Philip Rivers Is Having a Great Time Out There But Knows That's Not the Point

Colts quarterback had the best game of his comeback season on Monday night.

Philip Rivers is enjoying his comeback but knows it's all about winning. / Christine Tannous/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Philip Rivers threw for 277 and two scores while leading the Indianapolis Colts to 27 points in a Monday Night Football test against the San Francisco 49ers. That is a remarkable accomplishment for a 44-year old who was sitting on the couch a month ago. The only problem is that his colleagues defense allowed Brock Purdy and Christian McCaffrey and others to rack up 48 points in a loss that moves the Colts to 8-7 on the year.

While Indianapolis can technically still find a path to the playoffs, almost all hope built on a 7-1 start has evaporated. There's plenty Rivers and Co. cannot control over the final two weeks of the year and he's focused on the one thing they do have some autonomy over. Because that's sort of the point of all this—even if he's having the time of his life out there.

"I'm torn on how to express it, because it's been a blast," Rivers of his surprising second act. "It's been a blast to prepare and to go stinking get ready and go out there and warm up and do all that with these guys again. But, again, the name of the game is not go have a good time. It's help find a way to lead your team to a win. And we've come up short."

"There's no prize for losing," Rivers added. "I know this locker room is hurting again. I've been part of it for a short time, two losses, and I know it's been a long slide now for over a month. I know that's tough because I've been part of those slides. We've just got to find a way to dig deep and find a way to win a football game."

Any longshot chances the Colts have to make the tournament hinge on Rivers continuing the type of play he showed on Monday night. Unfortunately their final two opponents are the Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars.

The potential sting of being the No. 1 seed in the AFC halfway through the season only to have it all go wrong is not a great prospect for Indianapolis fans. If there's a silver lining in all this, it's seeing what Rivers has been able to do in an improbable comeback.

---

More NFL on Sports Illustrated

feed