What Kept the Chargers Alive

A little while ago I had a post about what was wrong with the Chargers. Now with the Charger's epic comeback to take the AFC West, as well as the quality football they are playing, I didn't think it would make much sense to continue that post, so I decided instead to summarize a few things that kept the Chargers alive.

• The Broncos` They capped one of the biggest collapses in NFL history with their loss to the Chargers, as they were leading the division every week up until the final one. With 3 weeks left to play and with a lead of 3 games the Broncos could not clinch at any of the games and instead allowed the Chargers back into the picture. The Broncos should be the first ones the Chargers thank because without them all their efforts would have equaled nothing.
• Defensive improvement The switch midseason to Ron Rivera may have also saved the Chargers as their defense continues to improve going into the playoffs. The most important aspect were the increased turnovers(10 for Cottrel 14 for Rivera) One big example of the impact these turnovers have can be found in Sunday's game over the Broncos where the two interceptions of Jay Cutler made a win while in game 1 the interceptions were nowhere to be found.
• Philip Rivers Philips stellar play all season kept the Chargers in position to win games, but was often let down by the play of the rest of the team. With improvement all around, Philips efforts finally began to have significance down the stretch with the Chargers winning their last 4 games