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stephen holder
INDIANAPOLIS — philip rivers was the last player to leave indianapolis colts‘They were followed in the locker room on Monday night lost 48-27 till san francisco 49ersTrying to absorb every moment of this improbable – and possibly final – run in the NFL.
As Rivers tries to enjoy what remains of his football career after retiring a week ago, he is grappling with conflicting emotions caused by the Colts’ 0-2 record in his two games under center.
“I can’t even think of how to express it, because it was a blast,” Rivers said of his return to the NFL after nearly five years. “It’s a blast to prepare and stink and go out there and warm up and do all that again with these guys. But, again, the name of the game isn’t about having a good time. It’s about finding a way to lead your team to a win. And we fell short.”
Rivers, who later rejoined the Colts Daniel Jones‘ Due to a season-ending Achilles injury, the Colts could not win on Monday night despite an impressive individual performance in which the 44-year-old turned back the clock and threw for 277 yards with two touchdowns to receivers. Alec Pierce,
Rivers, who also had an interception, completed 23 of his 35 pass attempts and pushed the ball down the field more aggressively than he ever thought was possible in his debut in Week 15. in that game against Seattle SeahawksRivers executed the Colts’ conservative game plan and led them to the lead with less than a minute to play. But he only threw for 120 yards.
“I thought he played great the entire game,” coach Shane Steichen said of Rivers’ performance Monday night.
The home game at Lucas Oil Stadium was a night the Rivers family won’t soon forget. The entire family – Rivers’ wife, 10 children, grandchildren, parents and brother – were in town in Alabama and cheered him on from a suite. The family will celebrate Christmas together and also decorate their temporary home in the Indianapolis area. It’s all part of what Rivers said was a remarkable experience that he didn’t expect or plan for.
But defeat makes it difficult to savor. The Colts’ fifth consecutive loss puts them on the brink of elimination from the playoffs, with a loss on Sunday jacksonville jaguars or a houston texans The win ended their postseason hopes.
“There’s no reward for losing,” Rivers said. “But, still, this week was better from an aggressiveness point of view [putting] Points on the board. But you have to win. …Right now, we’re not doing that and I know this locker room is hurting. Again, I have been a part of it for a short period of time, for two defeats. And I know it’s been a long slide for over a month, and I know it’s hard.
“But we just have to dig deep and find a way to win football games.”
If the Indianapolis defense had put up some resistance, Rivers might have had a chance to register a victory. were the colts humbled by the quarterback brock purdy And the 49ers give up a season-high 6.7 yards per play and never force a punt. The 49ers had 440 total yards.
“I feel bad because we let him down,” Colts defensive tackle deforest buckner Said about rivers. “He’s bowling, scoring points, and it’s our job to make sure the other team doesn’t score and we don’t perform well.”
With the Colts having a 2% chance of making the postseason according to ESPN Analytics, Rivers was asked, “Now what?” Even with two games left, his answer was the same as always.
“You dreamed of playing this game as a kid,” he said. “And if someone asked you would you play if you were all 2-14, like some of these teams are, if you had two games left? Yeah, yeah.”
