By signing Philip Rivers, the Indianapolis Colts are AFC South favorites in 2020

After Philip Rivers announced he was packing up the family caravan and moving from San Diego to Florida, the speculation and rumors began to fly. Would he stay in-state and orchestrate Bruce Arians’ offense as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? Could the Tennessee Titans decide to pass on Ryan Tannehill, instead opting for Rivers to make another postseason run? Would Rivers pick things up for the retired Andrew Luck in Indianapolis after Jacoby Brissett struggled to lead the offense down the stretch in 2019?

Over the course of the past several months, the option that seemed to make the most sense was that last destination — the Indianapolis Colts. When I looked at five potential landing spots for Rivers in late January, the Colts held the No. 1 slot, and I wasn’t alone in that opinion. There were plenty of people linking the two sides — and for good reason. The Colts have the pieces in place to return to the postseason next year with a quarterback like Rivers at the helm.

They’ll get the opportunity to prove it after signing Rivers to a one-year, $25 million deal, charging him with taking control of their offense.

Indianapolis could not go into 2020 with Brissett as the starter

There was a narrative that Brissett was playing well at the start of the 2019 season and simply lost his touch over the second half of the year. Coincidentally, that narrative mirrors the Colts’ record, and on the surface, Brissett did produce worse results over the second half of the season.