The Chargers offensive line has taken a hit all season for being the reason why quarterback Philip Rivers has underperformed.
Following the Monday night game, the narrative that Rivers’ four-interception performance was because he didn’t trust his offensive line, thus making him feel rushed to make throws was still arisen.
The truth is, the offensive line wasn’t the issue. In fact, the unit that boasted two backup tackles and center had their best outing of the 2019 season against a stout Chiefs front.
After re-watching the game, there were only a couple plays in which Rivers was under duress. The first came when defensive end Frank Clark beat offensive tackle Trey Pipkins with speed and a dip move to force Rivers into throwing the interception.
The second came in the third quarter. Clark beat Pipkins with power off the line of scrimmage and caught him off guard with a chop-dip move to disrupt Rivers’ throw.
Outside of those plays, along with a couple others, the protection for Rivers was rock solid.
Trent Scott holds his own against Clark’s long arm move, giving him no ground.
Here, Pipkins latches on to Clark, resetting his hands and giving Rivers enough time to throw. On this play, you can see Hunter Henry is open in the middle of the field, but Rivers is locked on Austin Ekeler, which shows he isn’t going through his reads.
Very clean pocket here, as running back Melvin Gordon and fullback Derek Watt pick up the defenders attempting to blitz.
Again, Pipkins and Scott give there block no time to get into the backfield. Rivers has a clean pocket, but panics and opts to roll to the right when it’s too late.
Rivers has a clean pocket, but he steps up in a panic matter and is picked off by safety Tyrann Mathieu in a pass intended to wide receiver Keenan Allen.
Guard Michael Schofield is called for illegal hands to the face on this play, but look at Scott and Pipkins eliminate their blocks to give Rivers time. Just a very poor decision and great play by the Chiefs.
The offensive line isn’t as stout as others across the league, but they showed major improvement from the previous week against the Raiders, where they allowed five sacks.
With a lot of the focus being put on the line because of Rivers’ 14 interceptions this season, it is fair to say they weren’t the problem this past Monday.
Rivers’ issues are due to misreads, lack of anticipation and poor pocket awareness. It may not seem like it, but the Chargers offensive line has done well with their initial protections of Rivers with what they have after the slew of injuries to the position.
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