The best part of grandpa Philip Rivers\u2019 return to the NFL at age 44 came when Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald sought out the Indianapolis Colts quarterback Sunday after Seattle\u2019s 18-16 home-field victory as a 13.5-point favorite.<\/p>\n
\u201cGreat game plan,\u201d said the coach. \u201cYou had us on tilt.\u201d<\/p>\n
A pinball machine pushed off balance was the perfect metaphor, conjuring an old-time arcade and a slick operator.<\/p>\n
The most old-timey quarterback of not only this era but perhaps the previous one or two, Rivers matched wits with the NFC\u2019s best defense well enough that his sun-dial footspeed and iffy arm strength didn\u2019t spell doom.<\/p>\n
He threw a touchdown pass, got the team out of bad plays by managing the chess match and never turned the ball over until a desperate heave in the final seconds.<\/p>\n
In one of the league\u2019s noisiest environments, Rivers used his hard-earned NFL wisdom and ultra-quick throwing release to parry a shrewd defense that overwhelmed a Vikings rookie quarterback in its previous home game, a 26-0 victory fueled by four interceptions and four sacks.<\/p>\n
Rivers\u2019 almost five years between NFL games had raised concerns among some NFL players past and present.\u00a0Instead of producing an inspiring chapter\u00a0to this NFL season, the comeback could end in a horrid injury, they implied.<\/p>\n
Rivers didn\u2019t dispute those concerns, saying he shared them, if vaguely.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is doubt, and it\u2019s real,\u201d he said after the game, his voice strained.<\/p>\n
As Rivers trotted onto the field, wearing the same No. 17 from his days with the San Diego Chargers, Los Angeles Chargers and his lone season with the Colts in 2020, former NFL linebacker Dave Wyman admitted to some trepidation.<\/p>\n
A color analyst on Seahawks radio broadcasts, Wyman lightly wondered if Rivers might \u201cexpire on the field,\u201d yet also mused that Rivers might \u201clight us up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former NFL quarterback J.T. O\u2019Sullivan, watching a few plays on his phone in San Diego, became alarmed when he saw Rivers slip and fall while dropping back.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going to lie: I was a little nervous. I just wanted him to get through this healthy,\u201d O\u2019Sullivan said Monday.<\/p>\n
Rivers ended up taking four hits, a low number. One was a sack due to his slipping and falling on the Seahawks\u2019 logo at midfield.<\/p>\n
By bobbling a high snap, Rivers ended up taking a hard double-blow.<\/p>\n
For the most part, Rivers and Shane Steichen, a friend and former Chargers colleague who is the Colts\u2019 head coach and playcaller, kept the Seahawks from dominating as they often do.<\/p>\n
A heavy diet of short passes and varied rushes by star running back Jonathan Taylor behind a forceful line protected Rivers, who wore a bulky vest for added cushion.<\/p>\n
In his breakdown of the coaches\u2019 film, O\u2019Sullivan gave Rivers high marks for his pre-snap reads and adjustments, a perfect back-shoulder throw that led to a go-ahead field goal in the final minute and several smart short passes that he said recalled NBA point guard John Stockton\u2019s decision-making.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Sullivan pointed out miscues, too.<\/p>\n
The biggest one: Rivers underthrew Josh Downs for an incompletion after he\u2019d come open on a well-timed double-move. It might have gone for a touchdown.<\/p>\n
\u201cOverall, you\u2019ve gotta be pretty proud of Philip,\u201d said O\u2019Sullivan, who allowed me to quote from his comments to subscribers of The QB School, his website.<\/p>\n
\u201cPretty sweet from Phil,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t think anyone would classify that as a spectacular game. But, you talk about coming off the couch, being a grandpa, not playing for (five) years.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeyond serviceable.\u201d<\/p>\n
O\u2019Sullivan found fault in Colts receiver Michael Pittman\u2019s route on one key play, calling it \u201cbizarro ball\u201d that he sees too often from Pittman. The analyst lauded Seattle\u2019s disguises and opportunist attacks, saying the defense\u2019s lack of movement in response to Colts players in motion showed savvy and sharp communication.<\/p>\n
The ex-QB said Rivers seemed to shuffle more on five-step drops than he did five years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat shot put,\u201d he said of one throw, \u201cjust looks a little heavier than it used to.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe still gets it out quick.\u201d<\/p>\n
The most dramatic outcome would\u2019ve been a Colts victory, followed by additional wins that would\u2019ve matched the Rivers and friends against the Chargers \u2013 whom he never faced in his lone season with Indy \u2013 with a Super Bowl berth on the line next month.<\/p>\n
At that point, Disney would\u2019ve authorized a movie, casting Will Ferrell as Rivers.<\/p>\n
Considering that a week before Rivers faced the Seahawks, he was in Fairhope, Ala., content with his life, as he put it, it was still a show to remember.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The best part of grandpa Philip Rivers\u2019 return to the NFL at age 44 came when Seahawks coach…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99152,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[181,752,74,76,75,127],"class_list":{"0":"post-99151","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-latest-headlines","9":"tag-nfl","10":"tag-san-diego","11":"tag-san-diego-headlines","12":"tag-san-diego-news","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99151\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}