Rivers, Chargers pummel Jaguars to snap skid
Philip Rivers threw for 314 yards and three touchdowns Sunday as the visiting Los Angeles Chargers routed the skidding Jacksonville Jaguars 45-10.
Rivers completed 16 of 22 passes, averaging nearly 20 yards per completion, as Los Angeles improved to 5-8 and snapped a three-game losing streak. Running back Austin Ekeler added 213 total yards from scrimmage, including an 84-yard touchdown reception just 1:07 into the third quarter that was the longest scoring pass of Rivers' 16-year career.
Rookie quarterback Gardner Minshew hit 24 of 37 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown, finding tight end Nick O'Leary for a 12-yard scoring strike with 5:48 left in the third quarter. All that did was cut the Chargers' lead to 31-10.
Rivers promptly fired a 44-yard touchdown pass to Mike Williams with 1:51 on the clock, Williams' first score of the year. It was part of a 525-yard barrage for Los Angeles, which has outscored its opponents by 38 points on the season despite its losing record.
As for the Jaguars (4-9), they have lost five in a row, each loss coming by at least 17 points. Not even a switch from veteran Nick Foles back to Minshew, who started eight games after Foles was injured in Week 1, could spark the Jaguars.
Jacksonville broke the scoring seal with a 26-yard field goal by Josh Lambo with 7:23 left in the first quarter, capping a game-opening drive of more than 7 1/2 minutes. But its lead lasted only 1:37, with the Chargers going ahead on Melvin Gordon's 1-yard touchdown run three plays later.
Derek Watt scored from the 1 with 5:18 remaining in the first half for a 14-3 lead, and Los Angeles broke it open just before halftime. Rivers found Hunter Henry for a 30-yard scoring strike at the 1:34 mark, and Michael Badgley converted a 40-yard field goal with three seconds left to make it 24-3 at intermission.
Backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor capped the Chargers' scoring with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Virgil Green with 10:53 left in the game.
--Field Level Media