In 2008, Rivers led the NFL in multiple categories including touchdown passes (34), passer rating (105.5), yards per pass attempt (8.4), and adjusted yards per attempt (8.8). In Week 2, against the Denver Broncos, he had a season-high 377 passing yards, three touchdowns, and one interception in the 39–38 loss. On December 28, 2008, Rivers set the Chargers team record for touchdown passes in a season with 34, a record previously held by Dan Fouts, who had 33 in 1981. After a 4–8 start, Rivers threw 11 touchdown passes and one interception to win the final four games of the season, winning the AFC West division on a season-finale 52–21 tie-breaking win over the Denver Broncos. On January 3, 2009, in the , the San Diego Chargers defeated the Indianapolis Colts to advance to the AFC Divisional Playoff. Rivers led the Chargers down the field down three points with under two minutes left. He set up Nate Kaeding for a game-tying field goal that would lead to overtime, where the Chargers would go on to win 23–17, thanks to a Darren Sproles touchdown. In the 35–24 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Rivers played well, throwing for over 300 yards and three touchdowns, but was sacked four times and threw an interception. They possessed the ball for only 17 seconds during the third quarter and had only 15 yards rushing.