Former Chargers’ Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates will forever be linked as one of the most successful quarterback and tight end duos in NFL history.
The two connected for 89 touchdowns over the course of 13 seasons, which is the most ever by a quarterback-tight end duo.
Along the way, Rivers and Gates had phenomenal seasons, some of which were tabbed as the best individual campaigns of the past decade.
ESPN compiled a list of the best teams and players of the past decade by using Football Outsiders metrics: DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average) for teams and DYAR (Defense-adjusted Yards Above Replacement) for players.
Rivers’ 2013 season ranked No. 10 by a quarterback in the 2010s.
10. Philip Rivers, 2013 Chargers (1,793 DYAR)
Rivers’ finest year by DVOA and QBR was 2009, but this was the year he set career highs in both DYAR and completion rate (69.5%). He threw for 280 yards per game (8.2 yards per attempt) with 32 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Rivers added 8.0 yards per attempt in two playoff games but the Chargers fell to the Broncos 24-17 in the divisional round. Rivers’ main receivers were Keenan Allen, Antonio Gates, and Danny Woodhead.
In 2013, Rivers had a 69.5 completion percentage, while throwing for 4,478 yards, 32 touchdowns, 11 interceptions and 8.6 yards per attempt.
Three years prior to that, Gates put up the second-best season by a tight end.
2. Antonio Gates, 2010 Chargers (361 DYAR)
Gates’ greatest season wasn’t even a full season. Gates was only healthy for the first half of the 2010 season, suffering plantar fasciitis that limited him to just two games after October. But in the 10 games he did play, he was remarkable. The standard stats — 50 catches, 782 yards, 10 touchdowns — don’t quite do it justice. Gates had a touchdown in every game he played that season but two. He had a 77% catch rate, the highest in his career and the highest of any tight end with at least 30 targets that year. What’s more remarkable is that Gates did all this even though he was the only elite target Philip Rivers had in 2010. Vincent Jackson played only five games; San Diego’s leading starters at wide receiver were Malcom Floyd and Legedu Naanee.
