Stampede Blue
The Indianapolis Colts dropped a fourth straight game in Sunday’s tough 18-16 road loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
Five days wasn’t enough time for any other outsider to learn the call sheet, so the Colts relied on 44-year-old grandfather Philip Rivers to come out of retirement and steer the ship into Seattle to face one of the NFL’s best defensive units. Pressed into duty and thrown into the line of fire on short notice, Rivers not only survived, he gave the Colts a chance to win with under one minute left to play.
The opening script went according to plan as the Colts controlled the tempo early on. The Colts ran 19 plays compared to the Seahawks’ three plays in the first 11 minutes, leaning heavily on running back Jonathan Taylor and Rivers’ quick-decision passing attack to blunt Seattle’s crowd noise and aggressive front seven. Taylor accounted for 101 scrimmage yards, including 87 rushing yards on 25 carries.
Rivers had not played in an NFL game since Jan. 9, 2021, but was armed with a condensed game plan from Shane Steichen and led Indianapolis to scoring on three of its first four drives. For stretches, he showed why the Colts reached out and turned to the eight-time pro bowler. He identified incoming pressure, got the ball out quickly and avoided the costly mistakes until his final throw of the game on a desperation heave that was picked off. Rivers finished 18-of-27 for just 120 passing yards and one touchdown.
Just prior to the two-minute warning in the first half, Rivers fired a 17-yard strike to rookie tight end Tyler Warren, the longest play for the Colts in the game to march just outside of the red zone. Two plays later, Rivers hit receiver Josh Downs on a crossing route for a 7-yard touchdown to give Indianapolis a 13-3 lead.
Seattle closed both halves with a Jason Myers field goal from distance, including a 52-yarder to keep the Seahawks within striking distance. Myers drilled field goals of 46, 32 and 30 yards as Seattle chipped away, finally taking a 15-13 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
Rivers answered with a vintage drive that featured a clutch 16-yard completion to receiver Alec Pierce to breach Seahawks territory and set up kicker Blake Grupe, who drilled a career-long 60-yard field goal to momentarily put the Colts back in front with just 47 seconds remaining.
The Colts did leave points on the scoreboard, choosing to punt twice inside Seahawks territory and began the second half with a three-and-out after setting up shop near midfield. Indianapolis’ defense limited Seattle to just 2-of-13 on third down, led by Laiatu Latu’s outstanding performance with three tackles for loss and a sack. The Seahawks never reached their own end zone, but they didn’t need to as Myers played spoiler and delivered on all six field goals, nailing the game-winning 56-yarder in the final minute.
After an 7-1 start, the Colts have dropped to 8-6 and host the San...
