Those vintage No. 17 jerseys from 2020 are officially back in style.
As he did in his lone year with Indianapolis and his 16 seasons with the Chargers, Philip Rivers will wear No. 17 in his second stint with the Colts, according to Mike Chappell of FOX 59.
Daniel Jones had worn No. 17 this season. But now that he’s on injured reserve with a torn Achilles and out for the year, that number is available for the 44-year-old quarterback coming out of retirement.
The Colts announced they had officially signed Rivers to the practice squad on Wednesday. The rest of the practice week will help indicate whether or not Rivers will be available to make his first appearance since 2020.
Chargers Clips
We’ve reached the point in the regular season where teams can officially turn an eye toward January.
The Rams, Patriots, and Broncos are the three clubs that can clinch a postseason berth this week.
For Los Angeles, it’s simple: Win and you’re in. The Rams can only secure the NFC’s first playoff spot, with the NFC West still up for grabs between L.A., Seattle, and San Francisco.
Things are a little more complicated for two AFC teams.
New England will win the AFC East and secure a home playoff game with a victory over Buffalo. The Patriots can also clinch a postseason berth with a tie and a Chargers loss; a tie with a Texans loss or tie; a tie with a Colts loss or tie; or a tie with a Jaguars loss. New England would also clinch a berth if Houston loses or ties and Indianapolis loses or ties as long as both games don’t end in a tie.
Denver cannot clinch the AFC West on Sunday, but can clinch a postseason berth with a win. If Denver ties, a Chargers loss, or Jaguars loss, or Texans loss or tie, or Colts loss or tie would also secure a playoff spot. Additionally, the same New England clinching scenario with a Houston loss or tie plus an Indianapolis loss or tie, as long as both games don’t end in a tie, applies to Denver.
The Patriots will play the Bills at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, while Broncos-Packers and Rams-Lions both have a 4:25 p.m. ET kickoff time.
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert confirmed that he decided on his own to run the ball with 27 seconds left in the fourth quarter on Monday night, keeping the ball and gaining nine yards when his coaches and all 10 teammates on the field were expecting a handoff.
“At the end of the day, we got to go make something happen,” Herbert told Daniel Popper of The.Athletic.com. “You can draw it up one way, but you got to go make it happen.”
On the play in question, offensive coordinator Greg Roman called for Herbert to hand off to running back Kimani Vidal and Vidal to run to the left. As Herbert went to hand off to Vidal, he saw Eagles edge rusher Jaelan Phillips run toward Vidal, expecting him to get the ball. That left an opening where Phillips had been, and in a split second Herbert pulled the ball away from Vidal and took it himself, running to the right and getting into range for Cameron Dicker’s game-tying field goal.
Chargers center Bradley Bozeman said when he saw Vidal he thought, “Kimani doesn’t have the ball. What is going on?”
Herbert knew he was going to surprise his teammates and coaches, but he also knew if it worked, everyone would be happy with his decision.
“If you do that,” Herbert said. “You got to be right.”
The NFL’s curious decision to overturn a touchdown reception by Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely reintroduced needless confusion into the question of what a catch is, and what a catch isn’t.
Adding to that confusion, indirectly, was last night’s failure to overturn the ruling on the field that Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts had possession of the ball long enough to fumble it. (It didn’t matter to the outcome of the play, since the Chargers recovered the ball. But if it had trickled out of bounds, the ruling that Hurts had the ball long enough to fumble it would have determined which team was awarded possession.)
The possession rule is virtually identical to the catch rule. From Rule 3, Section 1, Article 7 (Player Possession): “To gain possession of a loose ball that has been caught, intercepted, or recovered, a player (a) must have complete control of the ball with his hands or arms and (b) have both feet or any other part of his body, other than his hands, completely on the ground inbounds, and, after (a) and (b) have been fulfilled, clearly perform any act common to the game (e.g., extend the ball forward, take an additional step, tuck the ball away and turn upfield, or avoid or ward off an opponent). It is not necessary that he commit such an act, provided that he maintains control of the ball long enough to do so.”
