Philip Rivers is back. For at least one drive anyway.
After Rivers stuck to short passes around the line of scrimmage when he came out of retirement and started for the Colts last week he came into his second game of the season ready to let it fly. The result was seven completions on nine attempts and a 20-yard touchdown pass on the Colts first drive of the game against the 49ers on Monday Night Football.
Rivers had a free play when San Francisco defensive end Clelin Ferrell jumped offside on second down. Rivers stepped up and threw it into the end zone where Alec Pierce made a nice catch and held onto the ball while a defensive back tried to rip it away from him. It was Rivers’s second touchdown pass of the season.
PHILIP RIVERS OPENING DRIVE TUDDY TO ALEC PIERCE 🔥 pic.twitter.com/UDkO1izXzg
— ESPN (@espn) December 23, 2025
Rivers was thrilled. He was not alone. The Colts were thrilled. Rivers's family, who were all there in a box watching the game, were thrilled. And back in Alabama a sports bar full of high school football players were thrilled to see their coach has still got it. And Joe Buck seemed to enjoy it too.
Phil Rivers touchdown reaction pic.twitter.com/mYgLUT1kAn
— tecca_videos (@TeccaVideo25351) December 23, 2025
Rivers had just 120 yards passing in his first game back. By the end of the first quarter against San Francisco he had already thrown for 121. If there was any question whether Rivers came back to hand the ball off and check down, the answer appears to be no.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Philip Rivers Was So Fired Up After Colts’ Opening Touchdown vs. 49ers.
