SEATTLE – Something Kenny Moore II said in Lumen Field's visiting locker room following an 18-16 loss to the Seattle Seahawks summed up how the entire Colts' locker room feels about quarterback Philip Rivers.
"Putting his body on the line, he doesn't have to do that," Moore said. "And I'm sure every guy greatly appreciates it."
Moore's right. Rivers doesn't have to do any of this.
His legacy as one of the most prolific quarterbacks in NFL history – and as the quarterback's quarterback, if that makes sense – was secure long before he picked up a call from Shane Steichen and Chris Ballard seven days ago.
Rivers could've easily had said 'no thanks' and got to work trying to get St. Michael Catholic back to the Alabama high school playoffs in 2026.
Instead, Rivers got knocked to the ground a few times by a Seahawks defense stacked with banshees a couple thousand miles away from his couch in Fairhope, Ala. He delivered a few vintage Rivers throws, like the in-breaker he flipped to tight end Tyler Warren in the second quarter or the comeback he ripped to wide receiver Alec Pierce in the fourth quarter. He threw career touchdown No. 422 in the second quarter to wide receiver Josh Downs, whose father, Gary, played his last year in the NFL in 2000 – Rivers' freshman year at North Carolina State.
"I can tell my kids I caught a touchdown from a legend like that," Downs said.
Rivers' return was the story of the NFL in Week 15. There was a certain novelty to it – seeing Rivers, at 44 years old, play quarterback again hit all the right notes of nostalgia for any football fan.
You might think about where you were in 2004, when Rivers was drafted. You might think about all the life milestones you had while Rivers was playing (For me: Graduating high school, graduating college, getting married, buying a house, getting a dog and becoming a dad to two kids. How about you?)
But, after four quarters on Sunday, this is no longer about nostalgia or novelty or "holy cow, can you believe Philip Rivers is playing football in 2025?"
It's about if the Colts can pull out of a four-game losing streak, finish the season strong and see if they could still make the playoffs for the first time since 2020 – when Rivers was their quarterback, too.
"If I can stay healthy, like I feel good and it's going to get better as we go, but the catch is we got to win," Rivers said. "It doesn't really matter if it's getting better as we go if we don't win, because it's going to be over in three weeks. So that's the catch there, but it's going to continue to get better."
The Athletic's playoff simulator, as of Sunday night, gives the Colts just a 10 percent chance of making the playoffs. They're two games behind the 10-4 Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC South and are a game behind the Houston Texans for the AFC No. 7 seed, and still have games left against both teams. The Colts are two games behind the 10-4 Los Angeles Chargers, who have a difficult end to the season (at Dallas, vs. Houston, at Denver), and the Colts critically have the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Chargers.
So, no, this thing is not over yet – like it is for the Kansas City Chiefs, who were eliminated from the playoffs Sunday. If the Colts were to win their final three games, against the San Francisco 49ers, Jaguars and Texans, they'd have a 98 percent chance to make the playoffs, per the Athletic.
And while the Colts lost on Sunday, that they even had the lead with under a minute left – when kicker Blake Grupe set a new franchise record with a 60-yard field goal – showed this team something. Whatever juice Rivers injected into the Colts this week mattered, and it could continue to count for something over the final three weeks of the regular season.
"Just instant leadership," running back Ameer Abdullah said. "He's a guy that's played a lot of ball, is a potential Hall of Famer, probably is a Hall of Famer. Really just stability.
"We were kind of broken a little bit losing (Daniel Jones). DJ's been our rock he's been a guy that's been very consistent all year. So to lose him late was definitely devastating but for (Rivers) to come in, he really brought some foundation and belief and trust. Even though we didn't get it done today with the final score, we feel good about him leading us going forward."
And then there's this other thought: If Rivers could get the Colts to hang with one of the best teams in football on the road for four quarters after being on his couch a week ago, could things get better over these final three regular season games?
"Another week under his belt is going to allow him to be more confident understanding who his players are, what their strengths are," Abdullah said.
Rivers, toward the tail end of his press conference on Sunday, clicked into a mindset he's probably tapped into hundreds of times after games.
"Certainly going to turn my attention to the 49ers," Rivers said.
Rivers has eight days to prepare for the 10-4 49ers, who the Colts will host on Monday Night Football. There's not much of a margin for error for the Colts at this point.
But maybe Rivers' mindset about ending his retirement is one the Colts can collectively take on for these final three games. The focus is less about what could go wrong, and more about the opportunity that lies ahead.
And that, in itself, has a lot of power within an NFL locker room.
"Sometimes there is doubt and it's real, and again, the guaranteed safe bet is to go home or to not go for it," Rivers said, "and the other one is shoot, we'll see what happens."
