Philip Rivers’ inspiring return marred by Indianapolis Colts loss

It’s been five years since we last saw Philip Rivers take the field in the NFL. Even when he called it quits in 2020, Rivers looked like a shell of his former self. However, in 2025, Rivers got another chance to lead an NFL team with playoff aspirations, and he exceeded expectations.

The bar was set low for Rivers in this one. He has been coaching high school football since retiring from the NFL, raising his ten children and now even a grandchild. However, if you’re not excited to see Rivers back on the football field, you must be some kind of Scrooge. The Colts were in dire need of a quarterback with injuries to Daniel Jones, Anthony Richardson and Riley Leonard.

They didn’t want to give up what was a great start to the season, and the only free agents available were CJ Bethard, Jeff Driskell and Jake Fromm, who actively sells insurance.

None of those options really shook things up for Indy, so they took a chance on the slightly overweight grandpa, and he didn’t suck.

I mean, it wasn’t the prettiest outing ever. Rivers couldn’t push the ball downfield, but you can still see the Hall of Fame brain on the guy. With a week’s notice, he appeared to have complete control of this Colts offense.

But what else would you expect from a guy like Rivers? He played like a guy who knew he had nothing left in his arm; however, he relied on an elite running game and still managed to win a time of possession game against an excellent Seahawks team.

That’s another thing that impressed me. Rivers never looked overwhelmed, especially with the game stacked against him. Besides all the obvious problems I mentioned previously, the Colts were on the road in one of the toughest environments, facing a defense that hasn’t given up a 100-yard run in 23 games, and they were doing it without their two starting tackles.

Even with everything stacked against him, Rivers was able to put the Colts within field goal range and gave them the lead with less than a minute to play. Then, in typical Philip Rivers fashion, his defense let him down at the very end of the game. Some things never change in the NFL.

Ultimately, the NFL is not a Disney movie. The Colts failed to pull off a miracle victory, but keeping this game close was a miracle in itself. I don’t think Rivers will be too upset about this loss. He had the chance to come back one last time and add another touchdown to his illustrious NFL career. Rivers was weeks away from being Hall of Fame eligible and threw it away just to get one more chance to put on the helmet and pads. He’s a guy who loves football deeply, and that’s not something you always see in the NFL.

Plus, whenever he starts coaching high school football again, I’m sure he won’t mind showing his guys that he can still cook them up if given the chance.