Watch the play. If Hurts possessed the ball long enough to fumble it, Likely had it long enough to catch it.
Also, and as previously explained, if Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers had the ball long enough to complete the process of catching it, Likely had it long enough to catch it. (It’s impossible to reconcile the two rulings, and the NFL knows it.)
Bottom line? It took the NFL years to create the impression that it has finally figured out what a catch is. In one fell swoop on a December afternoon in Baltimore, the league has thrown the entire question back into the “who the hell knows?” category.
Congratulations.
Chargers kicker Cameron Dicker went 5-for-5 on field goals in Monday night’s win over the Eagles, and he’s extending his lead over everyone else in NFL history as the most accurate kicker the league has ever seen.
With 122 field goals in 130 attempts, Dicker has now made 93.8 percent of his career field goal attempts, by far the best in NFL history.
Second place belongs to Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey, who is 103-for-114 for a career mark of 90.4 percent. Aubrey’s mark is great, but he’s already missed one more field goal than Dicker, while making 19 fewer.
That doesn’t necessarily mean Dicker is the best kicker of all time, though. Dicker hasn’t shown the same leg strength as Aubrey: Aubrey’s career-long is 65 yards, and he’s 33-for-38 (86.8 percent) from 50 yards and longer in his career. Dicker’s career-long is 59 yards, and he’s 21-for-27 (77.8 percent) from 50 yards and longer in his career.
NFL kickers today are so much better than they were for most of NFL history that they’re practically playing a different sport. Dicker and Aubrey are making kicks with a consistency football fans have never seen before.
Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh was characteristically enthusiastic about quarterback Justin Herbert’s performance on Monday night when he called the quarterback a “superhero” for playing a week after having surgery on a fracture in his left hand.
Herbert played with a large glove and other protection on the hand while going 12-of-26 for 139 yards, a touchdown and an interception in the 22-19 overtime win. Herbert also ran 10 times for 66 yards while getting sacked seven times and losing a fumble during an eventful night against the Eagles.
Pain was visible on Herbert’s face on some of those sacks and runs, but Herbert downplayed the idea that he was worthy of special praise for playing hurt when others on the team are doing the same thing outside of the spotlight.
“Just because I’m the quarterback I get the talk about that but those guys, they battle,” Herbert said, via the team’s website. “Theres definitely guys in that locker room that are fighting through so many different injuries and things worse than what I’m going through. It’s the least that I can do to show up and give my best.”
Herbert’s teammates sounded more like Harbaugh when discussing their reaction to seeing Herbert on the field so soon after his injury and the night will take on a storybook quality around the Chargers should they head on a long postseason run off the back of this win.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts did something on Monday night that may never have happened before in the NFL: He turned the ball over twice on one play.
In the second quarter, a Hurts pass was intercepted by Chargers defensive lineman Da’Shawn Hand. After returning the interception seven yards, Hand fumbled and Hurts picked it up. Hurts then fumbled it almost immediately after establishing possession and it was recovered by Chargers defensive back Troy Dye.
So that was both an interception and a lost fumble by Hurts, on the same play.
Complete and accurate play-by-play statistics for the NFL only go back to 1978, but since then, Hurts is the only player ever to record two turnovers on one play.
If Hurts had otherwise played well and the Eagles had won, that stat would go down as mostly a curiosity. But Hurts had three other interceptions in the game, the last of which sealed the Eagles’ loss in overtime. It was an ugly game for Hurts, for a lot more reasons than just one ugly play.
Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh says Justin Herbert’s performance in Monday night’s win over the Eagles was one for the ages.
“Justin Herbert, he’s a superhero,” Harbaugh said. “He’s a competitive maniac. He was even stiff-arming guys with a broken hand — he had surgery a week ago. It felt like we were in a movie where the quarterback’s doing things and you get to the point where you go, ‘OK, it’s getting a little unrealistic.’ That’s what it felt like to me. He refuses to lose. He’s tough as they get. He’s a superhero quarterback.”
