Rivers, who is 30-6 in December, is one of the league’s toughest outs in a season’s final four games. He’s 29-3 there, a percentage so good that it betters the quarterback he faces this weekend, New England’s Tom Brady, 40-8 over the last four starts of each season.
“I don’t know that there’s any secret to it, other than we just play better down the stretch,” said Rivers. “I think there is an element a lot of those years that our backs are against the wall, and it’s kinda like ‘We’ve got no more breathing room, guys. We’ve got to go right now.’ You’d say, ‘Why wouldn’t you do that six weeks prior?’ We try to. Sometimes when you’re down to your last straw you play your best.”
Rivers plays his best when it matters most, and the proof is in the numbers. Not only does he win five times as many games as he loses in December; he throws over three times as many touchdown passes as interceptions. Part of it is ability. But much of it, Rivers acknowledged, is availability, and he quoted something offensive coordinator Frank Reich – a former quarterback – told him.
“He said, ‘It’s not who’s the toughest; it’s who’s the toughest the longest’,” said Rivers. “Everybody’s tough in this league, but it’s who’s going to be toughest the longest. And that goes into finishing a season.”
