Titans Know Rivers Will be Ready for Whatever They Do

NASHVILLE – Maybe Philip Rivers has not seen it all.

In 16-plus NFL seasons, though, he has seen more than most. So, much more often than not, he is going to recognize what a defense wants to do, regardless of how things look.

He proved that last season in a Week 7 matchup with the Tennessee Titans.

“I remember one drive early in the game where he just knew what we were doing,” safety Kevin Byard said Tuesday. “He just told [safety] Kenny [Vaccaro] – when we were playing Cover 2 and were trying to show a different look to him – he just told Kenny, ‘OK, get out of here. I know what you’re trying to do.’ And he just kind of waved him off with his hands, right before he snapped the ball. It was hilarious, and we kind of joked about it throughout the game.”

That was the last time Rivers played at Nissan Stadium and part of his last season with the Los Angeles Chargers.

He returns Thursday night as the quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts for a contest that will figure heavily in the race for first place in the AFC South. Tennessee currently holds the top spot at 6-2. Indianapolis is a game back at 5-3.

Rivers, the fourth overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft, represents the Colts’ second attempt to replace Andrew Luck, who retired unexpectedly prior to the start of last season. Luck, the first overall pick in 2012, was a particular problem for the Titans. He went 11-0 against them capped by a 33-17 triumph at Nissan Stadium in the 2018 regular-season finale, a game that determined the final AFC playoff participant.

Jacoby Brissett got the job by default in 2019, went 7-8 as the starter, including 1-1 against Tennessee, and Indianapolis finished 7-9.

Enter Rivers, who was a free agent during the offseason after having spent his entire career with the Chargers. In nine career starts against the Titans, he is 7-2. His first game against them, in 2006, was a 40-7 triumph. He won five straight before a 20-17 loss in Week 3 of 2013. He then won two more before last season, when Tennessee squeaked out a 35-32 triumph in Ryan Tannehill’s first start.

“He’s been able to play at a high level for a long period of time,” Titans coach Mike Vrabel said of Rivers. “… You’re not going to be able to fool him. You’re not going to be able to disguise him. He knows what you’re doing. He’s studying. Very smart. Very accurate with the football.

“So, we’ll have to try to find ways to disrupt him.”

Through his first eight games with the Colts, Rivers has completed 67.9 percent of his passes, which is slightly above his career rate (64.8) and a 91.9 passer rating, which is slightly off his career figure of 95.0. He is on pace for his eighth straight season with more than 4,000 passing yards and his 15th in a row with at least 20 touchdown passes.

“He’s probably the smartest quarterback I ever played against,” Byard said. “He studies everything. He studies mannerisms. It’s just kind of hard mix and disguise coverages because he knows so much. But we do what we can and we’re going to do what we do as a defense.”

Even if Rivers knows exactly what they are doing.

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