SAN DIEGO — Philip Rivers will be replaying the throw in his mind for months.
The Chargers quarterback threw a brutal interception at the worst time and his team is packing up their equipment today in part because of him. At the end of the third quarter he threw from his own 5-yard line into coverage. Jim Leonhard picked it off and set up the Jets go-ahead touchdown.
“Yes, [Vincent Jackson] was coming in on a dig and I just threw it a little too soon and brought him in a little too far,” Rivers said. “It was just not a smart play.”
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Rivers ended up completing 27-of-40 passes for 298 yards and one touchdown, but the two interceptions on back-to-back plays in the third quarter is what will be remembered.
The first was an acrobatic catch by Darrelle Revis, but the second was on Rivers’ head.
“You want to play your best game when you get to this point and we obviously didn’t do it,” he said. “It’s disappointing because you want to make enough plays and play well enough to win the game. We fell three points short but fought like crazy to try to overcome some of those mistakes, but we just didn’t get it done.”