data-mm-id=”_bqiko977f”>Philip Rivers and the Los Angeles Chargers are officially broken up and not getting back together. The two sides opted to "mutually part ways" on Monday, despite the move being telegraphed for weeks. Over most of his 16 years with the organization, the Chargers showed how not to handle a franchise quarterback. His tenure looks like nothing more than a huge missed opportunity. Rivers' play declined this season and rumors of an increasingly frosty relationship with ownership swirled. But the 38-year-old is still the same guy who led the Chargers to a 12-4 record and posted a passer rating of 105.5 in 2018. The two sides are parting ways now because 2019 was a failure and LA wants a new quarterback when it moves into Stan Kroenke's stadium in 2020. The Chargers paid Rivers handsomely over the years, giving him deals in-line with what a franchise quarterbacks get these days, but they rarely protected him or gave him the opportunity to succeed. For the last 12 years, they've turned their backfield into a shooting gallery, with targets aimed right at Rivers' chest. Rivers earned every penny of those contracts, given what he had to deal with. As Gregg Rosenthal pointed out, the Chargers have rated below average in pass protection for 12 consecutive seasons, and ranked 30th and 31st in 2018 and 2019, respectively:The Chargers have finished below average in pass pro for 12(!) straight seasons according to PFF, including 30th and 31st the last 2. Phil Rivers didn’t miss a start.— Gregg Rosenthal (@greggrosenthal) February 10, 2020When a team has a franchise-level quarterback, it has to protect him. That's job No. 1. Job No. 2 is surrounding that quarterback with talent who can make plays. The Chargers put good skill players around Rivers consistently, but never protected him. Frankly, it doesn't matter how many playmakers a quarterback has if he can't get the ball off, doesn't have clean pockets, and can't step up to make proper throws. There's a reason Rivers often couldn't step into throws or floated them — he had to in order to get the throw out before getting hammered. The Chargers have occasionally drafted and invested in the offensive line but rarely pick the right guys. John Spanos and Tom Telesco have been awful at finding good players to protect their most valuable asset. It's worth noting the Chargers also patently refused to target top-level head coaches during Rivers' tenure. After inexplicably firing Marty Schottenheimer in 2006, Rivers was coached by a parade of underachieving former coordinators who should never have been hired. Norv Turner somehow held the Chargers head coaching job for six soul-crushing seasons, Mike McCoy hung on for four awful years, and Anthony Lynn somehow got a contract extension this offseason after a disastrous 5-11 campaign in 2019. Despite years of average coaching and terrible offensive lines, Rivers put up Hall of Fame numbers for the Chargers. He currently ranks sixth all-time in passing yards (59,271), passing touchdowns (397) and completions (4,908), is ninth in completion percentage (64.7 percent), and tied for ninth in yards per attempt (7.8), while also being 10th in passer rating (95.1) and passing yards per game (260.0). He did all of that despite not being protected or put in the best position to succeed for most of his career. Throughout it all, he never once complained or ripped the franchise. Philip Rivers deserved better than what the Chargers gave him. Hopefully he finds a better home at his next stop.
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Having seen their long success streak halted during the group stage, Portugal will look to reaffirm their status as Euro 2024 contenders when they face Slovenia on Monday evening.
Conversely, Slovenia, entering uncharted territory in their inaugural knockout match at a major tournament, will compete in Frankfurt for a chance to face either France or Belgium in the quarterfinals.
Portugal
Despite clinching the top spot in Group F with a game to spare, Portugal s surprising loss to underdogs Georgia on Wednesday night cast a shadow over their otherwise strong Euro 2024 campaign.
Errors by Benfica centre-back Antonio Silva allowed the Georgians to score twice with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia netting a spectacular opener in the s…
Eder was Portugal s unlikely hero as his extra-time goal sealed a first major international honour for his country at the expense of Euro 2016 hosts France.
France dominated for much of the game, against a Portugal side shorn of talismanic captain Cristiano Ronaldo after he sustained a knee injury in the first half.
Tournament top scorer Antoine Griezmann headed over before substitute Andre-Pierre Gignac hit the post in stoppage time.
And Eder stepped up in the second period of extra time, holding off Laurent Koscielny before finding the bottom corner from 25 yards.
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Cristiano Ronaldo lives for goals and will soon find a return to form after a prolonged struggle for Portugal, says veteran team-mate Pepe.
