JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — This wasn’t the plan.
A 38-year-old Philip Rivers wasn’t brought to Indianapolis to win games on his own, wheeling and dealing and prone to the interceptions that always plagued him during his most disappointing years with the Chargers.
Rivers was simply supposed to shore up a Colts passing game that never seemed to create a big play last year, take advantage of the looks given to him by the Indianapolis running game and make the Colts into a more complete offense.
The book on Rivers has always been the same. The more a team asks him to carry it on his back, the more likely he is to make the kind of mistakes he made Sunday, tossing two crippling interceptions in an ugly, shocking 27-20 loss in the season opener to a lowly Jacksonville Jaguars team that has sold off most of its best defensive players.