Rivers
2018 and 2019 were unfortunately like night and day for Philip Rivers. The longtime quarterback had one of his greatest seasons in 2018, perhaps only behind his 2013 Comeback Player of the Year campaign.
2019, unfortunately, was chock-full of turnovers and poor decision-making. Rivers had 20 interceptions, the second-most in his career. The big issue with a lot of these turnovers-they came in the clutch. Rivers threw game-ending interceptions vs. Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Detroit, and Oakland on potential game-winning drives.
He was really careless with the football, and it was unfortunate to see after back to back years of 10 and 12 interceptions respectively. The offensive line did no favors for Rivers, but that was also the case in 2017 and 2018, when he was great.
Another alarming number was a 3.9 touchdown percentage. It was by far the lowest in his career as a starter.
His quarterback rating was his lowest since 2012, widely considered by many to be his worst season. Statistically, it was anything but good, but clutch situations in particular make it more apparent that it was an outright disaster.
Seven interceptions against the Chiefs and Raiders in back to back weeks absolutely killed the Chargers’ season, and Rivers deserves to take the brunt of the blame.