Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Doug Flutie, Vinny Testaverde, Warren Moon, Steve Deberg, Brett Favre, George Blanda, Josh McCown, Mark Brunnel, all played past their age 40 season, which is something I never expected to say about Rivers, however heading into his 17th year at age 38 might have his best chance ever in his career to compete for a Super Bowl after teaming up with his former O.C., and Super Bowl winner (as an assistant in Philly) Frank Reich, which could push him to play into his 40's despite the look that his 1 year deal, and reported high school head coaching job waiting for him after retirement.
Let's look at the facts of Rivers reality with the Chargers. In 16 seasons with the team Rivers compiled a 128-107 record with the team, along with a 5-6 record in the playoffs. To put this in a bit more context during that time he had made the playoffs just 6 times in 16 seasons, while being sacked 446 times. In fact since 2010 Rivers had just 1 season in which he was sacked on average less than twice a game. In comparison Eli Manning was sacked 411 times in his career, but had just 2 seasons in which he was sacked an average of more than twice a game, Tom Brady who has played 4 more seasons than Rivers has been sacked exactly 500 times. That should give you an idea how much more frequently Rivers is dealing with hits at 38 years old, than Manning or Brady were in their previous stops. It also paints a rosy picture of the Colts for Rivers. The Colts offensive line allowed just 45 sacks the last two seasons combined, and return their top 6 offensive linemen for the 3rd year straight. The only changes have been the loss of Joe Haeg and the addition of depth to fill that hole via the draft and free agency. Keeping Rivers upright goes a long way toward staving off retirement in 2021 if the Colts aren't ready to hand the keys to Jacob Eason yet. The Colts boast one of the best offensive lines in the league and have prioritized building it up as a strength after watching as the previous hodge podge o line units helped lead Andrew Luck to an early retirement.
The next reason? The skill position players. The Colts already had solid talent around Rivers, and that was before the draft. Come draft time the Colts used back to back second round picks on offense. Drafting presumptive starting receiver Michael Pittman Jr. (Son of former NFL RB), and RB Jonathon Taylor who at very least figures to split carries with Marlon Mack, but I wouldn't be shocked to see Taylor first off the bench with Mack playing the 3rd down role. The veteran players aren't bad either with Ty Hilton, Parris Campbell, Zach Pascal, Jack Doyle, and Trey Burton catching passes. This might be one of the most well rounded groups he has ever had around him.
The defense. The Colts have been quietly building up a very solid defense over the past 3 years. Drafting guys like Darius Leonard, Rock Ya-Sin, and Kemoko Turay. They went out and acquired DeForest Buckner, and Xavier Rhodes to shore up areas of need demonstrating an aggressive nature of acquiring key pieces even if premium draft Capitol is required to get it done.
The final reason why I see Rivers lasting in Indy is Frank Reich. Reich coached Rivers from 2013-2015 first as a qb coach then as his offensive coordinator all three years Rivers was around 30 tds, 15 ints, and all 3 of those years ranked in his top 4 seasons in terms of completion rate. More importantly I believe Reich earned Rivers trust the first year he coached him, when he helped him go from being sacked 49 times in 2012 to 30 times in 2013 by working on several factors in his game. Heading into 2020 Rivers can still get it done physically and has no question of whose team this is going forward however long he decides to continue playing. Reich knows Rivers, and the rest of his scheme and players, I believe he will have the Colts in Super Bowl contention in 2020, which could prompt Rivers to return knowing to cement his hall of fame resume he needs to increase his .579 win rate, and get himself a Lombardi trophy.
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