The Colts’ path to the playoffs has shrunken to nearly nothing entering Week 17. According to Next Gen Stats, Indianapolis has a 3% chance to make the postseason and needs plenty of help to accomplish the miracle.

That means our time enjoying 44-year-old quarterback Philip Rivers’s unexpected return to the NFL is likely coming to its close. Now on a five-game losing skid following an 8–2 start to the season, the Colts are on the outside looking in. They have a narrow path to play past Week 18, which all starts this week, even before they take the field Sunday against the Jaguars.

The Texans and Chargers meet Saturday in Los Angeles. For the Colts’ chances to survive into Sunday, they need some help from Rivers’s longtime team. If the Chargers defeat the Texans Saturday, the Colts remain alive. Should Houston emerge victorious, the Colts are officially eliminated. Should Indianapolis win its final two games, a Chargers victory Saturday blows up their postseason chances to 47% per The Athletic.

Rivers spent 17 seasons with the Chargers before he signed with the Colts in 2020, spending a season in Indianapolis before his initial retirement. Now back in the fold, he’s looking forward to rooting for his other team with stakes on the line for his current squad.

“I’m sure I’ll be tuned in,” Rivers said when asked whether he’ll watch Saturday’s Texans-Chargers game via The Athletic’s James Boyd. “I’ve never been one to say, ‘I don’t want to see.’ It’s like being a fan. And that will be an easy one to pull for, right? Pulling for the Chargers. You feel like if you’re pulling for them you’re helping them out a little bit.”

Rivers was asked if he’d contact anyone on the Chargers to give them some extra juice to try and help the Colts out. He said he didn’t need to do that, as L.A. has been playing pretty well without him chiming in. At 11–4, the Chargers have already clinched a playoff spot, but they are hoping to eclipse the 12–3 Broncos for the AFC West title, a first-round bye and home-field advantage over the playoffs.

In two starts since the shocking comeback, Rivers has thrown for 397 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions while completing 66.1% of his throws. The Colts have dropped both of Rivers’s starts as their slide continues. If they don’t beat the Jags Sunday, the Texans-Chargers result doesn’t matter. But, the legendary QB gets to pull for his former team with stakes at hand at least one more time.

L.A. clinched a playoff berth Monday with the Indianapolis loss. Now, it may be the Chargers’ turn to repay the favor.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Philip Rivers Is Excited to Root for Chargers to Keep Colts’ Slim Playoff Hopes Alive.

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