Philip Rivers: Jaguars must capitalize on QB’s mistakes

Philip Rivers has struggled at times in games through the 2015 regular season and the Jacksonville Jaguars must take advantage.

A bit of a lost season for Philip Rivers, the talented San Diego Chargers quarterback, may give rise to the superficial belief that the Chargers will be a team easily bowler over.

As the Jacksonville Jaguars gear up to take on the Chargers, it’s important to not get lost in the overall record and instead focus on what the Chargers really are: a dangerous team playing much worse than their talent would indicate. They are playing down right now.

The Jags are only slightly better than the 2-8 Chargers, entering the game with a 4-6 record. A big reason for the recent success has been an increase in turnovers, led by cornerback Davon House.

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Behind House’s two interceptions and forced fumble over the last two games, the Jags have surged forward. If they can keep winning the turnover battle, that surge could potentially continue.

The Chargers are not especially great at keeping hold of the ball, having lost 16 turnovers as a team this season (16th in the NFL). Philip Rivers has accounted for 11 of those turnovers, including eight interceptions and three fumbles.

In order to beat the Chargers, the Jags D will have to take advantage.

Rivers is throwing an interception on just 1.9 percent of his passes, which is a top-10 rate for quarterbacks in 2015. Passing more than any other quarterback (420 attempts to this point) may put the statistics in the Jaguars’ favor, but it’s the fumbles that may be the most appealing turnover opportunity.

Suffering through 24 sacks so far this season (ninth in the NFL), Rivers is being taken down regularly by opposing defenses. If the Jaguars can continue to get to the quarterback, they could force some turnovers.

Rivers is one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL and has been for some time. He isn’t going to be taken down easily by the Jaguars and he isn’t going to make mistakes independently. That makes taking advantage of his mistakes all the more important.

Next: Kick the Chargers while they are down

The Jags have had a strong run of opportunism. They will need that to continue through efforts in the secondary and from those rushing the passer. Philip Rivers will be the key in this game as the Jags hope to make something happen defensively to get an edge.