The San Francisco 49ers have a big game coming up this week on Monday Night Football. The Niners will travel to Indianapolis to take on a reeling Colts team, one that started the season 7-1 and found themselves atop the AFC thanks to a dominating offense, but a combination of serious injuries and some regression leaves them at 8-6 and on the outside looking in at the AFC playoff picture.
Starting QB Daniel Jones tore his Achilles against the Jaguars a few weeks ago, and backup QB Anthony Richardson is still working his way back from an orbital bone fracture. So the Colts went out and got an old friend to come out of retirement: legendary QB Philip Rivers. After his long and storied career with the Chargers, Rivers spent one year in Indy and led the team to a playoff berth before hanging it up and riding off into the sunset.
That was back in 2020, and Rivers has been coaching his son’s high school football team in Alabama ever since. But at 44 years old, he suited up and started last week against the Seahawks, taking a late lead on a field goal drive before Seattle managed one of their own in the closing seconds, taking an 18-16 victory over Rivers and the Colts.
San Francisco 49ers QB Brock Purdy on Philip Rivers’ NFL Return
GettySEATTLE, WASHINGTON – DECEMBER 14: Philip Rivers #17 of the Indianapolis Colts attempts a pass against the Seattle Seahawks during the first quarter at Lumen Field on December 14, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
“It’s insane,” 49ers QB Brock Purdy said in his press conference on Friday. “To be able to basically cold-turkey it and come back, what, five years later? And to complete passes, and go through an offense, and to compete and have his team in position to win games. Like, dude, that’s insane.”
“And especially for how physical the game is at quarterback. Like, people think, ‘Oh, the quarterback doesn’t get hit.’ Like dude, you’re dropping back and you’re getting hit after throws, you gotta scramble and throw the ball away and take a hit, and then get back and up and jog back to the huddle, save the play. Like all those little things that you don’t really think of — to be able to do that, at that age, with that amount of time off, and come in and compete right away. Man, it’s very impressive. So he’s a Hall of Famer, and to be able to go up and compete against him, it’s going to be an honor. We all respect the heck out of him.”
“We’ll see, gotta take it one year at a time,” Purdy said with a wry smile on if he’d still be playing football at age 44.
The San Francisco 49ers are Still Alive in the NFC West
On Thursday Night Football, the Seahawks erased a 16-point fourth-quarter deficit against the Rams to set up a thrilling two-point conversion to win in overtime, 38-37. The win hands Seattle control of the NFC West, by far the best and most competitive division in the sport.
But the 49ers aren’t done yet. They’re now a half-game behind the Rams at 10-4 (Los Angeles has played one more game since they played on Thursday night). San Francisco has a tough remaining schedule, still needing to play the Colts, Bears, and Seahawks.
But since they have the Seahawks left on their schedule, they control their own destiny in the division. Win out, and the 49ers would win a potential three-way tie between them, Seattle, and Los Angeles — and with that, likely the NFC’s No. 1 seed.
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