North Carolina State University Athletics
Rivers Gets Feet Wet
1/3/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Jan. 3, 2005
By BERNIE WILSON, The Associated Press
SAN DIEGO -- Doug Flutie got to scramble around as he does so well and a nervous Philip Rivers threw his first NFL touchdown pass. Now they get to give Drew Brees his job back.
Flutie and Rivers each threw a touchdown pass and the San Diego Chargers warmed up for their first playoff game in nine seasons by beating the Kansas City Chiefs 24-17 on Sunday in what was little more than an exhibition.
Having clinched the AFC West title two weeks earlier and the AFC's No. 4 seed a week ago, the Chargers rested Pro Bowlers Brees, LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates, as well as defensive tackle Jamal Williams.
The Chargers will host the New York Jets on Saturday in a first-round playoff game.
"We're excited about it. We definitely owe them one," Brees said. "I don't think we could write it up any better."
The Jets beat the Chargers 34-28 in San Diego on Sept. 19, but that was before Brees and his teammates got it together. San Diego has won nine of 10 going into the playoffs, the only loss coming a week ago at Indianapolis, 34-31 in overtime.
Even with a number of scrubs playing, San Diego (12-4) was still too much for Kansas City (7-9), which had its four-game winning streak snapped.
Kansas City's Tony Gonzalez set the NFL's single-season record for catches by a tight end with 102. He broke the old record of 96 set by Ben Coates in 1994. Gonzalez's 14 catches were a Chiefs single-game record, breaking Ed Podolak's record of 12 set in 1973.
The Chargers tied the club record for victories in a season, set in 1961 and matched in 1979.
Rivers, the prized rookie who's been kept on the bench by Brees' inspired play, threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Malcolm Floyd midway through the fourth quarter for a 24-3 lead.
Rivers wasn't nearly as nervous then as he was when he took over for Flutie starting the second half and the Chargers leading 17-3.
Rivers had a serious case of happy feet, and his first pass attempt was an awkward shovel pass that missed Bobby Shaw. After Michael Turner ran for 2 yards, Rivers completed his first pass, a screen to Turner that resulted in a 5-yard loss.
Rivers' only other action this season was mop-up duty in a 26-point win over New Orleans on Nov. 7.
"It was a bumpy start of my career, in a game that counted," Rivers said. "I didn't play great, and I made some mistakes. But if you can do that, get your first touchdown pass and hang on for the win to get to 12-4, you can find a lot of positives."
Rivers, who missed practice Friday to be with his wife for the birth of their second child, was 5-of-8 for 33 yards. Flutie was 13-of-22 for 199 yards.
Although Rivers was the second-string quarterback most of the season and Flutie the third-stringer, they'll flip-flop for the playoffs.
