Philip Rivers turning back clock not enough to keep Colts from brink of playoff elimination

Philip Rivers sure looked like the Philip Rivers of old for a while – but it wasn’t enough.

The 44-year-old quarterback turned back the clock for the Colts, whose defense didn’t do enough to support their signal caller in a 48-27 loss to the 49ers at Lucas Oil Stadium on Monday night. 

Rivers finished 23-for-34 passing for 277 yards and two touchdowns against Robert Salah’s defense. The impressive showing included a monster first half that saw Rivers complete 14 of 21 passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns to Alec Pierce, which left Indianapolis trailing just 24-17 at the break. 

The eight-time Pro Bowler was able to get the Colts within a touchdown in the fourth quarter by leading a 12-play touchdown drive, capped by a one-yard scoring run from Jonathan Taylor, to help cut the 49ers’ lead to 34-27 with 6:21 remaining in the game.

San Francisco, which lost star tight end George Kittle to an ankle injury, ended the game by scoring the final 14 points, which included a 74-yard pick-six by Dee Winters that put the game out of reach.

Brock Purdy broke out in a big way by going 25 of 24 passing for 295 yards and five touchdown passes for a 49ers team that can win out and earn the No. 1 seed in the NFC. 

The loss severely hurts the Colts’ playoff chances as the team has now lost five straight to drop to 8-7 with two games remaining. The sit two games back of the Texans for the final wild card spot. The Colts are eliminated with a loss next week to the Jaguars or a Houston win. 

Rivers came out of retirement after five years away last week to help the Colts out of their quarterback bind after injuries to starter Daniel Jones and backup Anthony Richardson. He threw for just 120 yards in an 18-16 loss to Seattle last week.

They could become just the sixth team to miss the playoffs after an 8-2 start.