The five-time Ballon d Or winner is yet to find the net at Euro 2024, failing to score in Portugal s first three Group F games as Roberto Martinez s side topped their pool.
Stretching further back, Ronaldo has not scored in any of his last seven appearances for Portugal at major tournaments, his longest such drought across the European Championship and World Cup.
The 39-year-old has had 19 shots across the two competitions since last scoring against Ghana at the 2022 World Cup.
However, Pepe – speaking ahead of the last-16 meeting with Slovenia on Monday – believes his team-mate will soon find his scoring touch.<…
Applications from 128 countries for 216,975 WC2010 tickets were received Saturday via the FIFA website 24 hours after the online tickets went on sale across the globe, FIFA officials said.
The figure excludes hard paper applications handed in by South African residents at the branches of a designated local bank, FIFA said in a statement.
The biggest number of orders came from South Africa, the host, followed by Britain, the United States, Germany, Brazil, Australia, Japan, Mexico, Canada, Switzerland, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain and Argentina.
These are fantastic numbers, underlying yet again the fervour taking hold around the world for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the first on the African continent, David Will, chairman of the FIFA ticketing sub-committee, said.…
David Luiz emerged as a surprise signing for Arsenal as the Gunners completed a busy transfer window by adding a centre-back.
Not many Premier League teams were as active as Unai Emery s men, with Dani Ceballos, Nicolas Pepe and Kieran Tierney also arriving.
Chelsea s transfer ban hampered new boss Frank Lampard, who will need to lean on the younger players in his squad during the coming season.
Losing a trusty lieutenant like David Luiz to a rival in the battle for a top-four finish is hardly ideal and means there will be some last-minute tinkering needed from Chelsea legend Lampard.
Below we analyse how both teams may line up in 2019-20.
ARSENAL
4-3-3: Bernd Leno; Hector Bellerin, David Luiz, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Kieran Tierney; L…
Julen Lopetegui says he expects to be under pressure after West Ham s recent struggles at home but hopes to put that right against Ipswich Town.
West Ham have won just one of their six Premier League matches so far, away to Crystal Palace, but have lost all three of their home fixtures, conceding eight goals and scoring twice.
Having failed to win any of their last four in the league, along with a heavy 5-1 defeat to Liverpool in the EFL Cup before last week s draw at Brentford, Lopetegui is coming under a little pressure already.
However, the Spaniard is not fazed by that, explaining his team are working hard to change their fortunes at the London Stadium.
Always it s very important to win, and that s why we work hard every day. We want to win for sure,…
This game sees A stuttering Chelsea side looking to put their recent troubles behind them and continue their march to premierleague glory against as stubborn Stoke team who now realistically have nothing to play for.
Chelsea looked to be a good length or two ahead until they inexplicably lost to a scintillating Tottenham side last Week and Manchester United won their game to bring them back to just one point behind the leaders. With Chelsea having a couple of tricky games coming up, they will view this match as a must win situation, and I can see that causing them some problems with nerves when they are so close to the summit. Considering that we are so late in the season the Chelsea squad looks strong, but there is one very notable absence. After two bookable offences in his m…
Try as they might, AC Milan simply cannot find the right way to return to the top of Italian football. Following the 5-0 defeat away to Atalanta in their last game of 2019, the seven-time European champions now find themselves in the bottom half of the Serie A table, with only 21 points from 17 games.
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After 2,709 days, Gareth Bale is a Premier League player again.
The Wales star came off the bench in Tottenham s clash with West Ham on Sunday for his first appearance since rejoining on loan from Real Madrid.
He replaced Steven Bergwijn in the 72nd minute, with Tottenham leading 3-0 at the time thanks to two early goals from Harry Kane and a first-minute strike from Son Heung-min.
Bale was straight into the action, having a shot saved almost immediately after his introduction, but West Ham dramatically fought back late on to earn a 3-3 draw.
7 Gareth Bale is making his first Premier League appearance for Tottenham since May 2013, seven years and 152 days ago – it’s the longest gap between appearances for a Tottenham player in the competition’s hist…
Both teams are on bad runs, and on Sunday we’ll see one of them break its losing streak. The Broncos are hosts and have lost four in a row after winning its first three games of the season. Meanwhile, their guests, the Washington Football Team, are losers of three in a row.
Both sides will be hoping that breaking their losing runs could reinvigorate their season, but who will secure the win? Don’t miss our NFL picks and predictions for the Washington Football Team vs. Denver Broncos.
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