When you become a grandfather, you’re expected to slow down. To take naps and forget your reading glasses. To buy cardigans.

Philip Rivers, father of 10 and grandpa of one, was never going to fit that mold. In a league where injuries seem as common as first downs, Rivers played 240 consecutive games, fourth-most all-time before he stepped away.

Asked in July whether he could still play, Rivers responded, “Oh, yeah. I’m a little heavier than I was, but I can get through a game. Now, I may need a wheelchair the next morning. But oh, yeah, I can still play a little bit.”

Inside: The latest on Philip Rivers’ battle against Father Time, I rank each likely playoff team, and Mike Sando shares the story of a mid-40s quarterback who returned in 1998.

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Rivers returns to Indy

With his signing to the Colts’ practice squad official, my colleagues were busy gathering insights. Here’s what we know:

Rivers could start as early as this week against the Seahawks, with the 49ers, Jags and Texans to follow. (Tough path.) While the plan had been to start rookie sixth-rounder Riley Leonard, coach Shane Steichen added an extra practice to this week’s schedule and left the door open for Rivers to start. Our Colts beat reporter, James Boyd, has the latest here.

He can still sling it. Zak Keefer, who has also covered the Colts for us, explained why Indy made this bet: “Rivers threw it well enough in a closed-door workout Monday night at the team facility to bolster the team’s confidence that he can still play, if only for a few weeks.”

Rivers knows this offense. As James wrote in that article above, the eight-time Pro Bowler has been coaching since 2021 in his native Alabama at St. Michael Catholic High School, where he runs a version of Steichen’s scheme.

It’s easy to be skeptical about a mid-40s quarterback — older than 13 head coaches and several Hall of Famers — who hasn’t started an NFL game since January 2021.

But this is Philip Rivers. In 2008, he limped his 6-foot-5 frame through an AFC Championship just six days after tearing his ACL and meniscus. At 39, he led the Colts to an 11-5 record and the postseason, throwing for 4,169 yards, 24 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. As Ian O’Connor wrote after yesterday’s shocker, Rivers has earned the benefit of the doubt.

I’m glad he’s back, and celebrated the occasion by watching the best of Philip Rivers Mic’D Up. Forty-plus minutes of “golly,” “stinkin’” and “dadgummit.”

As Sando explains below, Atlanta tried something similar in the late ’90s. It didn’t end well for that quarterback, though the Falcons did make that year’s Super Bowl …

Sando’s Pick: Remember DeBerg?

Rivers’ comeback at age 44 will be the feel-good story of the week … until he wakes up feeling 144 the morning after his first start. There’s just no way he can function at a high level for very long at his age, even though he’s been throwing and working out.

“The throwing is not the problem,” a veteran offensive coach said. “It’s everything else.”

Dropping back to pass. Sidestepping the rush. Taking hits.

You might recall Steve DeBerg. He was 44 and had been out of the NFL for four full seasons, same as Rivers now, when the Falcons signed DeBerg before the 1998 season.

The former 1978 rookie had passed for more than 30,000 yards with 139 starts for five teams during a 16-year career that had seen Joe Montana and John Elway beat him out (DeBerg also played with Dan Marino). He took reps in Atlanta’s camp and preseason, getting sharper as the real games approached.

But when Atlanta needed DeBerg to start a Week 8 game against Bill Parcells’ Jets, the Falcons team that would reach the Super Bowl that year was not competitive. DeBerg completed 9 of 20 passes for 117 yards in the 28-3 defeat, at one point tripping to the ground on a dropback from under center.

A younger Rivers was notably better than DeBerg, and he has the advantage of playing from the shotgun, lessening the importance of agility. But Week 15 is no time to get up to speed.

“The best you’re gonna be is the first part of your playing,” the coach said. “The longer you play, the worse you’ll get. Imagine how sore he’ll be if he has to play this week at (10-3) Seattle.”

Ranking the likely playoff field

Do you feel five years younger? With Rivers officially back, we just need Tom Brady to divest his stake in the Raiders and rejoin the Buccaneers for it to be 2020 again.

Tampa Bay would probably welcome that, since Baker Mayfield’s quietly been one of the league’s worst QBs since Week 8. During the time when Tampa Bay dropped four of its last five games, the one-time MVP contender ranked 31st in EPA per dropback, 30th in completion percentage and 30th in off-target throws. Our Playoff Simulator still projects the Buccaneers in the postseason.

For the first time this season, every team currently in the playoff picture is also projected to remain there, in fact. In this GIF from the Simulator, the only difference between the current and projected standings is the AFC’s order of teams:

Since we likely now know the entire field (pending late surprises), I ranked all 14 by their records against each other. Why? Well, if we check 2024’s regular-season records against playoff teams, the Super Bowl seemed obvious in hindsight; the Chiefs and Eagles held top-three spots, while the injury-depleted Lions were the other.

Have I been too dismissive of the Broncos and Patriots this season? You tell me. Here’s how each of the 14 likely playoff teams have fared against each other, led in one way by Rivers’ former team:

Chargers (3-1, but with a point differential of minus-8)
Rams (5-2, plus-68)
Packers (2-1, plus-14)
Bears (2-1, plus-5)
Broncos (2-1, plus-4)
Patriots (2-1, plus-1)
Bills (2-2, plus-24)
Seahawks (3-3, plus-21)
Eagles (3-3, even)
Jaguars (3-3, minus-2)
Buccaneers (3-4, minus-35)
Texans (3-5, minus-2)
49ers (2-4, minus-36)
Steelers (1-5, minus-54)

If ranked strictly on plus/minus scoring against playoff teams, the Rams would be the league’s top team, followed by the Bills, Seahawks and Lions.

Yet Detroit isn’t projected to make the postseason, though a road win against the Rams would change that. That’ll be must-see TV this Sunday. More Week 15 playoff-clinching scenarios here.

Extra Points

📈 Draft risers. An NFL scouting director shared five senior prospects on the move over the last six months. Dane Brugler dished on them here.

📉 Season fallers. The 6-7 Chiefs’ path to the playoffs is complicated. Jesse Newell explains what needs to happen for Kansas City’s surprising downfall to become a shocking comeback.

🔧 Bears fix. Can Ben Johnson fix Chicago’s passing game, too? It’s all hands on deck, as Dan Wiederer writes.

🎰 Picks. BetMGM has the Seahawks second, well ahead of the AFC-leading Broncos and Patriots, in the latest Super Bowl odds.

▶️ Yesterday’s most-clicked: Our Week 15 Power Rankings.

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