Rivers flows as Bolts shock Packers

By Ben McCoy  |   Sunday, August 13, 2006  |  Comments( 0 )

San Diego Chargers
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High expectations were met in stride by former North Carolina State standout Philip Rivers during San Diego's preseason debut Saturday night against the Green Bay Packers.

Rivers completed 15-of-21 passes for 169 yards during his time on the field in the first half. In the opening series, he hooked up with wide receiver Vincent Jackson for a 22-yard touchdown pass to cap a 64-yard drive. On the Chargers' first possession in the second quarter, Rivers led the offense down the field on a huge 18-play, 86-yard drive ending with a 13-yard scoring run by Michael Turner. The third quarter produced a 23-yard field goal by kicker Nate Kaeding to give the Chargers a 17-0 edge against the visiting Packers.

Coach Marty Schottenheimer praised the performance of the first-year starting quarterback.

"I thought he played excellent," Schottenheimer said. "He played pretty much like I expect him to."

Rivers' evaluation remained cool and collected.

"We threw a lot of completions, threw a touchdown pass," Rivers said. "It was a good start. We had some things we didn't do well, but it's early. It's just what you want to do in the first preseason game."

On the defensive side of the ball, the Bolts performed their duties equally well, holding the Packers to a mere 89 yards during the first half, in contrast to an impressive first half gain of 204 yards by the San Diego Chargers.

For Packers fans, the story was a little less than inspiring. Brett Favre completed only 5-of-10 passes for 66 yards and was on the receiving end of two sacks in the first quarter of play. The Packers managed to avoid a shutout by a fourth quarter 23-yard chip shot by kicker Billy Cundiff to make the final score 17-3.

Get more San Diego Chargers recaps and insights at Realfootball365.com
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