Philip Rivers and the Indianapolis Colts offense matched the San Francisco 49ers’ steamrolling offense early, but couldn’t keep up before falling 48-27 to see their playoff hopes dwindle to a whisper.
The 44-year-old Rivers capped the first two drives with a touchdown toss to Alec Pierce. As the Colts bounced back, the Colts managed to hold the 49ers, who haven’t scored since Nov. 30, for much of the first half, trailing 24-17 at halftime.
In all, the Colts’ offense scored on five of its first six drives, as the crafty Rivers frustrated the Niners defense with quick throws and accurate throws. The bottom fell out on the final stanza, with a three-and-out, as Rivers fumbled for a sack, and a game-tying pickoff by Niners linebacker Dee Winters.
Rivers completed 23 of 35 passes for 277 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. It was an impressive performance given the circumstances in which he returned, but Rivers wasn’t accepting flowers after the loss.
“There’s no prize for losing,” Rivers said, via the Associated Press. “I know this locker room is hurting again. I’ve been a 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 it’s tough because I’ve been a part of those slides. We’ve just got to find a way to dig deep and find a way to win a football game.”
Rivers showed that he still has the brain power to play the quarterback position even after five years out and with reduced physical skills. The veteran consistently got the Colts into good plays and, with less arm strength, used perfect touch to catch his targets in stride.
“I thought he played really well except for one game at the end,” coach Shane Steichen said. “But I thought he was on fire the whole game. He threw it to the right spots every time. He just had that one play at the end, but overall I thought he was really good.”
Rivers’ arm isn’t what it used to be, and he especially struggled the few times he attempted passes without his feet under him. However, the quarterback showed that the position can be mostly mental, working as a field general to get on the best play and getting teammates into the right position for a play.
The week of practice brought Rivers improvement. After going 2-of-8 for 33 yards and an INT on 10-plus yards in his first game against Seattle, Rivers went 8-of-16 for 151 yards and two scores on those carries, according to Next Gen Stats.
“The name of the game is to win and that’s what they did. They got it,” Rivers said. “But I feel like offensively we’re going to move the ball. But our job is to score more points than the other team, whatever that (number) may be. Last week they had 18 and we didn’t get it. This week it would have been 41 if I hadn’t thrown the pick-6 and we didn’t get it.”
The Colts offense played well enough to win. The defense, missing a lot of cornerbacks among other injuries, went into action. The Niners scored on seven of nine possessions that weren’t on the knees, the other two being failed 64-yard field goal attempts to end the half and a fourth-quarter intermission.
“We dominated today,” linebacker Zaire Franklin said. “There’s really nothing else to talk about. Credit to San Fran. I feel like they came in and they did what they wanted to do.”
The loss dropped Indy to 8-7, losing five straight and six of its last seven. Steichen’s club saw little hope for the finals except to be washed away. Next Generation Stats gives Indy a 4% chance of making the postseason. They became the sixth team since 1970 to start 7-1 and ultimately miss the playoffs, according to NFL Research.