Last week, Philip Rivers was five years removed from the NFL and seemingly had played his last snap.
On Sunday, the 44-year-old started for the Indianapolis Colts in an 18-16 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
It was far from the best game of Rivers’ career, but it was a solid performance considering he hadn’t played since the 2020 season before Sunday’s game. He threw for 120 yards and a touchdown on 18-of-26 passing.
He also helped get the Colts into field goal range so Blake Grupe could kick a go-ahead field goal with less than a minute to play, though the Seahawks ultimately answered with their own game-winning field goal.
After the game, fans praised Rivers for his miraculous comeback despite the loss.
Rivers, who spent the majority of his career with the Chargers, initially ended his career with the Colts in 2020 when he threw for 4,169 yards, 24 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
After all three of Indianapolis’ quarterbacks suffered injuries, the Colts needed to find someone fast, and they decided to sign Rivers in a very surprising move. But the decision doesn’t seem that crazy after Sunday, considering Rivers had the team within striking distance until the final seconds.
Now that he’s shaken some of the rust off, Rivers will look to help the Colts snap a four-game losing streak and get back into playoff position—that is, if Indianapolis still wants to use the veteran under center.
The Colts haven’t been eliminated from playoff contention yet, but they’ll need to be at their best across the final three games to reach the postseason.
Even if Rivers isn’t a part of Indianapolis’ plans moving forward, coming out of retirement to help a team desperate for a quarterback is one of the more miraculous stories in recent years.