Rivers’ arm wasn’t what it used to be, and passes lacked zip. However, he showed he hasn’t lost the mental acumen, consistently knowing where his outlets were and using touch to hit targets in stride. He also proved he could still take a hit and bounce back, even at 44.
Rivers went 18 of 27 passing for 140 yards with a touchdown and an interception, which came on the final Colts’ play.
“Very encouraged, there’s no question about it,” Colts head coach Shane Steichen said. “For him to go out there and do what he did after five years off, to have a chance to win it, get a game-winning field goal — close to it — with 40 seconds left in a hostile environment against a top defense. Just shows his commitment to coming back and playing the way he did and fighting like crazy for his teammates. I thought that was pretty awesome.”
Rivers provided the spark for Sunday’s battle, throwing the only touchdown of the game, a short crosser to an open Josh Downs. With the play, Rivers became the fifth player in NFL history with a pass TD at age 44 or older, joining Tom Brady, George Blanda, Vinny Testaverde and Steve DeBerg.
Rivers’ play, for a team in dire straits at the quarterback position, was positive, but the offense lived in a box against Seattle, rarely able to stretch the field. The veteran went 2 of 8 for 33 yards passing and an INT on throws of 10-plus air yards and 16 of 18 for 87 yards and a TD on tosses under 10 air yards, per Next Gen Stats.
The hope is that in the final three weeks, as Rivers brushes the years of rust, the field-stretching ability will return.
“If I can stay healthy, I feel good, and it is going to get better as we go,” he said. “But the catch is that we’ve got to win. It doesn’t really matter if it’s getting better as we go if we don’t win because it’s going to be over in three weeks. So that’s the catch there. But it’s going to continue to get better. I mean, this is obviously the first one [and] we’re talking about three days of practice.”
