Philip Rivers has had some really good days throwing the football in his NFL career. Sunday's start against the Cardinals might be the best one yet.
Rivers set an NFL record by completing 25 straight passes to start the game in a 45-10 demolition of the Cardinals at StubHub Center. Rivers also tied Ryan Tannehill's record of 25 consecutive completions (which he accomplished over two games in 2015) before one finally hit the ground.
Rivers went 19/19 in the first half as the Bolts ran out to a 28-10 lead. The previous mark for most completions to start a game was 22, set by Mark Brunell. Rivers plowed past that in the 3rd quarter then hit his 25th in a row thanks to a fantastic catch by wide receiver Keenan Allen, who planted both feet just inbounds and hauled in a 5-yard TD catch while falling down.
Philip's only incompletion came on his next attempt when he got hit as he threw and the ball fluttered to the turf in front of what was called a sellout crowd of 25,343 at StubHub Center in Carson even though multiple sections were not even half-filled at any point during the game.
That turned out to be the only incompletion of the day for Rivers. He hit three more to finish 28/29 for 259 yards and three touchdowns, giving him the highest single-game completion percentage (96.6%) in NFL history (minimum 20 attempts).
Rivers didn't play the entire 4th quarter. After Austin Ekeler ran for a 2-yard TD to make it 42-10 he was replaced by Geno Smith.
The Cardinals actually scored the first 10 points of the game. Arizona took the opening drive 76 yards in nine plays and scored on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Josh Rosen to Larry Fitzgerald. They got a field goal on their next possession and were shut out for the rest of the game.
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Chargers defensive end Joey Bosa, in his second game back from a foot injury, sacked Rosen twice.
The Chargers improve to 8-3 and are one game behind the Chiefs in the AFC West. They also have control of the top Wild Card spot in the AFC. The Cardinals drop to 2-9 and are in the hunt for the top overall pick in next year's NFL Draft.
