Colts: 3 key takeaways from tough Week 1 loss to Jaguars

2. This is the gamble the Colts took with Rivers

Colts QB Philip Rivers threw two costly interceptions against Jacksonville.

It’s worth noting off the bat that we weren’t totally upset with Philip Rivers’ performance in his Colts debut as he finished 36-of-46 (78.2%) for 363 yards and one touchdown. By any metric, those are solid stats.

The three-time Pro Bowler also did a spectacular job at sharing the wealth as five of his pass catchers logged more than 45 receiving yards. While that’s all well and good, Rivers unfortunately amplified the main concern among fans in Indianapolis when he was signed to a one-year, 25 million contract this offseason: Turning the football over.

A year after Rivers recorded 20 interceptions and eight fumbles, he was back to committing costly turnovers. His first interception resulted in a Jaguars touchdown and his second came on 3rd-and-3 with the Colts well short of midfield and trailing 24-20 late in the fourth quarter. The defense did well to hold Jacksonville to a field goal to keep Indy within striking distance, but we’ll never know what could have happened had he not been so reckless.

We had serious flashbacks to Rivers’ final days with the Chargers as he dropped back to pass 46 times (!) and was tasked with winning the game late. In the simplest of terms, we’re going to need to see less of that moving forward.