MILESTONE DAY FOR COLTS’ RIVERS
Xavier Rhodes delivered the first punch Sunday for the Indianapolis Colts.
Colts 36, Jets 7
T.J. Carrie finished it off on a milestone day for Philip Rivers.
Rhodes and Carrie each returned an interception for a touchdown, Indianapolis recorded its second safety in as many weeks and Rivers added his 400th career TD pass as the Colts routed the New York Jets 36-7. It’s the firsttimesinceoctober 1970 the Colts returned two INTS for scores in a game, which also happened against the Jets.
“Any time we touch that rock, that’s the most important part of the game,” Carrie said. “It’s not just saying something, you have to actually go out and practice it.”
The Colts (2-1) came in with the league’s top-rated defense and could stay there after picking off three more passes, giving up just 260 yards and seven points.
But for a franchise better knownfor highscoring offenses, getting 18 points from the defense in two victories has been a welcome addition.
Couple that with Rivers, who got rid of the ball quickly and crisply while avoiding mistakes on a milestone day.
The 38-year-old former Chargers quarterback went 17 of 21 for 217 yards, be
coming the sixth player in league history to throw 400 career TD passes and the sixth to top 60,000 yards. He passed Hall of Famer Danmarino for fifth all-time in completions and broke a tie with Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton for eighth in league history with winno. 125..
Rivers now has exactly 400 TDS, 60,065 yards, 4,980 completions.
“I think it’s Okwhen you don’t caught up in it to go, ‘Oh man,’ ” he said.“what it’s done for me in this little short bit of time is you start thinking about all the guyswho caught somanyofthoseballs. Youknowit’s allabout the team. But I’m certainly thankful and I’d be lying to you if I said I didn’t care.”
For the winless Jets, it was another ugly chapter in a season already filled with them after only threeweeks.
Rhodes picked off Sam Darnold on the fifth play of the game, returning it 44 yards for his first score since 2016.
Darnold answered with a 16-yard TD pass to Braxton Berrios to tie it midway through the first quarter. Hefinished 17 of 27 with 168 yards, one TD and three interceptions.