28-year old Philip Rivers keeps getting better and that should be scary to the Chargers’ opponents in the playoffs and in the future.  He played in all 16 games for the Chargers this season and he completed 317 of 486 passes (65.2%) for 4,524 yards with 28 TD passes and 9 INTs (104.4 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 26 times for 50 yards (1.9 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Rivers has now played in 68 games in his NFL career and he has completed 1,207 of 1,914 passes (63.1%) for 14,951 yards with 106 TD passes and only 45 INTs (95.8 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 139 times for 210 yards (1.5 ypc) with 2 TD runs in his career.  The best is yet to come for Rivers who will likely lead the Chargers to a Super Bowl win in the very near future.

33-year old Billy Volek is one of the best back-up QBs in the NFL.  He played in 4 games for the Chargers this season and he completed 20 of 31 passes (64.5%) for 231 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT (84.2 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 9 times for -9 yards (-1.0 ypc) this season.  Volek has now played in 34 games in his NFL career and he has completed 336 of 560 passes (60%) for 3,746 yards with 27 TD passes and 15 INTs (84.9 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 46 times for 38 yards (0.8 ypc) with 2 TD runs in his career.  Volek would start for a lot of teams in the NFL so the Chargers are very happy to have him backing up Philip Rivers.

24-year old fullback Mike Tolbert just does whatever the Chargers ask him to and he does it well.  He has played in 14 games for the Chargers this season and he has carried the ball 14 times for 88 yards (6.3 ypc) with 1 TD run and he has also caught 13 passes for 172 yards (13.2 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Tolbert is a good special teams player too as he has made 19 tackles and forced a fumble this year.  Tolbert does the little things that teams need to make them a winner.

Philip Rivers has been one of the main reasons and the Chargers are 11-3 this season.  The Chargers have to be counting their blessings that Eli Manning didn’t want to play for them forcing a draft day trade in which they acquired Philip Rivers and more for him.  Rivers has played in 14 games for the Chargers this season and he has completed 287 of 444 passes (64.6%) for 3,891 yards with 25 TD passes and 9 INTs (102.8 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 25 times for 51 yards (2.0 ypc) with 1 TD run this season.  No one ever mentions Rivers when they talk about elite QBs but they should because he is a great player who plays with a fire in his belly often willing his team to victory.

The San Diego Chargers were the much superior football team than the Kansas City Chiefs and they proved it Sunday.  Philip Rivers and the offense were able to build a big lead in the first half and were up 28-7 at the break.  Rivers had a very good day, passing for 317 yards and 2 touchdowns on 21/28 attempts.  Rivers did not get too much help from the running game, although they did rack up 94 rushing yards as a team.  It was only a 2.8 average though, so Rivers and his receivers did most of the damage.  The Chiefs never really had a shot in this game though, so it wasn’t a cause for concern.

The Chargers defense did their job and kept the Chiefs out of the game.  They gave up one touchdown in each half, but the big number was the 4 turnovers they forced.  They picked off quarterback Matt Cassel once and recovered 3 fumbles.  Cassel was only able to get 178 yards and 1 touchdown on 19/31 attempts through the air.  They gave up too much on the ground though, with the Chiefs getting 114 yards on 24 carries as a team.  A very solid game overall for the Chargers defense, and if they they can force some turnovers like this more often they will really be a force to be reckoned with.

24-year old fullback doesn’t play that much but when he does he makes his presence felt.  He looks like a bowling ball type of running back as he’s on the short side at 5’9″, but he is also a powerful 243 pounds.  He has played in all 10 games for the Chargers this season and he has carried the ball 10 times for 69 yards (6.9 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Tolbert has also caught 6 passes for 68 yards (11.3 avg) with a TD grab.  Tolbert is a good special teams player too as he has 13 tackles and a forced fumble so far this year.  Every team would love to have a player like Mike Tolbert and the Chargers are lucky to have him.

Vincent Jackson has given Philip Rivers the deep threat that he has been looking for.  He has caught 29 passes for 561 yards (19.3 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  Jackson has nice size at WR which allows Rivers to essentially just throw the ball up in his direction and let him go get it.  It’s looking like Vincent Jackson is going to be a Pro Bowler this season if he can just keep up the pace he’s on and stay healthy.

24-year old Eric Weddle is playing well for the Chargers this season.   He has played in all six games this season and he has 38 tackles, he has defensed 2 passes, has 2 tackles for a loss, 1 sack and he has 1 interception (which he returned for a TD).  The Chargers really need to play better on run defense as it’s not good to have your safety making so many tackles.

Vincent Jackson had a breakout season last year for the Chargers as he became Philip Rivers’ favorite target down the field.  But this year Jackson has turned into one of the best receivers in all of football.  He has caught 16 passes for 317 yards (19.8 avg) with 2 TD grabs this season.  He is looking like a Pro Bowler right now and with the problems the Chargers have had running the ball look for Jackson to keep putting up huge numbers.

Defensive line issues have led to opposing teams rushing for 142.3 yards and 4.5 yards per carry so far this season against the Chargers.  Linebacker Stephen Cooper has been really busy for the Chargers so far this year.  He has 28 tackles (leads the Chargers), 2 tackles for a loss, he has forced a fumble and defensed two passes.  It’s too bad that the Chargers don’t have a better D-Line to protect Cooper or he would probably have many more tackles this season.

The Chargers wanted to keep Darren Sproles involved in the game despite LaDainian Tomlinson looking healthy.  Sproles got his hands on the football 22 times in the season opener against the Raiders and he was good for 246 total yards.  He carried the ball 9 times for only 23 yards (2.6 ypc) but he scored the game winning TD.  He also caught 5 passes for 43 yards (8.6 avg) in that game on Monday Night.  Sproles was electric on kickoff returns as he had 5 of them for 170 yards (34.0 avg).  He also pitched in with 3 punt returns for 10 yards (3.3 avg).  Sproles might not get to return kicks and punts if LaDainian Tomlinson starts missing playing time due to injury.