San Diego Chargers staying classy, but have found greatness in 'winning ugly' on top of AFC West with a 31-28 victory over Oakland Raiders

As ESPN's San Diego Chargers reporter Eric D. Williams explains after analysis of  San Diego play, the Chargers have found a way to win close games, consistently. The Chargers 'ugly wins' have San Diego sitting pretty on top of their division, the AFC West, at 5-1. Despite odds placed against San Diego this season, whom will have to oust Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos to maintain their domain of the AFC West, the Chargers are playing very good ball on both sides of the field. The five game winning streak is due to an ugly win against a win-less Oakland Raiders, whom are under new management with Tony Sparano as Head Coach, the win was an underwhelming performance. Nevertheless, Sand Diego Chargers' playmakers found another dogfight on the gridiron, yet again the Chargers came out on top.

Eric D. Williams accounts for the new found Chargers' success thanks to Phillip Rivers. The San Diego Chargers' QB has had the best numbers for QBR (QB Rating) for several weeks and is simply outplaying all other QBs this season in the NFL. Phillip Rivers current QBR is 87.1, two points higher than division rival Peyton Manning (2nd in QBR). For those who have watched Rivers throw throughout the years, despite his lack luster mechanics while throwing, Rivers can flat out play. Phillip has always boasted a dangerous arm on long balls and has a gunslinger's attitude which usually results in big gains through the air. The one aspect which usually hinders Rivers' effectiveness is himself. Rivers has what some would call Brett Favre syndrome, in that he will rifle a shot against multiple defenders or shutdown corners to make a big play happen, this often times creates a fair amount of interceptions accrued alongside touchdowns in a season for Rivers. Now that may sound harsh until you put the numbers on it, Rivers' career total TDs amount to 236 compared to 106 recorded interceptions, statistically that's a 1 of 2 disparity (thereabouts) which leads to problems for Chargers against higher caliber opponents and playoff aspirations.

Eric D. Williams has noted the heightened level of play from Rivers this season, and why that should worry AFC contenders. During Sunday's game, Rivers would throw for 22 of 34 completions accruing 313 yards with 3 TDs, sacked just once and boasted a very respectable 123.8 passer rating. This excellent performance resulting in victory would see another milestone in that it was also Rivers fifth straight game of a recorded 120+ passer rating, who just passed himself, Johnny Unitas and Kurt Warner for a new NFL record which was previously at just four consecutive games (of 120+ passer rating per game). As for interceptions, Rivers can also boast a 15 TDs to 2 interceptions ratio, much more in form with how well Rivers is playing this season. ESPN has projected only three more interceptions for Rivers this season which (if true) should help the Chargers scrap out more close-shave victories, as is their season's theme.

In the grind out victory in O.Co coliseum, the Chargers were happy to see two of their rookies have monster showings as well. Rookie RB Branden Oliver would put up 100+ yards on 26 carries. The strong game from Oliver would be his second straight game of over 100 yards rushing. Rookie Cornerback, Jason Verret, would come up with the game-sealing interception against a desperate David Carr and the Raiders, still starving for their first win of the season. Many Chargers have noticed a new and deadly Chargers team this season, capable on both sides of play. Eric Weddle, San Diego Chargers Free Safety, simple stated "Last year we would have lost this game." Various Chargers feel that this is a different season with a highly focused team, as Weddle additionally pointed out that despite an ugly win, the team will learn from the mistakes and also learned how resilient of a pro football team San Diego has become. Just ask San Diego Head Coach Mike McCoy, who isn't concerned about how pretty the execution is in realtime as he is with stringing together wins no matter how ugly they are, "The great thing is we found a way to win at the end...That's the only thing that matters in this business, is finding a way every Sunday -- or whatever day we're playing -- to win. It's not always going to be perfect." While the San Diego Chargers are indeed not perfect, the team has consistently outplayed their opponents and have positioned themselves nicely into the ensuing playoff picture for the 2014-2015 season.

References:

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/oct/12/chargers-raiders-move-on-acee/

http://espn.go.com/blog/san-diego-chargers/post/_/id/7550/weddle-takes-blame-for-fake-punt-call

http://espn.go.com/blog/san-diego-chargers/post/_/id/7570/chargers-seek-greatness-learn-how-to-win-ugly

http://espn.go.com/blog/san-diego-chargers/post/_/id/7587/morning-links-reaction-to-bolts-31-28

http://espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=400554302


Photography/ Image Courtesy:

Phillip Rivers: Kieth Allison