Herbert’s passing numbers weren’t great -- he completed just 12 of 26 passes for 139 yards, with one touchdown and one interception -- but he also ran the ball 10 times for 66 yards while playing behind an injury-depleted offensive line. Harbaugh said the perseverance shown by his team in beating the defending Super Bowl champions 22-19 in overtime made it one of the best days of his life.
“It’s certainly in the discussion, I’d put it in the discussion of the birth of my seven children, my marriage,” Harbaugh said. “In the conversation. Just joyous. The Biblical definition of that is just overflowing with joy.”
The Chargers are now 9-4, and Harbaugh says they’re the kind of team that can win championships.
“What a team we have,” Harbaugh said. “Just a wonderful feeling of victory. Great thrill of victory.”
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts had a particularly ugly performance in Monday night’s 22-19 overtime loss to the Chargers.
He finished the night 21-of-40 passing for 240 yards with four interceptions and a lost fumble, setting a new career high with four picks and five total giveaways. Of course, the last interception was the most consequential, as the Eagles were in a strong position to at least tie the game if not win it before Cam Hart tipped a pass that Tony Jefferson picked off to end the contest.
“I knew it was going to be a tight-window throw,” Hurts said postgame of the last interception. “I’d have to watch the film to see it from the film’s point of view. Ultimately, it’s a play that I didn’t make. He got a hand on the ball and I didn’t make the play.
“That’s a play that we’ve made a million times in that scenario versus a cloud corner and I didn’t make that play this time around.”
Generally, Hurts said he had too many turnovers, which was a clear factor in the loss. As a player who has not turned the ball over much throughout his career, Hurts uncharacteristically now has seven giveaways in his last two games.
Is this an outlier or a trend?
“That’s for everyone else to determine,” Hurts said. “For me, we lost the game and I didn’t play well enough to help us win the game. And so, I look at it like I look at every game in terms of win or loss — how I respond to what the game presented [in] itself. So, that’s my mentality.”
With the Eagles having lost each of their last three games, Hurts wants to make sure he’s leading the team to be as resilient as possible moving forward. Philadelphia will begin the last quarter of the season by hosting the Raiders next Sunday afternoon.
“I think winning is a point of pride to me. That’s why we play the game. And I’ve got to find ways to lead our team to victories,” Hurts said. “It’s not something that’s foreign to us. We’re just not able to do it at the moment. It starts with me and how I play, how I lead, and how I go out there and do my job. So, when I look at it, at any point, it’s about how I respond to a test — how I respond to it and what level of resilience and resolve I have to push forward and figure things out.
“[I]t definitely stings, definitely stings,” Hurts added. “But, how do you respond? And that’s the only way I know how to look at it. Again, you’re going to see what type of resolve [this team has] — what’s in us to respond the way we want to. So, we’ve just got to dig.”
After plenty of games during which receiver A.J. Brown didn’t get enough balls thrown in his direction, Brown had a season-high 13 targets on Monday night in L.A. He made six catches for 100 yards.
There are three moments Brown would like to have back.
Via Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Brown listed the deep pass on the first play from scrimmage, a ball that went off his hands and became an interception, and a dropped pass in the end zone that would have put the Eagles ahead by a touchdown with less than two and a half minutes to play.
Brown, per McLane, took accountability for all three moments.
During his period of frustration, Brown made it clear that he wants the ball to come his way in key moments. It happened on Monday night. When he fails to turn those chances into a positive outcome, it’s only fair to shoulder the blame.
For now, the Eagles have to get back at it. It’ll be a long flight home from California and a Sunday date with the Raiders. The good news is the Raiders have lost seven in a row. The bad news is the Eagles have now lost three in a row, which will remind anyone/everyone of the 1-5 finish to 2023 that followed a 10-1 start.
This time around, 8-2 has become 8-5. And the Cowboys are 6-6-1. If the Eagles go 2-2 and the Cowboys run the table, Dallas wins the NFC East.
