The San Diego Chargers surprised many people by beating the Indianapolis Colts 19-9 on Monday Night Football. The Colts were coming off three straight wins, including impressive victories over the 49ers and Seahawks. The Chargers, meanwhile, had just lost to the Raiders. But they looked extra motivated on Monday, possibly because they felt disrespected.
Quarterback Philip Rivers hinted after the game that he was playing with an edge because he was offended by all the hype for next weekend’s Colts-Denver Broncos game.
In a postgame interview with ESPN’s Lisa Salters, Rivers was asked about Andrew Luck and the Colts offense, and he decided to mention the Colts-Broncos hype unprompted.
“We heard so much coming into the game about their offense and Andrew Luck, what was your offense doing to keep them off the field?” Salters asked.
“I wasn’t sure who the Colts were playing this week with all the ads I saw …” Rivers said with a smirk.
The Broncos visit the Colts next Sunday night for what will mark Peyton Manning’s return to Indy and first game against his former team. The hype for the game was talked about at length on Sunday and Monday as if the Colts didn’t have a game to go before it. It sure seemed to me like Rivers was motivated because he felt overlooked.
I mean are you really telling me Rivers wasn’t stoked to get this win? Look at his reaction to Nick Novak’s 51-yard field goal to give the Chargers the 19-9 lead:
That dude was fired up. Fired. Up.
GIF via @corkgaines
