The Indianapolis Colts had a question to ask themselves ahead of Week 17's loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars: Start Philip Rivers or Riley Leonard at quarterback? The team already knew they were going to miss the postseason after the Houston Texans had won the day before. Maybe the team should have started Leonard to see if he could be kept on the roster in 2026.
There was a logical complication to that, too. Before Houston won, the Colts had to prepare for the Jaguars game as if there was still some small chance that the team could make the postseason. Indy thought Rivers gave the team a better chance to beat Jacksonville than Leonard did.
Therefore, during practices ahead of the game, Rivers was getting all of the QB1 reps, and Leonard was getting snaps as QB2. The argument could be made that Rivers was better prepared to start.
Philip Rivers starting for the Indianapolis Colts in Week 17 might have had a simple reason
But ESPN's Colts reporter, Stephen Holder, offered a different reason for the Colts wanting to play Philip Rivers: Money. Week 17 was the final home game of the season for Indy, and the team might have thought that Rivers is going to bring more fans to Lucas Oil Stadium than Leonard would have.
Holder wrote on X, "The stadium is full a few days after Christmas. People came to watch Philip Rivers. Give them what they want. This was not a hard decision IMO."
The issue would go well beyond tickets being sold. Those were likely swiped up long before the Colts' playoff fate was known. But people coming to Lucas Oil are also going to spend a lot on concessions and merchandise. Those are underrated money-making opportunities for the team.
Fans also might have known that Indianapolis was not going to the playoffs, and still came to the game because of the uniqueness of watching a once-retired, future Pro Football Hall of Famer play a football game. The situation surrounding Rivers might never happen again for any other player.
Whether the Indianapolis Colts won or lost made little difference. Fans simply hoped to see Philip Rivers play and play well. The latter is debatable about his performance in Week 17.
As far as the argument that the team needed to start Rivers simply because he had gotten the QB1 reps in practice is also debatable. Riley Leonard has spent the entire season with the team and knows Shane Steichen's offensive system well enough to play whenever needed. He proved that after Daniel Jones was injured in Week 15, and Leonard was fine for most of the game.
Ultimately, if Holder is correct, the Colts just wanted to earn a bit more cash as the team wouldn't be hosting a playoff game. Better to grab the dollars while the team still can.