Colts head coach Frank Reich is standing by Philip Rivers despite his struggles.
Colts nation is not happy right now, particularly with the play of veteran quarterback Philip Rivers, who was arguably the main reason Indy lost to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. His two turnovers, intentional grounding penalty, and bobbled snap on third and goal cost his team a lot of points — 13 to be exact.
On top of that, he now has more interceptions (5) than touchdown passes (4) and hasn’t stretched the field like many thought he’d be able to. But that doesn’t matter to head coach Frank Reich, who defended Rivers’ awful Sunday, stating that “he’s playing good football.”
Then, on Monday, he said this:
Frank Reich, asked if there’s any consideration to make a change at the QB position: “No. No consideration for that. Philip is our quarterback."
— Andrew Walker (@AWalkerColts) October 12, 2020
For those of you hoping to see promising rookie Jacob Eason, we don’t think that will be happening anytime soon. Colts fans already know what they have in Jacoby Brissett, so the only other intriguing option would be Eason, who was said to have impressed during training camp.
Such a move could be viewed as waving the white flag, but some Colts fans would disagree since Rivers’ mistakes so far this season have been rookie-esque. If the whole point was to sign an experienced veteran to keep games within reach and avoid game-altering turnovers, well, it’s backfiring badly. Four Rivers INTs have cost the Colts two games.
Not only that, but he’s getting the best pass protection he’s seen in years! How is that not helping?!
Reminder, in the Colts 3 wins they allowed 11, 11, and 7 points. Chances are good they’d have won even if Jacob Eason played QB. This is the type of game they went and paid Rivers for, and so far, he’s a bust.
— Brett R Rump (@BrettRumpSports) October 11, 2020
Then again, Reich isn’t exactly one to make knee-jerk decisions. Rivers has only played five games with the Colts, his first new team after 16 seasons with the Chargers. He’s learning a new offense and is missing a number of playmakers each and every week thanks to injuries. Reich is a QB guy and likely understands such difficulties in adjusting. Why throw a rookie into an uncertain situation?
To be honest, both sides of the coin make sense. The Colts probably won’t have Rivers under center after 2020, so what’s the point? However, they can still make a playoff run with that kind of experience under center and not risk ruining Eason’s development as the team is fighting through a bunch of issues to kick off the season.
Let’s just hope Rivers doesn’t have another disastrous performance against the Bengals, or else there’s going to be some serious uproar.
Colts: Philip Rivers truly proving he’s only a stopgap quarterback for Indy
Indianapolis Colts QB Philip Rivers had a dreadful game and based on his performance so far this year he's proving he's only a stopgap QB.