Philip Rivers and the Indianapolis Colts offense matched wits early with the San Francisco 49ers' steamrolling offense, but couldn't keep pace before falling 48-27 to see their playoff hopes diminish to a whisper.
The 44-year-old Rivers capped his first two drives with touchdown tosses to Alec Pierce. Sandwiched around a Colts kick-return fumble, Indy was able to keep up with the 49ers, who haven't punted since Nov. 30, for much of the first half, trailing by 24-17 at the break.
In all, the Colts offense scored on five of its first six offensive possessions, as the savvy Rivers out-smarted the Niners defense with quick throws and pinpoint tosses. The bottom fell out in the final stanza, with a three-and-out, in which Rivers fumbled on a sack, and a game-sealing pick-six by Niners linebacker Dee Winters.
Rivers finished 23-of-35 passing for 277 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. It was an impressive performance given the circumstances of his return, 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 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."
Rivers showed he still possesses the cerebral powers to play the quarterback position even after being out of the game for five years and owning diminished physical skills. The veteran consistently got the Colts into good plays and, with reduced arm strength, used perfect touch to hit his targets in stride.
"I thought he played really good except that one play 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 particularly had issues on 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 into the best play and moving teammates into the right position pre-snap.
The week of practice brought an improved Rivers. After going 2 of 8 for 33 yards and an INT on passes of 10-plus air yards in his first game back against Seattle, Rivers went 8 of 16 for 151 yards and two scores on such passes, per Next Gen Stats.
"The name of the game is winning and that's what they did. They got it done," Rivers said. "But I do 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, it was 18 and we didn't get it done. This week, it would have been 41 if I hadn't thrown the pick-six and we didn't get it done."
The Colts offense played well enough to get the win. The defense, missing a trove of corners, among other injuries, got steamrolled. The Niners scored on seven of nine non-kneel possessions, the other two being a missed 64-yard field goal attempt to end the half and a fourth-quarter interception.
"We got dominated today," linebacker Zaire Franklin said. "It's really nothing else to talk about. Credit to San Fran. I feel like they came in and they did what they wanted."
The loss dropped Indy to 8-7, losers of five straight and six of their past seven games. Steichen's club saw its slim playoff hopes all but wash away. Next Gen Stats gives Indy a 4% chance to make the postseason. They'd become the sixth team since 1970 to start 7-1 and ultimately miss the playoffs, per NFL Research.
