The Colts starter for MNF will be the same longtime veteran it was in Seattle.
According to head coach Shane Steichen, the Indianapolis Colts have already made a decision on who will start at quarterback for next Monday night’s matchup hosting the San Francisco 49ers.
It will be veteran quarterback Philip Rivers again for a consecutive start (via ESPN’s Stephen Holder):
Having not played pro football in nearly 5 years, the 44-year-old Rivers ‘did a lot of good’ on the road against one of the league’s best defenses, with Indianapolis narrowly pulling off the shocking road upset in the game’s closing seconds. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but Rivers showed a lot of grit and leadership under the circumstances.
Rivers nearly set the Colts up for a game-winning 60 yard field goal, with a narrow 16-15 lead, and just 47 seconds left (and Seattle with no timeouts), but the Indy defense—which had been strong all day, couldn’t hold.
The unretired grizzled veteran quarterback finished his late afternoon, completing 18 of 27 pass attempts for 120 passing yards, a passing touchdown, and an interception (which was a desperation heave in the final seconds).
While Rivers showed clear limitations with his diminished arm strength, particularly with Indy’s lack of downfield opportunities, his pre-snap recognition and processing through his passing progressions remained elite, especially having shaken off a lot of dust under short notice—and picked up the Colts playbook on the fly.
Playing in one of the toughest and loudest road environment against that defense? It was impressive.
It remains to be seen if it will work as effectively, given that opposing defenses now know that Rivers isn’t likely to challenge them deep in the passing game downfield—and a lot of his shorter to intermediate throws may be closely contested. Eventually, Rivers may have to better test his arm vertically for a calculated shot or two.
In the end though, Rivers is still the best of readily available starting quarterback options right now.
The Colts coaching staff clearly does not feel that rookie quarterback Riley Leonard is ready to be a full-time QB1 yet, having spent of training camp, preseason, and this season with him on the scout team until recently. Keep in mind that the Indianapolis top brass has regretted rushing Anthony Richardson to the field so soon in 2023, and may be looking to better protect Leonard’s growth and development, while keeping his confidence up.
Speaking of Richardson, while if fully healthy, he may arguably be the Colts best starting option and was recently cleared for physical activities, it doesn’t sound like his return to being a starter is imminent. Specifically, he may not realistically be ready to go until the Colts 2025 season has already concluded in three weeks; time. Brett Rypien appears to be more of just an organizational QB3 option.
That means it’s ‘Old Man Rivers’ for another week, who hopefully will look even more comfortable in primetime.
Category: General Sports
