Clint Lamb
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The Indianapolis Colts and their quarterback Philip Rivers had a brutal start against the Bengals on Sunday. By early second quarter, the team was down 21-0 to Joe Burrow and Cincinnati. From there, the Colts took off.
Rivers helped lead his team as they outscored their opponent 31-6 in just under three quarters. He finished with 371 yards on 44 attempts (a 8.4-yard average) and three touchdowns and only one interception. The final score settled at 31-27 to bring Indianapolis to 4-2 on the season.
It was a necessary shift for Rivers, who was already dealing with criticism following the team’s 32-23 loss to the Cleveland Browns the Sunday before. Those criticisms, especially from the media, are something Rivers sought out following that loss.
He found them. He read them. And he accepted them.
Here is what Rivers had to say about reading all of his critics following the Week 5 loss to the Browns. It was an honest and hilarious admission. Check it out:
Most players tell you they never read what you write and don’t care if it’s positive or negative. And then there is Philip Rivers. I love this: pic.twitter.com/mH6bXFxMmt
— Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) October 19, 2020
“I made the decision last week. I’m going to read,” Rivers said. “I want to read what they wrote.”
He didn’t do it to give himself any motivation, and he said as much. He just wanted to get to know some of the media in Indianapolis whom he had not met in person. Rivers was glad that everyone was honest about his performance last week.
And one thing you’re always going to get from Rivers is honest answers. He likes to talk — both on and off the field — and that’s a good thing for those who cover him as an athlete and as a person.
The media was harsh last week after his two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown, resulted in a loss against the Browns. More than likely, his critics won’t be quite as harsh following his performance against the Bengals.
Follow Clint Lamb on Twitter @ClintRLamb.
Been around for a long time has not won a thing
To be fair, his best teams in San Diego had to get past Brady-Pats, Manning-Colts, and Rothlisberger-Steelers – all of whom went to the Super Bowl out of the AFC essentially every year for 15 years or so. I can recall a couple playoff games where he put the Chargers in position to beat the Pats and their kicker misses a game winning kick. Takes skill and a little bit of luck to get past those 3. He isn’t what he used to be but can we stop acting like Rivers has been mediocre his entire career?
Yeah, that’s all on him. Or it could be the Manning family knew what they were doing when they refused to play for a family who made their money selling cheap track houses in socal and couldn’t win a co-ed flag football game.