The enigma that is the 2015 San Diego Chargers continues to confound. The Bolts snapped their 6-game losing skid with a 31-25 win in Jacksonville thanks in large part to the feet of Philip Rivers.
Yes, I said the feet. Not the arm, the feet. In the fourth quarter the Chargers faced a 4th and 7 just inside Jaguars territory. Jacksonville had just scored a TD on a 4th and 7 okay of its own when quarterback Blake Bortles hit tight end Julius Thomas for a 21-yard score to cut the San Diego lead to 24-19.
Perhaps inspired by that success, head Coach Mike McCoy decided to go for it and Rivers, who had 10 rushing yards for the entire season, scrambled for 8 yards, diving out of bounds for a first down to sustain the drive. He finished it with a short touchdown pass to wide receiver Stevie Johnson to put the game away.
It was the final touch on a tremendous day for Rivers, who threw four touchdown passes, two to tight end Antonio Gates and one to wide receiver Dontrelle Inman, without a turnover.
The Bolts took control of the game late in the second quarter when Rivers hit Gates for a 9-yard touchdown. A few plays later linebacker Manti Te'o intercepted Bortles to set the Bolts up at the Jags 22 yard line. Just three plays later Rivers hit Gates again from 12 yards out to put San Diego up 21-9 at halftime.
San Diego's defense gave up its share of yards but played well close to the goal line. The Jaguars got in to the Red Zone three times but only came away with nine points.
Of course, in true Chargers fashion the Jags made it a lot closer than it should have been. A blocked punt with less than two minutes to play set up a Bortles TD pass to wide receiver Allen Robinson to make it 31-25 and give Jags fans hops for a miracle finish but their onside kick attempt was unsuccessful.
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Jaguars kicker Jason Myers, a Chula Vista native, made all four of his field goal attempts for the Jaguars.
The Chargers improve to 3-8 while the Jaguars fall to 4-7 on the season.
