NEW YORKJETS (11-5) vs. INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (10-6)
DATE: Saturday, January 8, 2011
SITE: Lucas Oil Stadium
KICKOFF: 8:00 p.m. (EST)
CAPACITY: 63,000
SURFACE:FieldTurf
Returning to the playoffs for a league record-tying ninth consecutive season, the Indianapolis Colts, 10-6, host the New York Jets, 11-5, on Saturday, January 8, 2011 in the AFC Wild Card Playoffs. Kickoff for the contest, broadcast nationally by NBC Sports and Westwood One, is 8:00 p.m. (EST).
Indianapolis returns as a playoff participant after winning its seventh AFC South title in the past eight seasons. The Colts have tied the league mark of Dallas (1975-83) for the most consecutive post-season berths, and Indianapolis will meet the Jets for the second consecutive post-season. These teams waged a battle for the AFC Championship in this venue on January 24, 2010, with Indianapolis posting a 30-17 victory. Indianapolis closed the regular season last Sunday with a 23-20 victory over Tennessee. New York reaches the playoffs after a 38-7 home victory over Buffalo.
The Colts are owners of the NFL's best regular-season record (138-54) since the start of the 1999 season, while being the only team to earn eleven playoff appearances in the last 12 seasons, including a league record-tying nine consecutive post-season berth (Dallas, 1975-83). Indianapolis has won 83 of its last 105 regular-season games. The Colts own a 108-35 record (counting the playoffs) since the start of the 2003 season and are 94-30 since 2004. From November, 2003 to December, 2009, the Colts produced a regular-season record of 81-19, tying New England (2003-09) for the NFL's best 100-game regular-season mark. Indianapolis' winning ways include a 42-12 record in AFC South play, while the club has owned or shared the lead in 123 of 153 weeks of the division's existence. The Colts won five AFC South championships from 2003-07, the best divisional-title streak in club history. The Colts were wire-to-wire divisional leaders during the 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009 seasons. Indianapolis earned its seventh AFC South crown in 2010, tied for the most division titles by any franchise since the 2002 Realignment. The club's nine overall playoff berths in the 2000-09 decade tied the NFL record set by Dallas (9) in the 1970s. Indianapolis is the only team since 2002 Realignment to earn annual double-digit victory totals and playoff berths. From 2008-09, the Colts set an NFL record with 23 consecutive regular-season victories (21, New England, 2006-08). The streak was the sixth 10 -game regular-season winning streak in franchise history (23, 2008-09; 13, 2005; 11, 1964; 11, 1975-76; 11, 1999; 10, 2005-06), the fourth since 1999. In 2009, Indianapolis extended its NFL record as the only franchise to win seven or more consecutive regular-season games in six consecutive seasons (8, 2004; 13, 2005; 9, 2006; 7 and 6, 2007; 9, 2008; 14, 2009). Additionally, Indianapolis earned its seventh consecutive season with 11 victories, surpassing the NFL record it had shared with Dallas (6, 1976-81). The Colts extended their league mark to seven consecutive seasons (2003-09)with 12 victories. The Colts produced 115 victories for the 2000-09 decade, surpassing the league record of 113 by San Francisco from 1990-99. In 2010, the Colts posted their ninth consecutive 10 -victory season, extending the 2nd-longest such streak in NFL history (16, San Francisco, 1983-98). Prior to this season, Indianapolis had ranked with Pittsburgh (1972-79), the LA Rams (1973-80), San Francisco (1983-90, 92-98) and Houston (1987-93) as teams with eight consecutive playoff berths.
PERSONNEL REPORT: DB-Al Afalava (ankle), DT-Eric Foster (biceps), RB-Mike Hart (ankle), DB-Kelvin Hayden (neck), OT-Charlie Johnson (groin), DT-Dan Muir (chest), C-Jeff Saturday (hip), LB-Clint Session (elbow), OG-Jaimie Thomas (ankle) were questionable for the last game. Deactivated players for the last game were Afalava, Hayden, Hart, RB-Javarris James, Session, OG-Jacques McClendon, Thomas and Muir.
TELEVISION/RADIO: NBC Sports telecasts with Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth and Andrea Kremer (field reporter). 1070-The Fan/HANK-FM, 97.1 broadcasts with Bob Lamey, Will Wolfordand Kevin Lee (field reporter). Westwood One broadcasts nationally with Dave Sims, Boomer Esiason and Steve Tasker (field reporter).
