San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers is facing a potentially grim proposition entering this weekend's game against a deep and talented Green Bay Packers team. Sure, he'll have future Hall of Fame tight end Antonio Gates for a second week in a row and sure, he'll still be enjoying the services of Keenan Allen, Stevie Johnson, Melvin Gordon and Danny Woodhead. But all of those weapons may matter little if Rivers doesn't remain upright long enough to toss them a few passes. And with the Chargers down three starters and a key backup on the offensive line, Rivers' hope, and that of Chargers fans, may be all but lost already.
"I don't see this being that close," an executive in personnel for an AFC team told Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "I don't know who's going to be playing in the offensive line. Philip might be a sitting duck back there."
A lack of stability at center, where both Chris Watt and Trevor Robinson have seemed reluctant to lay claim to the starting spot via consistent play on a snap-to-snap basis, is the lynchpin that has left the entire unit reeling. Robinson seems likely to take over against Green Bay after Watt suffered a concussion against the Steelers to go along with his already ailing groin, but that likely offers little solace for the San Diego faithful who have watched as King Dunlap, Orlando Franklin, Watt and Chris Hairston have all gone down with injuries. Rivers has already been sacked 14 times this season. Only three quarterbacks - Russell Wilson (22), Alex Smith (21) and Colin Kaepernick (16) - have been sacked more.
Making matters worse, the beleaguered Chargers offensive line is about to square off with a Packers pass rush that currently ranks second in the NFL with 20 sacks. Over the past three games, they have a league-high 16 quarterback takedowns, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN. Clay Matthews and Nick Perry, with 4.5 and 3.5 sacks respectively, are first and second in the league over that span.
Against the Rams this past weekend, the Packers put 14 hits on St. Louis quarterback Nick Foles.
While Rivers is more athletic and possesses a quicker trigger than Foles, it's a potential recipe for disaster if the new-look Chargers offensive line can't provide some protection and/or open up some holes in the run game early.
If they can give Rivers time, the Chargers could do some damage as Gates and Co. look like a good matchup against the Packers young secondary. But if they can't and Rodgers is able to run the Pack out to a good-sized lead, this game could get ugly quick as the improving Green Bay pass rush tees off on Rivers.
