Chargers coach unable to help floundering Rivers

The Chargers were 14-2 last year, and have fallen to 5-5 this season. Robert Beck/SI

SAN DIEGO -- When the San Diego Chargers hired Norv Turner to be their head coach, they had to know that he lacked charisma, leadership skills, motivational abilities and the winning touch. But they could be sure that he was qualified for the job in at least one respect: He understood how to develop a young quarterback as well as anybody.

Turner has spent nine months in San Diego and he has already overseen the unraveling of a team that ranked among the best in the NFL, as well as a running back who ranked among the best in NFL history. He has turned a popular Super Bowl pick into a .500 straggler. But considering his past, none of that is very surprising.

The most damning evidence of Turner's tenure is the regression of Philip Rivers. If Turner did nothing else for the Chargers -- if he never even gave a pre-game speech -- he could help Rivers. After all, quarterbacks are his specialty, and Rivers was a promising one. Last season, his first as a starter, he made the Pro Bowl. He was a proud member of the second-tier QBs, the group right below Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.

Today, Rivers finds himself in a totally different class. He ranks 21st in passer rating, behind Joey Harrington. He ranks 21st in completion percentage, behind Brian Griese. He ranks 20th in yards per game, behind Damon Huard. And those other quarterbacks do not enjoy anywhere near the kind of advantages that Rivers does.

He gets to hand off to the most decorated running back in the league, LaDainian Tomlinson. He can throw jump balls to the most dynamic tight end, Antonio Gates. His offensive line is decent. His receiving corps is improved. Opposing defenses generally stack the line-of-scrimmage against the Chargers, giving Rivers open space downfield.

Last season, he lived in those open spaces, taking the Chargers to a 14-2 record. This season, under Turner's stewardship, the Chargers are 5-5. They are still in position to make the playoffs and win the division, but only because the AFC West is so lousy.

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