The Philip Rivers experiment went so well for the Indianapolis Colts that they’re willing to give it a chance again even with their playoff hopes hanging in the balance.
Colts coach Shane Steichen named the 44-year-old the starter for their enormous Week 16 home game against the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football.
Rivers, of course, was signed by the Colts out of retirement Wednesday after Daniel Jones was placed on injured reserve with a torn Achilles tendon last week.
Rivers, the No. 4 overall pick of the New York Giants from the 2004 NFL Draft, went 18 for 27 for 120 yards with one touchdown and one interception in Indianapolis’ 18-16 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
The Colts (8-6) have dropped four in a row and five of their past six games, falling from the top seed in the AFC to No. 8 and a game behind the rival Houston Texans.
A loss for the Colts could drop them two games behind both the Texans and Buffalo Bills, since they will play the Las Vegas Raiders and Cleveland Browns.
Shane Steichen: Philip Rivers Was ‘Pretty Impressive’ Against The Seahawks
The Colts were in a dire situation, going on the road against the NFC West co-leaders — who entered play with the best point differential in the league — with an unproven commodity at quarterback.
That Rivers, who hadn’t played a snap in five years and was coaching high-school football last week, was going into Seattle as the Colts starter gave them a puncher’s chance to be competitive.
But for Rivers to put Indy in a position to win — the Colts led 13-6 at halftime and were up 16-15 with 47 seconds remaining — was impressive to Steichen.
“Him being off for that long, obviously, there was some unknown,” Steichen said. “But for him to go out there and do what he did to put us in a position to win, in a hostile environment, after that long of a layoff, was pretty impressive.
“Getting us into the right plays, managing the game. I thought he was phenomenal in that regard on the sidelines. His leadership — all those things that he brings to our team — will be beneficial for all of us.”
The Colts wanted to lean on All-Pro running back Jonathan Taylor, since Rivers was entering the game with just two days of practice. Things may change with a full week of game planning ahead of this weekend.
“We wanted to run the ball, control the clock, take easy completions and I thought we did a pretty good job of that,” Steichen said. “I think every game plan will be different. That was the game plan going into it for that game.”
Philip Rivers Is Healthy After His First Game In Five Years
The Colts were not just worried about getting run out of Lumen Field but whether Rivers would survive the tough Seahawks defense. But Steichen told reporters Monday that Rivers was in good spirits and health after the game Sunday.
“He feels good,” Steichen said. “He’s in the quarterback room right now watching tape. He said he felt good. He said, ‘I got my normal bruises that I had when I played,’ but he said, ‘I feel pretty darn good.’ So, that was good for him to come out of the game clean.”
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