Indianapolis Colts quarterback Philip Rivers (17) celebrates the win over the Minnesota Vikings after the game at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Philip Rivers' return to the NFL means the five-year timeline on his candidacy for the Hall of Fame will reset just as he was eligible for induction as a first-time semifinalist. However, the likelihood of him getting in probably wasn't all that high. Especially not on his first ballot. In fact, there's a good case against Rivers being a Hall of Famer most will miss if only focusing on his counting stats.

Sure enough, Rivers ranks high in some of the all-time career passing categories, sitting top 10 in both yards and touchdowns thanks to an iron-man career where he started every game of 15 straight years. In that span, he amassed a 134-106 record, made the playoffs seven times and was named a Pro Bowler eight times. His incredible consistency and availability was Rivers' strength, but that's where his Hall of Fame resume ends.

At Pro-Football-Reference, where Hall of Fame quarterbacks have an average PFR HOF ranking of 103.58, Rivers sits just outside that number at 98.06. Matt Ryan actually ranks higher at 106.05. The reason is easy to understand.

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In the last 20 years, just nine quarterbacks have been named to the Hall. Six were league MVPs (Peyton Manning, Kurt Warner, Ken Stabler, Brett Favre, Steve Young, Dan Marino), one was a Super Bowl MVP and three-time champion (Troy Aikman), one was Warren Moon, who had an MVP and championship-laden CFL career to buoy an NFL career that included nine Pro Bowls and one Offensive Player of the Year award, and the last was Benny Friedman, a four-time All-Pro whose 2005 induction came more than 70 years after his career ended.

All nine of those players have the type of individual accolades Rivers' career lacked. The type most Hall of Fame quarterbacks boast. All-Pros, MVPs, Super Bowls. The type of things that can turn a very good career into a great one. The things that have made Matthew Stafford a borderline Hall of Famer the last five years since he won a title with the Rams and became an MVP favorite this season. The things that gave Eli Manning a strong case to reach the hall before Rivers, though some would argue he wasn't a better quarterback.

Short of those All-Pros that identify the NFL's very best players each year, playoff success is the next best way to carve out a Hall of Fame resume. And unlike Manning, whose play improved in the postseason, Rivers' got worse. His 95.2 career quarterback rating dipped to 85.3 in the playoffs. His completion percentage dipped below 60 percent. His record was 5-7. Unless he changes that in his return to the Colts, Rivers will remain a shaky Hall of Fame candidate.

None of that is to say Rivers wasn't a very good quarterback -- maybe the best in Chargers history. Or that he won't eventually earn enshrinement. You never know how voters will see it. But very good doesn't usually make the Hall of Fame, and that's how Rivers' resume looks next to the truly elite quarterbacks of his era.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Philip Rivers will have to wait 5 more years to not make Hall of Fame

Reporting by Prince J. Grimes, For The Win / For The Win

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