The narrative around the 2025 Colts on Sunday night was bleak: How could this team pull out of a three-game losing skid, one which knocked them down to the AFC No. 8 seed, without its starting quarterback?
Less than 48 hours later, the narrative had completely shifted. The Colts were at the center of the NFL universe. And it was because they were going to figure out if the old guy could still sling it.
Yes, Philip Rivers is here in Indianapolis, donning a helmet and shoulder pads in practice for the first time in nearly five years. Yes, he's 44. Yes, the year is 2025, just to double-check.
Long snapper Luke Rhodes, at 33, was the oldest player on the Colts; he no longer holds that designation because of Rivers, who's over a decade his senior.
But through the press conference yuks, the excitement permeating the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center locker room and the trillion-watt spotlight on the Colts this week, there's a game to play on Sunday.
And will Rivers be behind center when the Colts take the field against a 10-3 Seattle Seahawks team that boasts one of the very best defenses in the NFL?
"We're going to work through that right now," head coach Shane Steichen said Friday afternoon. "We literally just got off the practice field, but he had a good week of work, and we'll have those discussions here in the next couple hours."
Steichen said he liked what he saw from Rivers this week on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday – just like he saw from Rivers during the near-decade they spent together with the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers (2011-2012, 2014-2019)
"He's got great command in the huddle, he was throwing it well," Steichen said. "So yeah, we're excited for it. I mean, he's fired up for the challenge. Obviously, getting back into it, getting back into the fold, feeling the pass rush. Got some good work in that, just moving around, seeing the defense – it was good."
"... (He's) aguy that hasn't been out there in five years, to go and practice the way he did this week was pretty impressive to watch. So like I said, we'll have those conversations here in the next couple hours and we'll make a decision."
Procedurally, the Colts will either need to elevate Rivers to their active roster from the practice squad, or sign Rivers to the 53-man roster from the practice squad, for him to play Sunday. If that move happens, it'll be on Saturday.
But if it does happens, Rivers wants one thing to be clear: He didn't sign up for this to be a savior for a team that's 8-5 and has lost three games in a row.
"I'm not here to stinking save the year or be a hero by any means," Rivers said. "We've got to stinking run the crap out of the football and play defense and do all those things. So, if that comes to be and I'm the one that's out there, that's going to – I'm not here to try to save the day."
Steichen shares the same expectation for Rivers. If he plays, he'll slide in as a part of a Colts' offense which, collectively, needs to turn things around.
"He's not here to save the season," Steichen said. "He's here to be a great leader, a great teammate, go out there, operate the offense, get us in and out of the right plays. And that's the process, and that's the way he's taken it and flowing with it one day at a time, and going through his process."
But Rivers, this week, has been working with the hope of being ready to play on Sunday.
"If that's where it goes, I'll be ready to go," Rivers said Wednesday. "I mean, I'm preparing like that. I'm going to prepare and push for that – I don't mean push (Steichen) for that, I mean push myself to get there. And if that's what we feel, they feel, we collectively feel is the best decision, then we'll go."
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If Rivers does play on Sunday, though, he'll do so against a surging Seahawks team that's vying for the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
Mike McDonald's Seahawks have been a defensive juggernaut in 2025. They're second in points per game (17.4) and yards per play (4.5). They're extremely difficult to throw the ball against, with the NFL's lowest yards per play allowed on passes (5.4); they're third in passer rating allowed (77.3), second in interceptions (15) and fourth in sacks (41). And if you want to run the ball, Seattle is second in yards allowed per rush (3.8); they've allowed only 22 rushes of 10 or more yards this year, second only to the Denver Broncos.
All that has led to opponents scoring on just 27.6 percent of their possessions, second-lowest in the NFL. And they haven't allowed a touchdown since Week 12.
But the Seahawks are not your classic stifling-defense-middling-offense group. They've blown out several opponents this season (five of their 10 wins have been by 22 or more points), with wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba leading the NFL with 1,428 yards over 13 games, good for an average of 109.8 yards per game. Veteran Cooper Kupp and rookie Tory Horton have had plenty of moments as secondary receivers opposite Smith-Njigba, and tight end A.J. Barner has been a reliable target as well.
Quarterback Sam Darnold leads the NFL in averaging 8.9 yards per pass attempt; he's completing 68.1 percent of his passes with 22 touchdowns and a passer rating of 103.8. Running backs Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet have combined for 12 touchdowns, too.
Seattle has scored on 47.5 percent of their offensive possessions (third in NFL) and is second in points per game (29.8).
"They've got some firepower over there," defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo said. "(Smith-Njigba's) a great player. They move him around a ton. So, they've done a great job setting things up over there and (offensive coordinator) Klint Kubiak does a heck of a job overall with their offense. But he's a special player and they've done a great job offensively all year."
So that's the backdrop against which Rivers may make his return. We'll find out this weekend if he actually will.
"Can't back down from those kind of challenges," Rivers said.
Rivers already hasn't backed down from the first challenge, which was weighing all the doubt that comes from five years away from the NFL and saying "dadgummit, let's freaking go." The next challenge is actually going out and playing again.
And we'll find out Sunday what this all looks like.
