Philip Rivers: New England Patriots
This picture of Bill Belichick and Philip Rivers is from January 2019, and a lot of water has flowed under the bridge in the past year. But before you cast this idea out as insanity, here’s a sample of what Belichick has had to say about the now former Chargers quarterback:
“He’s really good at everything. He’s very accurate on the deep ball, sees coverages well, sees matchups well, goes to the right place, throws the ball accurately. He’s a big, strong guy that can stand in the pocket and handle himself with guys around him. He does a good job at the line of scrimmage of controlling the offense, the protection. Obviously, the offense runs through him and he does a good job of getting the Chargers either into good plays or out of bad plays, however you want to look at it. Obviously, his durability and his consistency – I mean, the guy has started over 200 straight games. That’s pretty impressive. He does everything well.”
So if Tom Brady leaves the Patriots, would it make sense for the Patriots to take a chance on the idea that they can reclaim the relatively mistake-proof version of Rivers as they groom a younger quarterback over time? New England’s passing game is one of the league’s most complicated, and given Belichick’s admiration for Rivers’ acumen, there are stranger ideas.