Philip Rivers Lost With the Colts But He Still Got the Chargers Into the Playoffs

In the year 2025, Rivers is getting the Chargers into the postseason.

Despite the loss, Rivers nonetheless authored a pretty strong performance on Monday night. / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

The Colts saw their playoff chances nearly disappear on Monday night after losing in a crushing fashion to the red-hot 49ers, who made clear they're gunning for the NFC West crown with a 48–27 win.

For much of the game, however, it did seem like Rivers—who came out of retirement to assist his ex-Colts with their playoff ambitions—could genuinely and truly pull off an upset and lead Indy to victory. The 44-year-old quarterback, who played for Indianapolis for one season in 2020, threw for 277 yards and two touchdowns, including one on the opening drive. But ... he also threw a pick-six that may have lost the Colts the game, even if their chances of victory were dwindling before that, too.

The real insult to injury, though—at least for Indy—is the fact that the Chargers were able to clinch a playoff berth on Monday because of the Colts loss. So, although the veteran quarterback couldn't get Indianapolis to the playoffs, he did indirectly assist his former franchise in clinching its postseason berth.

In other words, Philip Rivers helped get L.A. to the big dance in the year 2025. You really can't make this stuff up.

Rivers is best known for his time with the San Diego-turned-Los Angeles Chargers, whom he played for from 2004 to 2019. He then played one season with the Colts before retiring from the league.

Moreover, the Chargers weren’t the only team to clinch a spot in the playoffs on Monday—the Bills and the Jaguars both nabbed their spots, too, both as a result of Indy’s loss.

All in all, this was certainly not the outcome the Colts wanted, even if they technically aren't eliminated yet. But you can't deny that the experiment went better than expected in that Rivers played some genuinely good ball. Hopefully, next year will be the one for Indianapolis to make a true, undeniable run. And at that point, Rivers will definitely prefer just watching from the sidelines.

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