The San Diego Chargers aren’t a very good football team, but Philip Rivers and Keenan Allen are playing at unreal levels this season. Blame it on the running game which has been a disaster, or the defense that has forced San Diego to play from behind in just about every game this season, but both Rivers and Allen are on pace to set NFL records.
Rivers has been a monster for fantasy owners this season. He’s averaged 390 yards and 2.5 touchdowns per game over his last four weeks, good enough for nearly 100 fantasy points in that span.
He has 215 completions during his first seven games, more than any other quarterback in NFL history. Rivers struggled in the first half against the Oakland Raiders in Week 7, but he amassed tons of garbage points after the Chargers were down by 30 in the third quarter.
Rivers is in for a juicy matchup against Baltimore this week, a team that has been destroyed by opposing quarterbacks. The Ravens are 28th in the NFL in passing defense, which means another huge day for Rivers. Even without Antonio Gates in the lineup, Rivers has found solace with Allen and Ladarius Green. At this point, it doesn’t really matter who lines up at wide receiver for San Diego, because Rivers will find a way to get them the ball.
Rivers has been especially fond of Allen, who has hauled in 62 catches through his first seven games, another NFL record. This is especially impressive because Allen finished two of those games with a combined six catches.
With the exception of his Week 2 debacle where he finished with just 16 yards on two grabs, Allen is averaging 14.2 fantasy points per game. He has been the biggest beneficiary of the Chargers pass-heavy offense with 38 targets over his last three games.
If not for a controversial pass interference call that took a touchdown away from him in the closing minutes against Oakland, Allen would’ve finished with double-digit fantasy points for the fourth time in five games.