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SD-JAX Grades: Rivers bounces back to snap Chargers’ skid

Here are the top takeaways and the highest graded players from the Chargers’ 31-25 win over the Jaguars.

San Diego Chargers

– QB Philip Rivers (+6.0) was masterful on Sunday. Coming off of his second lowest grade of the season last week (-2.3 vs. Kansas City), Rivers put up his best grade of the season yesterday in Jacksonville. He only attempted four passes all game that traveled at least 20 yards in the air, but he was superb in the short-to-intermediate game; Rivers was 29 of 35 with 248 yards and all four of his touchdowns were on throws that traveled 19 yards or fewer in the air. Rivers also posted the highest rushing grade (+1.1) of his career – well, dating back to 2007 when PFF started grading players – gaining 14 yards on three scrambles, including a huge 8-yard pickup on 4th down to keep their 4th quarter touchdown drive alive.

– RB Melvin Gordon (+0.8) still hasn’t found the end zone but he looked much better this week than he has been. Gordon posted his first rushing grade (+1.1) of at least +1.0 since he had a +1.2 in Week 4 against Cleveland. 51 of his 60 yards on Sunday came after contact and he forced five missed tackles. He certainly didn’t leave many yards out on the field.

– Rookie LB Denzel Perryman (+3.2) hadn’t played much the first ten weeks of the season but he has a +6.7 overall grade over the last two weeks while being in on 56% of San Diego’s defensive snaps. He posted a +3.3 run defense grade yesterday while leading the Chargers with six stops.

Top performers:

QB Philip Rivers (+6.0)
RT Joe Barksdale (+4.9)
LB Denzel Perryman (+3.2)
LT Chris Hairston (+2.9)
CB Patrick Robinson (+2.7)

Jacksonville Jaguars

– DE Andre Branch (-3.7) had a rough game in what’s been a disappointing season so far (-12.7 overall for the year). Branch was in on 57 snaps but it would be understandable if you didn’t notice him out there; he managed just one pressure on 43 pass rushing attempts and didn’t record a single tackle, or even assist on a tackle.

– One positive Jaguar fans can take away from Sunday was the overall good play of the offensive line. As a unit, they posted an overall grade of +8.3 and allowed just six total pressures (all hurries) in pass protection. They were lead by LG Zane Beadles (+3.9) who bounced back after having four straight games at either -1.4 or below.

– Sunday was definitely not QB Blake Bortles’ (-1.4) best performance. Bortles struggled mightily at throwing the ball downfield; he was just 6 of 20 with 139 yards, one touchdown, one interception and a -1.7 PFF Grade on throws that traveled at least 10 yards in the air. That aforementioned interception was a brutal one as he misread the coverage and didn’t see Manti Te’o sitting underneath as he tried to hit Allen Robinson (+0.9) on a post route. The pick set up Philip Rivers with great field position and they scored three plays later to turn a five point lead into a 12 point lead right before the break.

Top performers:

LG Zane Beadles (+3.9)
C Stefan Wisniewski (+2.0)
LB Telvin Smith (+1.9)
RG A.J. Cann (+1.4)
DT Roy Miller (+1.3)

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