Philip Rivers’ back-breaking late-game interception should come as no surprise

Death, taxes, and Philip Rivers hurting his teams with late-game interceptions. Some things are just inevitable.

With 4:32 left in their Week 1 game against the Jaguars, the Colts had third-and-4 at their own 32-yard line, and a winning opportunity down 24-20. New Colts quarterback Philip Rivers had thrown a seven-yard completion to tight end Mo Allie-Cox on the previous play, and things were looking pretty good against a Jacksonville franchise that seems bound and determined to rid itself of all its best players.

And then, this happened.

With plenty of time left on the clock, and just four yards to pick up, Rivers did what he does late in games — he Jay Cutler-ed his way right out of a possible win with an abysmal flat-footed throw in the general direction of receiver Parris Campbell. But it was Andrew Wingard, an undrafted second-year safety from Wyoming, who got the ball Rivers threw under highly questionable circumstances. Last season, per Pro Football Focus, Wingard played just 70 coverage snaps, allowing receptions on all three of his targets for 47 yards, a touchdown, and a perfect passer rating of 158.3.

So, Rivers wasn’t exactly dealing with Ed Reed here.

Months after Rivers signed with the Colts, he talked about the fine balance he wants to walk as an aggressive quarterback who wants to keep things in check.

“I certainly feel confident in throwing the ball in tight windows or throwing the ball in tight coverage and being accurate where it’s our ball or nobody,” Rivers said in August. “Certainly I had some throws get away from me in the past — really, just last year more than anything. But I don’t want that to turn me into someone that’s scared to make a play, because I don’t think you can play that way either. So I think there’s a fine line there between aggressive and stupid.”

The hope was that a reunion with Colts head coach Frank Reich — who worked with Rivers with the Chargers from 2013-2015 and helped Rivers author some of his best seasons back in the day — would save Rivers from the worst parts of himself on the field.

Because when Rivers talks about throwing getting away from him last season, he’s not just whistling Dixie. In 2019, Rivers threw six interceptions in the last two minutes of games, which was by far the worst mark of any quarterback. Jameis Winston, who became the only quarterback in NFL history to throw 30 touchdowns and 30 interceptions in the same season, threw just three picks in these types of situations. This particular pick wasn’t in the two-minute frame, but it’s still a killer. If we move that out the most picks thrown last season in the last five minutes of games, Rivers is still the clubhouse leader with seven, while Winston’s total goes up to six.

Either way, this is not what the Colts wanted when they signed Rivers to a one-year, $25 million contract on March 22. It is not what the Colts wanted, but it is what they should have expected.