2016 proved to be very difficult for the San Diego Chargers’ offense which ultimately led to their 4-12 record. Philip Rivers, however, managed to put up statistics at an elite level despite having the worst record of his career. Rivers finished the season with 4792 passing yards (2nd in the NFL), 299.5 yds/game (3rd), 437 attempts and 661 completions (1st) and 29 touchdowns with 13 interceptions. But with only 4 wins, the discussions of Rivers playing at that elite level gets lost in discussion.

Although most press conferences will show Rivers placing the blame on himself for a loss, there were almost no instances where he cost the outcome of a game. In fact, the only reason why the Chargers weren’t facing a winless season was because of Rivers’ ability to adapt and adjust to the surrounding weaknesses of the team. So what is the real problem to which Philip Rivers should be placing the blame on?

There is only one recurring problem; the offensive line.

Many will argue that the run game or even the defense caused the meltdown of the 2016 season, but the offensive line has gotten progressively worse in the past three years and has finally shown that they are the weakest link in this offense:

Rush Yards Yards/Carry QB Sacks QB Hits 2013 1965 (13th) 4 (23rd) 30 60 2014 1367 (30th) 3.4 (31st) 37 75 2015 1358 (31st) 3.5 (32nd) 40 107

Melvin Gordon’s arrival hasn’t made a difference, so it’s hard to say that he’s attributed much to the losing record if his addition hasn’t done anything. What’s alarming here is the amount of QB sacks and hits being allowed. Fortunately, Rivers has magically avoided injury and even managed to have one of the better statistical seasons he’s ever had. According to ProFootballFocus.com, Rivers completed 71% of his passes while under duress, and with having to see Tamba Hali, Khalil Mack, and Von Miller yearly through divisional games, that’s quite a feat.

Most accurate QBs under pressure in 2015:



1. Sam Bradford, 74.6%

2. Carson Palmer, 72.2%

3. Russell Wilson, 71.6%

4. Philip Rivers, 71.0% — Pro Football Focus (@PFF) May 23, 2016

Injuries played a major role, forcing the coaching staff to readjust the offensive line and make a total of seven starting linemen combinations. OT Joe Barksdale was the only player on the offensive line who managed to stay healthy and start all 16 games.

General Manager Tom Telesco appears to be busy this off-season in an attempt to fix an obvious wrong; no major names are included in this list of new additions. Barksdale was re-signed for 4 years as well as OT Chris Hairston for 2 years, but no success was made on obtaining any free agency monsters of the same position. Telesco had an opportunity to draft an OT in this years draft at number 3 overall, but instead drafting Joey Bosa. Not a terrible choice when thinking about keeping up with the times of having franchise pass rushers. Eventually, C Max Tuerk and G Donavon Clark were drafted in the 3rd and 7th round.

With a lot of moving parts, it seems that the offensive line has been addressed but not with the same heightened sense of urgency as one would expect. With the decline of the offensive line production and no ‘splash’ on newly acquired offensive linemen, Philip Rivers may see another season of pass rushers coming his way and views from his backside. Even more, Rivers’ window of opportunity to get to a Super Bowl may be coming to a close.