Rivers delivered a vintage performance, but a porous defense and struggling run game doomed the Colts' playoff hopes.
For starters, please scroll back up for just a second and take a look at that picture of Philip Rivers kneeling on the sidelines during the Indianapolis Colts' 48-27 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football last night.
First of all, it's hilarious to see Philip Rivers just do things that we haven't seen another human being do exactly the way that he does them in five years. I have seen him kneeling in exactly that pose, making exactly that face, so many times in my life that I've lost count. I've seen other QBs kneel on the sideline but they don't look exactly the way he does when he does it. Human nature is cool!
Second, and this is not my main point but it's the thing I can't stop thinking about when I look at that picture and it's a thought that popped into my head at least a dozen times when I watched the game last night, do the Colts not have a helmet that fits Philip's head? I can't imagine that putting on a helmet that leaves that red of a mark on your forehead could be comfortable.
Alright, enough about the picture. Philip Rivers absolutely balled out last night. His final stat line was 23/35 for 277 passing yards and 2 passing TDs, with an interception mixed in. He also looked like the old Philip Rivers while doing it.
Unfortunately, the Colts defense (which looked great earlier this season) gave up five passing TDs to Brock Purdy and the 49ers.
Jonathan Taylor, the Colts RB that was a favorite to win the NFL's MVP Award just a few weeks ago, rushed for just 46 yards. He also caught 3 passes for 33 receiving yards.
And now the Colts, who were at one point the #1 seed in the AFC, are on the outside looking in at the NFL Playoffs. For them to make the playoffs, they would need to win their remaining games (against the Jacksonville Jaguars, who have won 6 straight games and just dominated the Denver Broncos, and the Houston Texans).
The Colts would also need the Texans to lose to the Los Angeles Chargers this upcoming weekend to set up a Week 18 matchup against the Texans, and even then I am not entirely sure that the tiebreakers would be in Indianapolis' favor.
All of this is to say movies aren't real. There is no Hollywood ending in real life. Philip Rivers coming back to the NFL after being retired for five years, and being asked to save the Colts season from catastrophe, is an interesting story. Him being great in that role, impossibly, is a fantastic story. But him not being able to help the Colts limp into the playoffs despite all of that has the potential to make these last few weeks of the 2025 NFL season feel like a dream that we'll all soon forget instead of a story we'll be telling forever.