According to ESPN NFL Insiders Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano, the feedback from league circles regarding unretired longtime veteran quarterback Philip Rivers’ first return performance in nearly five years was largely positive (relatively speaking) following this past Sunday’s tough road loss to the Seattle Seahawks:
Fowler: The overall feedback was that he was reasonably good, all things considered. “He played about as well as he could have,” an NFL offensive coach said. And that’s the challenge
of playing a 44-year-old off the couch — “as well as he could have” equals 120 passing yards. And he had to strain for that 120. The football wasn’t exactly popping out of his right hand.
The Colts were never expecting fireworks from Rivers. But he ran a clean operation against an elite Seahawks defense on the road and seemed to get the Colts in the proper plays. He was ready to dirt the ball when pressure collapsed and made a few timely throws. That’s all Colts coach Shane Steichen can ask at this stage. Driving the ball deep downfield will be a struggle, and I’m curious to see how Rivers responds physically after back-to-back games. Do you have the Colts sneaking into the playoffs with Rivers?
Graziano: I do not, largely because of the way the teams in front of them are playing. The Jaguars and Texans have turned it on in the latter half of the season and look considerably better than the Colts right now. I understand what Indianapolis is trying to do with Rivers, and I’m hearing the same things you are about how pleased the Colts were with his ability to get them in and out of the right looks, change protections and all those things he needs to do to manage a game.
But it does not appear as if he will elevate them, and they’re going to need some help to get in — even if they can run the table. That won’t be easy, as they need to beat the 49ers this week and win their head-to-head matchups against the Jags and Texans to finish the regular season.
The 44-year-old veteran quarterback’s biggest contributions to the Colts offense may have come before the snap.
The now 18-year veteran consistently got the Colts in the right play call, picked up the opposing pass rush and coverage, and was able to progress through his passing reads quickly against an elite NFL defense in one of the toughest and loudest road environments in the game.
While Rivers showed considerable shortcomings with his limited arm strength, he was able to deliver the ball fairly accurately—albeit the Colts receivers were forced to make more contested catches than usual.
Now, with the San Francisco 49ers defense fully understanding those limitations with a week of film, as well as a better idea of the Colts new offensive identity and game plan, and it’ll be interesting to see if Rivers can replicate the same degree of success on primetime come Monday night at home.
The Colts offense didn’t exactly light up the scoreboard in Seattle against a stingy unit, but their offense avoided turnovers and bad plays, controlled the ball, and largely won the field position battle.
The grizzled veteran and 8x NFL Pro Bowler is very much in the game manager and quarterback caretaker mold at this laaaaaaaaate stage of his renewed borderline future Hall of Fame playing career.
That being said, with no timetable for Anthony Richardson’s return after being medically cleared for physical activity, and the Colts clearly believing that rookie Riley Leonard isn’t ready, and Rivers remains their best bet…
For now.
Whether that holds true for the Colts final three games, we’ll just have to see, but Indianapolis clearly brought Rivers back to start, not sit on the bench, as Indianapolis head coach Shane Steichen indicated earlier this week.
