The biggest storyline from last week was the unexpected return of 17-year veteran quarterback, Phillip Rivers, to the NFL after nearly five years, following the season-ending injury to Daniel Jones the week prior.
Jones tore his Achilles heel when the Indianapolis Colts faced off against the Houston Texans, forcing the team to place him on the injured reserve list and seeking an answer at the most critical position in football, the Colts' rookie Ryan Leonard was also dealing with an knee injury, eventually making room for Rivers to come in and attempt to save the day for the Colts.
Rivers and the Colts almost pulled off the storybook ending, before a 56-yard game-winning field goal from the Seattle Seahawks, and the 44-year-old granddad actually did not have a terrible performance. Throwing for 120 yards with one touchdown and one interception apiece.
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After stepping into a game with less than a week to prepare against one of the best defenses in the league, you are bound to gain respect from many of your peers, if you didn't have it already.
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan made it known how much respect he has for Rivers before they battle each other in Week 16.
The head coach stated that "he admires the hell out of him" for his performance on Sunday and also declared that Rivers "gave his team a chance to win."
Shanahan has a great relationship with Rivers, and the coach even confirmed that the 49ers were close to signing Rivers after quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo went down with an injury in 2022.