DATE: Sunday, November 22, 2009
SITE: M&T Stadium
KICKOFF: 1:00 p.m. (EST)
CAPACITY: 71,008
SURFACE: Sportexe Momentum
Meeting for the third consecutive regular season and for the seventh time since the 2002 Realignment, the Indianapolis Colts, 9-0, face the Baltimore Ravens, 5-4, on Sunday, November 22. Kickoff in M&T Bank Stadium, for the contest telecast by CBS Sports, is 1:00 p.m. (EST).
The Colts and Ravens will be meeting for the 10th overall time, and continue an AFC rivalry that has been waged with near-annual frequency. Indianapolis has taken the last five regular-season clashes, along with a victory in the Divisional Playoff at Baltimore following the 2006 season. Indianapolis reaches Sunday's contest after a 35-34 home victory last Sunday over New England. Baltimore won 16-0 last Monday at Cleveland. Indianapolis earned a 44-20 victory on December 9, 2007, in its last appearance in Baltimore. The Colts posted a 31-3 home win over the Ravens on October 12, 2008.
The victory over New England extended the sixth 10 -game regular-season winning streak in franchise history (18, 2008-09; 13, 2005; 11, 1964; 11, 1975-76; 11, 1999; 10, 2005-06), the fourth since 1999. The Colts became the 3rd team to earn a streak of 18 consecutive regular-season victories (21, New England, 2006-08; 18, New England, 2003-04). Last week's victory provided the Colts with their third 9-0 start in the past five seasons (13-0, 2005; 9-0, 2006) and made Jim Caldwell the only NFL head coach to win his first nine games. Caldwell surpassed the previous best start of Potsy Clark (8-0, Portsmouth, 1931). Indianapolis also 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; 9, 2009). Additionally, the club produced its 11th consecutive home win, tying the 2nd-longest streak in team history (12, 2006-07; 11, 2004-05). This Sunday, the Colts will be looking to post their eighth consecutive 10 -victory season, and doing so would set the 2nd-longest such streak in NFL history (16, San Francisco, 1983-98; 7, Dallas, 1975-81).
The Colts are owners of the NFL's best regular-season record (123-46) since the start of the 1999 season, while being the only team to earn nine playoff appearances in the last 10 seasons, including a league-best seven consecutive post-season berths. Indianapolis has won 68 of its last 82 regular-season games. Indianapolis' winning ways include a 35-10 record in AFC South play, while the club has owned or shared the lead in 104 of 128 weeks of the division's existence. The Colts won five AFC South championships from 2003-07, the best divisional-title streak in club history. Indianapolis is the only NFL team to have double-digit victory totals and playoff appearances each season since the 2002 NFL Realignment. In 2008, Indianapolis produced its seventh consecutive 10 -victory season, tying the second-longest streak in NFL history (16, San Francisco, 1983-98; 7, Dallas, 1975-81).
PERSONNEL REPORT: WR-Anthony Gonzalez (knee), DB-Kelvin Hayden (knee), K-Adam Vinatieri (knee) were out; DB-Aaron Francisco (shin), QB-Jim Sorgi (right shoulder) were questionable for the last game. Last game's inactive players were: Gonzalez, Hayden, Vinatieri, Francisco, OT-Tony Ugoh, OG-Mike Pollak, TE-Tom Santi and QB-Jim Sorgi.
TELEVISION/RADIO: CBS Sports telecasts with Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf. 1070-The Fan/HANK-FM, 97.1 broadcasts with Bob Lamey, Will Wolford and Kevin Lee (field reporter). Sports USA Radio broadcasts nationally with Tom McCarthy, Ross Tucker and Laura Okmin (field reporter).
NEXT WEEK: Indianapolis visits Houston on Sunday, November 29 at 1:00 p.m. (EST)/12:00 p.m. (CST).
**WWW.COLTS.COM**: Please check the official website of the Indianapolis Colts for the latest in team information and merchandise.
HEAD COACHES
JIM CALDWELL was named head coach of the Colts on January 13, 2009, and this marks his eighth 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. The club's offense has produced levels prolific enough during Caldwell's tenure to allow the club to earn an NFL-best seven consecutive playoff appearances. The club has earned 10 victories in seven consecutive seasons, tying the second-longest NFL streak, and the club's six consecutive 12 -victory seasons set the NFL's all-time standard. From 2004-09, Indianapolis became the only NFL team to earn winning streaks of at least seven games in six consecutive seasons. 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.