WWW.COLTS.COM: Please check the official website of the Indianapolis Colts for the latest in team information and merchandise.
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HEAD COACHES
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* JIM CALDWELL* was named head coach of the Colts on January 13, 2009, and this marks his ninth season with Indianapolis. Caldwell joined the club in 2002 as quarterbacks coach before adding the title of assistant head coach prior to the 2005 season. Caldwell was promoted to associate head coach with the club prior to the 2008 season. Caldwell has been a part of Colts teams that produced 10-6, 12-4, 12-4, 14-2, 12-4, 13-3, 12-4, 14-2 and 10-6records. From 2003-09, Indianapolis was the only team to earn 12 victories in seven consecutive seasons, an NFL record. From 2002-10, Indianapolis had nine consecutive 10 -victory seasons, the NFL's second-longest streak (16, San Francisco, 1983-98; 7, Dallas, 1975-81), and the Colts (2003-09) surpassed Dallas (1976-81) as the only franchise to earn at least eleven victories in seven consecutive seasons. The Colts also have earned an NFL record-tying nine consecutive playoff appearances (Dallas, 1975-83), and Indianapolis is the only team to post double-digit victory seasons and playoff berths each season since the 2002 realignment. From 2008-09, Indianapolis set the NFL record with 23 consecutive regular-season victories (21 New England, 2006-08). Indianapolis also won 115 regular-season games from 2000-09, the most by a team in a decade in NFL history. From 2004-09, Indianapolis became the only NFL team to win at least seven consecutive games in six consecutive seasons (8, 2004; 13, 2005; 9, 2006; 7 and 6, 2007; 9, 2008; 14, 2009). In 2009, Caldwell became the 5th NFL rookie head coach to reach the Super Bowl. Caldwell joined Chuck Knox (L.A. Rams, 1973), Red Miller (Denver, 1977), Mike Martz (St. Louis, 2000) and Josh McDaniels (Denver, 2009) as the only rookie head coaches in the Super Bowl era to start 6-0. He became the fourth coach ever to start 6-0 when succeeding a head coach who won 100 games (Blanton Collier, Cleveland, 1963, succeeded Paul Brown, 111 wins; Jack Pardee, Washington, 1978, succeeded George Allen, 116 wins; Josh McDaniels, Denver, 2009, succeeded Mike Shanahan, 146 wins; Caldwell, Colts, 2009, succeeded Tony Dungy, 139 wins). Caldwell joined the Colts after serving as quarterbacks coach with Tampa Bay in 2001. Caldwell has more than 20 years of collegiate coaching experience. He spent 1993-2000 as head coach at Wake Forest. He served as an assistant coach at Southern Illinois (1978-80), Northwestern (1981), Colorado (1982-84), Louisville (1985) and Penn State (1986-92). Caldwell has coached in six bowl games and won a national championship with Penn State in 1986. In addition to serving on Joe Paterno's title staff, Caldwell tutored under three other coaches who won collegiate crowns (Rey Dempsey, Southern Illinois; Bill McCartney, Colorado; Howard Schnellenberger, Louisville). Caldwell was a four-year starter at defensive back at Iowa and worked as a graduate assistant for Iowa in 1977. He holds a bachelor's degree from Iowa. Caldwell was born on January 16, 1955 in Beloit, Wis.
REX RYAN became the 15th head coach of the New York Jets on January 19, 2009. He directed the Jets to a 9-7 record in 2009 and to an 11-5 mark in 2010. Ryan spent the previous 10 seasons with Baltimore, the most recent as assistant head coach/defensive coordinator. He served 1999-2004 as defensive line coach before being promoted to coordinator in 2005. Ryan's initial NFL stint was 1994-95 with Arizona. He served collegiately at Eastern Kentucky 1987-88, New Mexico Highlands 1989, Morehead State 1990-93, Cincinnati 1996-97 and Oklahoma 1998. Ryan played DE at Southwestern Oklahoma State. He is a native of Ardmore, Okla.
