49ers vs. Chargers: How San Francisco can stop Philip Rivers

The beat-down San Francisco 49ers’ defense will face a hot Los Angeles Chargers offense led by quarterback Philip Rivers. How can the defense stop him?

Being a Philip Rivers fantasy football owner for the past two years, I’m pretty acclimated to the legendary quarterback.

The Los Angeles Chargers signal-caller is someone people don’t like to talk about or hype up. I always find myself being able to pick him up in the second-last round of fantasy drafts, and he always gives me a ton of points. Even outside of fantasy, however, he isn’t the most-talked about guy.

Everybody knows him for his consistency and respects the hell out of him, but he won’t ever get the star treatment that other good quarterbacks, such as what the Seattle Seahawks’ Russell Wilson or Carolina Panthers’ Cam Newton will get.

Rivers doesn’t need to be hyped up to play well, though. He is a true gunslinger and will get his yards through the air, something that San Francisco 49ers fans know all too well.

Nothing has changed for the 36-year-old quarterback, who has thrown for eight touchdowns to just one interception so far this year, giving him a gaudy 115.7 passer rating. To give context, the Niners’ own Jimmy Garoppolo had a 96.2 passer rating in his five wins last year that gave him a record-breaking contract.

If there is any way San Francisco can stop Rivers, it will be by pressuring him in the pocket and taking away second-year wide receiver Mike Williams from the game.

Rivers is not the most athletic quarterback — he has only rushed three times this season, and two of them were quarterback kneels. He is not a threat to run the ball and is not great at scrambling around the pocket to improvise and make something out of nothing. If the 49ers do a good job of giving him pressure, Rivers will be forced to throw the ball away or take a sack.

Any Chargers fan knows their quarterback tends to like to throw to big-bodied receivers. He loved targeting tight ends Antonio Gates and Hunter Henry throughout his career. But with Henry on injured reserve and Gates aging, the 6-foot-3 Williams is Rivers’ go-to guy. The former first-round pick out of Clemson has already caught three touchdowns this season and has appeared to establish a clear rapport with Rivers.

If 6-foot-3 cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon can lock him up, then the defense will have a much better afternoon in Los Angeles.

Even so, it will be hard for this 49ers defense, who allowed Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes to throw for 314 yards and three touchdowns, to limit Rivers in the passing game, especially with cornerback Richard Sherman out with a calf strain and Witherspoon taking a step back in play quality due to an ankle injury.

The defense is seriously underperforming right now, and that trend will likely continue into Week 4.

More importantly, if defensive coordinator Robert Saleh does not have his defense keep Rivers under control, he will be one step closer to being on the chopping block.