The most disappointing part to Philip Rivers' return from retirement to the Colts

Billy Heyen

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The most disappointing part to Philip Rivers' return from retirement to the Colts image

Upon the news that Philip Rivers was returning from retirement after essentially five years away to suit up for the Indianapolis Colts, there were essentially two reactions:

This is awesome, and the Colts are going to the playoffs; or this is ridiculous, what are they doing?

Most of us failed to consider a third possibility: Rivers plays well, but the rest of the Colts let them down.

Welcome to the reality we're in.

Rivers was very solid on Monday Night Football, but the Colts lost by 21 points anyway. A late pick-6 blemished Rivers' day, but that was desperation chucking time anyway.

The reality is that the 49ers didn't punt the whole night. Brock Purdy threw a late INT, too, but that was after a whole lot of drives ending in scores or scoring opportunities. 

You couldn't have asked for much more from Rivers. He delivered on multiple third-and-longs. He showed he can still get the ball down the field. He slid around the pocket and mostly avoided pressure.

A 44-year old Rivers was never going to lead his offense to 49 points to beat a team that put up 48.

A week ago, Rivers looked a bit rustier against the Seahawks, but he still led the Colts to a go-ahead field goal before the special teams and defense allowed Seattle to get into range for its own game-winning kick.

This post on X sums things up:

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And there's this, too, for the more analytically inclined:

It's really quite the bummer.

Rivers has rallied an entire nation of football fans to root for him. Everyone was enjoying watching him sling it around Monday night, and seeing how intense and into the game he was. 

Players aren't supposed to do what Rivers was doing, and casual sports fans everywhere were simply rooting for the Colts' defense to get one, singular stop, just to give Philip a chance. They couldn't do it, and coupled with an early kickoff fumble by Indy, that was a bit too much to overcome.

The Colts technically aren't eliminated, but there's a lot of work to be done with some help. Rivers may be looking at his last game or two in the NFL, for real this time.

It's been an absolute blast to watch. It's just too bad the rest of his team hasn't helped make him a winner.

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Contributing Writer