Tom Brady is far from the only older NFL quarterback playing at a high level for a playoff team.
Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers will lead his team into Gillette Stadium on Sunday for an AFC divisional round matchup against Brady and the New England Patriots, and the 37-year-old signal caller presents plenty of challenges for Bill Belichick's defense.
Rivers threw for 4,308 yards with 32 touchdowns and 12 interceptions to lead the Chargers to a share of the AFC's best record, then helped Los Angeles beat the Baltimore Ravens last weekend to clinch its first divisional round playoff berth since 2013. The Patriots defense needs to give an excellent performance Sunday against a quarterback who Belichick thinks excels in every area.
"Yeah, he's really good at everything," Belichick said Tuesday during a media conference call. "He's very accurate on the deep ball, sees coverages well, sees matchups well, goes to the right place, throws the ball accurately. He's a big, strong guy that can stand in the pocket and handle himself with guys around him. He does a good job at the line of scrimmage of controlling the offense, the protection. Obviously, the offense runs through him and he does a good job of getting the Chargers either into good plays or out of bad plays, however you want to look at it. Obviously, his durability and his consistency – I mean, the guy has started over 200 straight games. That's pretty impressive. He does everything well."
Rivers is in his 15th NFL season, so much like Brady, there probably isn't a defensive scheme he hasn't seen before. This makes it harder to throw a new wrinkle or two in your defensive game plan to fool and confuse him.
"Yeah, I don't think you're going to find something that he's never seen before," Belichick said. "But at the same time I don't think you want to just sit in something and tell him, 'This is what we're in. What do you want to do about it?' I think he'll make you pay for it. You've got to try to keep him off-balance. But yeah, I don’t think you’re going to come up with something he's never seen before. I agree with that."
Rivers will be battling history on Sunday, too. He is 0-7 in his career against the Patriots when Brady plays, including an 0-2 mark in the playoffs.
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However, the Chargers have been the league's best road team this season with an 8-1 record outside of their home stadium. Combine that success with the impressive amount of talent up and down Los Angeles' roster, and it's easy to see why Rivers and the Chargers are a serious threat to dethrone the Patriots in the AFC.
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