INDIANAPOLIS — Quarterback Philip Rivers has emerged from retirement looking to lead the Indianapolis Colts to the playoffs.
Two games after his return, their post-season hopes were all but dashed.
While the 44-year-old grandfather gave fans plenty to cheer in the first three and a half quarters, San Francisco linebacker Dee Winter made Rivers pay for a late mistake, returning an interception 74 yards for a touchdown with 3:26 to seal the 48-27 victory — and perhaps the Colts' postseason fate.
“There’s no prize for losing,” Rivers said. “I know this locker room is hurting again. I've been a part of it for a short time, two losses, and I know it's been a long fall for over a month now. I know it's tough because I've been a part of these slides. We just have to find a way to dig deep and find a way to win a football game.”
On Monday night, after a full week of practice, Rivers looked much more like his younger self.
He led the Colts (8-7) to a score on their first possession, regularly drove Indy down the field, immediately tested the 49ers' secondary with a deep pass on the game's first drive and even returned to his dirty talk.
Rivers was 23 of 35 for 277 yards and two touchdown passes despite playing behind an offensive line that started the game without any starting tackles and then lost starting center Tanor Bortolini with just three plays in the game.
The bigger problem was the defense, which allowed a total of 440 yards and never forced a punt as Indy lost by 20 points for the first time all season.
But Rivers didn't appreciate the blame for a game in which he tried to evade a group of young, hungry players eager to impress the star quarterback they grew up watching.
“Playing against him felt unreal,” Winters said. “To get a Pick-6 from him, all I could hear was my heartbeat and my adrenaline level.”
However, Rivers got into a good rhythm against a Niners defense that expected to see the same approach from the first run with some of the quick throws that Rivers delivered last week in Seattle.
Instead, he repeatedly found Josh Downs, who had five catches for 65 yards, initially and later, four times for 86 yards and two touchdowns, connecting with Alec Pierce. Neither player was playing for the Colts when Rivers last started at Lucas Oil Stadium in January 2021.
“I thought he played very well except for one play at the end,” coach Shane Steichen said. “But I thought he was on fire the whole game. He put the ball in the right spots every time. He only had one play at the end, but overall I thought he was really good.”
But with the Colts chasing the ball late in the fourth, Rivers also failed to make the catch when he was sacked. Then an errant throw ended Indy's chance in that game, leaving him with only a slim chance the rest of the season.
“The name of the game is winning, and that's what they did. They did it,” Rivers said. “But I feel like offensively we're going to move the ball. But our job is to score more points than the other team, whatever that (number) is. Last week it was 18 and we couldn't do it. This week it would have been 41 if I didn't throw a Pick-6 and we didn't do it.”
