Bobby Burack
Videos by OutKick
The Indianapolis Colts have a bad QB problem. Philip Rivers, at age 38, isn’t any good.
Sunday, his age and inabilities were on full display in the Colts’ 32-23 loss to the Browns. Rivers missed open receivers and threw passes that made Peyton Manning’s former wobbles look like throws.
Rivers couldn’t get the ball into the end zone. He did, however, toss two passes to Cleveland.
Indianapolis isn’t another bad team without a QB; it has real talent. The Colts’ defense is among the league’s fastest, deepest, and most talented.
Coming into the day, Indianapolis’ defense ranked second in yards, first in passing yards, and first in scoring.
This season, the Colts aren’t going to upgrade the position, which would turn the team into a contender. At his best, backup Jacoby Brissett is a mild upgrade.
Looking ahead to the offseason, the Colts’ record will put them out of range for a top draft pick. Justin Fields isn’t sliding far; Trevor Lawrence isn’t sliding past first-overall. Even Trey Lance, who is rapidly rising of mock drafts, is unlikely for the now 3-2 squad.
Barring Rivers turning back the clock 8 years, Cam Newton should be a priority. No. 1. Remember: Newton’s deal with New England is only for this season.
Newton is great playing on a team that is defense first, runs the ball second, and throws third. For the Colts, Newton is an ideal fit. For Newton, if New England isn’t willing to pay him, which it might not be— it is mutual.
Cam Newton next season on this Colts team would instantly be among the AFC’s best.
Umm maybe but as far as Rivers goes i didn’t think he looked that good last couple of years had a lot of talent but never won anything and he’s been around a long time.
Not taking any blame away from Rivers, but losing Mack, Campbell and Pittman took away three of his weapons, and Hilton has lost something the past couple years. Rivers wasn’t supposed to carry this team, and so far he certainly isn’t.
Rivers has become the first shotputter to be an NFL quarterback.
I watched every snap of the game, the loss was on the entire Colts team, they sucked everywhere except the FG kicker. The defense was uncharacteristically bad, getting gashed for two big run plays on Cleveland’s final drive. Force a punt there and Rivers has a chance (albeit a long shot) of winning the game. There’s a few big reasons the Colts struggled:
1. Cleveland IS actually legit, I’m heading to Ryan’s thread next.
2. Colts were missing their starting Left Tackle, playing against the most dominant edge rusher in football, not a good recipe for success.
3. Rivers looked like the Chargers Rivers rather than the Colts Rivers of the last few games, reason being he was under constant pressure and its well documented he does not throw well on the move. If you give him a pocket and 3 seconds he is still a very good QB. If he is being smashed like a trash compactor 2 seconds after taking the snap, he will not perform well. Still to keep in perspective, If the Colts Defense stops a run that everyone knows is coming, Rivers gets the ball back with a chance to win the game.
A couple of weeks back Rivers was awesome. Today he’s a bum. Ok.
Happened with the Chargers nearly every year. We developed a term we called “ball watcher”, the people who overlook rather important things like O-line play. I’ve not seen too many 38 year old QB’s who play well with Myles Garrett bum rushing them on every drop back.