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Philip Rivers Reveals Top 5 Memories With the Chargers

PhilipRiversRetireCharger

Philip Rivers has officially retired as a Charger.

The Bolts legendary quarterback played in 239 career games (including the playoffs) with the Chargers, meaning he has a plethora of memories to choose from when picking his favorites.

"Most of the memories are good. There are the handful — a few regular-season games and a few playoff games — that eat at you a little bit," Rivers said. "There's a lot of them, over 200 of them. I can rattle off a lot of them."

He later added: "I don't always pull up all the good ones. Every now and then I'll pull up one where we didn't play so well. That's alright, those games happened, too. They are all part of the story."

With that in mind, here are Rivers' top five favorite memories with the Chargers:

1. A comeback at Arrowhead (x2)

Just kidding. We're actually putting six of Rivers' favorite memories here. Because there were two against the Chiefs he couldn't leave out.

The first was in 2013.

The Chargers and Chiefs traded scores (and the lead) all afternoon long. But when the Chargers trailed by four points with under a minute left, Rivers came up clutch.

He lobbed a perfect 26-yard touchdown pass to Seyi Ajirotutu for a game-winning score that stunned the crowd at Arrowhead Stadium.

And you knew Rivers wasn't going to leave off the 2018 thrilled on the road against the Chiefs.

Both teams had double-digit wins going into the showdown on Thursday Night Football.

Yet Rivers and the Bolts trailed by seven points when they took over at their own 40-yard line with just 2:37 left in regulation.

Things looked bleak for a second, but Rivers' magical connection on fourth-and-8 to Travis Benjamin picked up 26 yards to get the Chargers inside the red zone.

Rivers and Mike Williams took over from there as the wide receiver caught a 1-yard touchdown catch with just four seconds left.

And forget the tie.

The Bolts went for the win on a 2-point play, and Williams found himself all alone to catch a pass that put the Chargers ahead 29-28.

"That comeback, the fourth-down [pass] to Travis and then Mike catching the back-to-back … the touchdown on the back shoulder they reviewed and then the 2-point play, they left him wide open," Rivers said. "That one was special."

Rivers, who threw for 313 yards in the win, notched six career wins at Arrowhead Stadium.

None were sweeter than the 2018 version, which was his final one in Kansas City.

"One of my all-time favorites," Rivers said.

2. 2009 playoff win vs. Colts

Let's just call this 'The Darren Sproles Game.'

The Chargers running back racked up 328 all-purpose yards against Indianapolis, 22 of which came on his walk-off touchdown run in overtime.

Rivers helped get the Chargers in position for a game-tying field goal at the end of regulation. Sproles took it from there with a game-winning touchdown run to cap off an all-time performance.

Rivers still remembers the play call to this day.

"The ones that are easier to go back to are that home Colts playoff game in 2008. Darren Sproles, I Left Slot 30 Iso, walk off," Rivers said.

3. 2006 comeback in Cincinnati

The 2006 season was Rivers' first as the starting QB, and the Bolts were 6-2 as they rolled into Cincinnati for a Week 10 road game.

But the sub-.500 Bengals had other plans against Marty Schottenheimer's bunch as the Chargers found themselves down 28-7 at halftime.

"I was young and getting going, my first year starting," Rivers said. "At halftime I remember Marty kind of saying, 'Let's just get a stop and score and see what happens.' We were getting killed. Then it's little by little."

LaDainian Tomlinson ran for a touchdown before Rivers found Malcolm Floyd for a 46-score to jumpstart the comeback early in the third quarter.

The Chargers kept chipping away — twice pulling to within a field goal — before Tomlinson's fourth rushing score of the day gave the Bolts a 42-41 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Rivers, who threw for 338 yards and three scores on the day, found tight end Brandon Manumaleuna for a pair of second-half touchdowns.

The Chargers won 49-41 and finished the 2006 season with a 14-2 record, the best mark in franchise history.

"Malcolm Floyd had some big plays in that game," Rivers said. "And then Gates and LT had big plays and then Brandon Manumaleuna caught [two] big touchdowns."

4. 2009 comeback at the Giants

The Bolts and Giants went back and forth in a Week 9 road game in what was the final year of Giants Stadium.

Rivers and the Chargers found themselves down 20-14 with two minutes left, meaning a field goal wasn't going to cut it.

The quarterback led the offense on an eight-play, 80-yard drive that ended with Vincent Jackson hauling in an 18-yard touchdown catch with just 21 seconds left.

"I think of the 2009 Giants game, the last year of the old Giants Stadium where Vincent Jackson catches the touchdown on the 2-minute drive," Rivers said. "That was awesome."

Rivers threw three touchdowns on the day as the Chargers improved to 5-3 on the season.

Top photos of Philip Rivers through the years from NC State to today.

5. 2013 primetime road win in Denver

The Chargers were 6-7 as they stared down the final four games of the 2013 season.

Up first? A Thursday Night Football duel on the road in Denver against the 11-2 Broncos.

Rivers threw for just 166 yards in the eventual 27-20 win, which turned into a coming out party for Keenan Allen. The rookie wide receiver had two catches for 29 yards but found the end zone on both receptions.

"The big win in 2013 at Denver on a Thursday night. That was huge," Rivers said. "Keenan Allen jumping over them on that shallow route and scoring to keep us alive for the playoffs that year."

The Chargers possessed the ball for 38 minutes and 49 seconds to keep Peyton Manning and Co. off the field.

The win ignited a four-game win streak as the Bolts finished 9-7 and secured a Wild Card playoff berth.


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