Chargers are a different team this season

We're constantly told that Philip Rivers is the best quarterback in the NFL without a championship ring.

While San Diego always seems to find a way to botch things at the end of the season, Rivers consistently is one of the league's top-rated quarterbacks. In the past three seasons, he finished No. 2, No. 3 and No. 1 in the quarterback ratings. No other quarterback in the league can say that; no one else has statistically performed that well over that period of time.

Yet there's really only one stat that matters to Rivers. The Chargers have won four of their first five games, which is why Rivers isn't all that concerned about his slow start this season.

In a rare reversal of the recent, the Chargers are winning while Rivers is struggling. San Diego enters Sunday's game against the Jets looking for its fourth straight win, though Rivers has thrown more interceptions (seven) than touchdown passes (six).

"In the past years, we've had some gaudy numbers, and we've had number one offense and number one defense in the league and gone up and down the field, but we haven't found a way to win games," Rivers said heading into last weekend's bye week. "This year, we've found ways to win. We haven't played great, necessarily, but we've done the little things that give us chances to win."

Rivers apparently isn't content to be the next Jim Kelly, the next Dan Marino. He doesn't want to finish his career as a great player who failed to win it all on the game's biggest stage. And so he believes it is critical that the Chargers continue their winning ways this weekend in New Jersey.

The Jets (3-3) are looking to win back-to-back games for the first time since winning their first two games of the season.

Part of the reason for Rivers' slow start this season could be the absence of tight end Antonio Gates, who has been struggling with plantar fasciitis in his right foot. He returned to practice Friday for the first time since Week 2. A healthy Gates could be the Jets' worst nightmare, as they've had more than their fair share of problems with athletic tight ends before.

The Jets still fancy themselves as an elite defense and enter the game knowing that the last time they played the Chargers -- in an AFC divisional playoff game in January 2010-- they were able to pressure Rivers and force him into costly mistakes. A repeat performance against the Chargers' mostly vertical passing game, featuring 6-5 receivers Vincent Jackson and Malcom Floyd, would go a long way toward solidifying the Jets' reputation as a defense to be reckoned with.

"They're very challenging," Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis said. "One of the best quarterbacks in the league. He's a gunslinger. And their passing game is all vertical They've got two 6-foot-5 NBA players out there; LeBron James is out there. Two guys who can really go up and get the ball, and they do a great job."

Revis brushed off the fact that Rivers' seven interceptions are tied for second-most in the AFC this year. "Philip has great accuracy," he said. "He has a big arm."

And he has a big desire to keep the winning ways going. The Chargers haven't won five of their first six games since 2002, and the Jets present a much bigger challenge than the teams they have beaten. The Chargers' four victories came against teams with a combined 4-17 record, so Rivers knows he has to play better than he has.

Said Rivers: "It hasn't been an easy 4-1, and I think that keeps you real critical of yourself. It allows you to know you've got areas to improve in because it hasn't just been a smooth few weeks . . . We've had to fight wins out and we haven't played necessarily great, but we've played good enough."