JOHN HARBAUGH became the third head coach of the Ravens on January 19, 2008. Harbaugh directed the Ravens to an 11-5 record in 2008, as the Ravens reached the AFC Championship Game. He spent the previous 10 seasons with Philadelphia, the final year as secondary coach after serving as special teams coordinator. Harbaugh served on Eagles teams that reached four consecutive NFC Championship Games, along with the 2004 squad that reached Super Bowl XXIX. Harbaugh coached collegiately at Western Michigan 1984-86, Pittsburgh 1987, Morehead State 1988, Cincinnati 1989-96 and Indiana 1997. He was a DB at Miami (Ohio) from 1980-83. Harbaugh is a native of Perrysburg, Ohio. His brother, Jim, played with the Colts 1994-97, and is a member of the team's Ring of Honor.
COLTS/RAVENS SERIES NOTES
The Colts own a 6-2 series edge in league play and a 1-0 advantage in the playoffs against the Ravens. In last year's meeting on October 12, bolting to a 24-0 halftime lead, the Colts posted a 31-3 home victory over Baltimore. QB-Peyton Manning (19-28-271, 3 TDs) teamed with WRs-Marvin Harrison (3-83, 2 TDs; 67t; 5t) and Reggie Wayne (8-118, 1 TD; 22t) on first-half scoring tosses, while the club produced three of its five takeaways over the first 30 minutes. DE-Robert Mathis had three sacks and one forced fumble to help pace the defense. Indianapolis yielded 51 rushing yards and controlled the game throughout. The teams met in Baltimore on December 9, 2007. Clinching a playoff berth with a victory that included a 23-0 first-quarter burst, Indianapolis topped Baltimore, 44-20. Manning (13-17-249, 4 TDs) headlined an offense that included RB-Joseph Addai (13-32, 2 TDs rushing/3-49, 1 TD receiving) and WR-Anthony Gonzalez (6-134, 2 TDs), while LB-Gary Brackett swiped two passes to lead a Colts defense that produced five takeaways and four sacks. Manning passed QB-John Elway (300) for 4th-place in NFL touchdown passes. Indianapolis blocked a punt for a safety, and the club earned its eighth playoff appearance in nine seasons. In the Divisional Playoffs following the 2006 season, and in a contest pitting a conference's top-ranked offense and defense clashing for only the 9th time since the NFL Merger, Indianapolis used five field goals to produce a 15-6 win at Baltimore on January 13, 2007. The Colts scored the first points seven minutes into the game and moved to a 9-3 halftime lead in a contest they would never trail. K-Adam Vinatieri booted field goals of 23, 42, 51, 48 and 35 yards. His final field goal with :23 remaining sealed the win for Indianapolis. Vinatieri's five field goals set a club playoff record and tied the league mark he already shared with six other kickers. Manning was 15-30-170, 2 ints., while QB-Steve McNair was 18-29-173, 2 ints. A resilient Colts defense produced two sacks and four takeaways. Indianapolis earned a 24-7 win in Baltimore on September 11, 2005. Led by Manning (21-36-254, 2 TDs passing) and a defense that created four turnovers, three sacks and one touchdown, while blanking Baltimore until the final 13 seconds, the Colts posted a season-opening win. The teams met in Indianapolis on December 19, 2004. The Colts used a field goal on the last snap of the first half and two third-quarter touchdowns in besting the Ravens, 20-10. Manning was 20-33-249, 1 TD to direct the Colts to victory.
The teams met in the RCA Dome on October 13, 2002, and K-Mike Vanderjagt hit field goals of 39, 50, 43, 25 and 38 yards, the final one coming with :04 remaining, as the Colts won, 22-20. The teams met on December 2, 2001 in Baltimore, with the Ravens winning, 39-27. Four Colts takeaways were offset by four giveaways as Baltimore used four K-Matt Stover FGs and two scoring passes by QB-Elvis Grbac (23-39-268, 2 TDs/1 int.) to produce the win. The first encounter between the clubs came on October 13, 1996 in Indianapolis, with the Colts emerging 26-21 victors. The Ravens evened the series with a 38-31 win in Baltimore on November 29, 1998.
COLTS ARE NFL'S WINNINGEST TEAM FROM 1999-2009: The Colts stand as the NFL's winningest team since the start of the 1999 season. The Colts own a 123-46 record during that span.