COLTS/JETS SERIES NOTES
The Colts own a 40-26 regular season series edge over the Jets, while the Jets are 2-1 against the Colts in the playoffs. The last series renewal was on January 24, 2010 in the AFC Championship Game. Erasing an eleven-point second-quarter deficit by scoring the game's final 24 points, Indianapolis earned a 30-17 victory over the New York Jets to advance to Super Bowl XLIV. The Jets bolted to a 17-6 lead the Colts cut to 17-13 just prior to the half, then Indianapolis tallied 17 second-half points to produce the victory. QB-Peyton Manning was 26-39-377, 3 TDs, teaming with WRs-Pierre Garcon (11-151, 1 TD; 4t) and Austin Collie (7-123, 1 TD; 16t) on the majority of his completions. TE-Dallas Clark (4-35, 1 TD) tallied on a 15t pass midway through the fourth quarter to give the club a 10-point lead, and the final of three K-Matt Stover fields goals (25, 19, 21) with 2:29 to play marked the game's final points. Jim Caldwell became the 5th rookie head coach to reach the Super Bowl. The attendance of 67,650 set a franchise record. The teams last met in the regular season on December 27, 2009. New York scored 26 second-half points to erase a nine-point Colts lead in defeating Indianapolis, 29-15. Indianapolis' league-record streak of regular-season victories ended at 23, as did the opportunity to add to its NFL mark for most regular-season victories in a decade (115). Manning was 14-21-192, to become the 4th QB with 50,000 passing yards. With a playoff seeding ensured, Indianapolis pulled the majority of its starters midway through the third quarter. The Jets amassed 202 yards on 44 rushes. The clubs battled on October 1, 2006, when the Colts took a 31-28 victory at the Meadowlands. Manning (21-30-217, 1 TD) led two fourth-quarter touchdown drives, keeping for the winning score from one-yard out in the final minute, as the Colts produced a comeback victory. Indianapolis scored 2:32 into the contest, but fell behind, 14-7, before forging a 14-14 halftime tie in a contest that would eventually feature a furious finish. The Jets squandered a scoring opportunity following a long third-third quarter drive, and the Colts took a 17-14 lead early in the final period. The Jets re-gained the lead, 21-17, before Manning concluded a 12-play, 68-yard drive with a 2t pass to TE-Bryan Fletcher with 2:34 to go. KOR-Justin Miller returned the ensuing kickoff 103 yards for a score as the Jets re-took the lead, 28-24, with 2:20 left. Manning drove the club 61 yards on nine plays, the final being a 1t sneak with :50 left for the winning score. He became the first quarterback in Colts history with a game-winning TD run in the final minute of a game. The Colts took a 38-31 home decision over the Jets on November 16, 2003. Missing five starters with injuries, Manning (27-36-401, 1 TD), RB-Edgerrin James (36-127, 3 TDs rushing/6-33 receiving), Wayne (9-141), WR-Troy Walters (4-88, 1 TD) and Clark (5-100) produced big days as the Colts posted the win. P-Hunter Smith tallied on a 21t rush and the Colts defense produced three sacks. Tony Dungy became the only NFL head coach to defeat all 32 teams. The last Jets playoff win over the Colts was a 41-0 triumph on January 4, 2003 in the AFC Wild Card round. In that contest, the Jets bolted to a 24-0 halftime lead and added 17 second-half points. QB-Chad Pennington (19-25-222, 3 TDs) hit three different players with TD passes, while RB-LaMont Jordan was 20-102, 2 TDs. Pennington hit a 56t pass to RB-Richie Anderson 4:10 into the contest. Manning was 14-31-137, 2 ints., while the Colts rushed 14-52. The Jets also took a 29-28 decision on December 23, 2001 in the RCA Dome. After rallying from a 10-point deficit to a six-point lead, the Colts succumbed when QB-Vinny Testaverde (28-47-285, 2 TDs/ints.) hit TE-Anthony Becht on a 6t pass with :58 left. Manning (25-35-228, 1 TD), and RB-Dominic Rhodes (17-126, 1 TD rushing) guided the Colts. TE-Ken Dilger's 39t pass to WR-Marvin Harrison (12-127, 1 TD) gave the Colts their first lead with 9:59 to go. Testaverde moved the Jets 76 yards on the winning drive. The Colts' 40 wins over the Jets are the most by the club over any foe. The initial meeting between the clubs was one of the most significant games in history as the 12-3 Jets, overwhelming underdogs, topped the 13-1 Colts, 16-7, in Super Bowl III on January 12, 1969.
