DATE: Sunday, October 5, 2008
SITE: Reliant Stadium
KICKOFF: 1:00 p.m. (EDT)/12:00 p.m. (CDT)
CAPACITY: 71,054
SURFACE: Grass
Returning to action after observing a bye week, the Indianapolis Colts, 1-2, travel to Reliant Stadium to meet the Houston Texans, 0-3, on Sunday, October 5. Kickoff for the AFC South contest is 1:00 p.m. (EDT)/12:00 p.m. (CDT).
The Colts and Texans have met on 12 prior occasions as divisional foes, with Indianapolis owning an 11-1 series edge. Indianapolis won both 2007 meetings, 30-24 in Houston on September 23 and 38-15 in the RCA Dome on December 23. Houston took a 27-24 home decision over Indianapolis on December 24, 2006. Sunday's contest will be the second AFC South game for Indianapolis this season. The Colts dropped a 23-21 battle to Jacksonville in Lucas Oil Stadium on September 21. Houston reaches Sunday's game after a 30-27 overtime loss last Sunday at Jacksonville. This will mark the Texans' third consecutive divisional battle. Houston fell at Tennessee on September 21, 31-12. Houston's home game against Baltimore on September 14 was postponed due to Hurricane Ike.
Owners of the NFL's best regular-season record (103-44) since the start of the 1999 season, while being the only team to earn eight playoff appearances in the last nine seasons, Indianapolis has won 48 of its last 60 regular-season games. Indianapolis' winning ways include a 28-9 record in AFC South play, while the club has owned or shared the lead in 95 of 106 weeks of the division's existence. The Colts have won the past five AFC South championships, the best divisional-title streak in club history. Indianapolis became the only NFL team with five consecutive 12 -victory seasons. The Colts were tied with Dallas (1992-95) as the only teams to do it four consecutive seasons.
PERSONNEL REPORT: Last game's inactive players were: OG-Mike Pollak, TE-Jacob Tamme, WR-Roy Hall, DT-Daniel Muir, DE-Marcus Howard, OT-Tony Ugoh, DE-Curtis Johnson and DB-Bob Sanders.
TELEVISION/RADIO: CBS Sports telecasts with Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf. 1070-The Fan/HANK-FM, 97.1 broadcasts with Bob Lamey and Will Wolford.
NEXT WEEK: Indianapolis hosts Baltimore on Sunday, October 12 at 1:00 p.m. (EDT).
WWW.COLTS.COM: Please check the official website of the Indianapolis Colts for the latest in team information and merchandise.
HEAD COACHES
TONY DUNGY is 74-25 at the Colts' helm. Dungy joined the Colts on January 22, 2002, after serving as Tampa Bay's head coach for six seasons (1996-01). Dungy's career regular-season record is 128-67, and he has an overall record of 137-76. Dungy became the 35th coach in NFL history to earn 100 career victories with a 38-20 win at Houston on 10/23/05. Dungy became the 20th coach since entering the league in 1970 to win 100 career games. Of those 20, only George Seifert (132), Joe Gibbs (148), Mike Ditka (151), Mike Holmgren (160) and Mike Shanahan (161) reached 100 career wins faster than Dungy's pace of 163 games. Dungy recorded his 100th regular-season victory vs. Tennessee 12/4/05, becoming only the 6th coach to win 100 regular-season games in the first 10 years as a head coach (113, Seifert; 105, Don Shula; 103, John Madden; 102, Dungy; 101, Gibbs; 101, Ditka). With an overall mark of 81-30, Dungy became the winningest coach in Colts history with a 31-7 win at Carolina on 10/28/07, bettering the prior total of 73 by Shula and Ted Marchibroda. Dungy owns a 104-43 mark since the start of the 1999 season (30-18 at Tampa Bay; 74-25 with Colts), and he is the NFL's winningest coach during that span. He has directed 10 of his 12 teams into the playoffs, while leading Tampa Bay (1999) and the Colts (2003, 2006) to the conference championship game, and his 2006 Colts squad won Super Bowl XLI. Dungy took Tampa Bay to four playoff appearances during his tenure as field general. From 2002-07, Dungy has directed the Colts to 10-6, 12-4, 12-4, 14-2, 12-4 and 13-3 records, becoming the only coach in club history to produce 10 victories and playoff berths in the first six seasons with the team. In 2007, Dungy helped produce the 17th 10 -victory season in franchise history, and he is one of five Colts head coaches to earn double-digit victory totals (6, Dungy; 4, Shula; 3, Marchibroda; 2, Don McCafferty; 2, Jim Mora). Dungy has nine career double-digit victory seasons (10-6, 1997; 11-5, 1999; 10-6, 2000 with Tampa Bay; 10-6, 2002; 12-4, 2003; 12-4, 2004; 14-2, 2005; 12-4, 2006; 13-3, 2007 with Colts), and he was the first coach to defeat all 32 NFL teams. Under Dungy, Indianapolis has six consecutive 10 -victory seasons (2002-07), tying the third-longest streak in NFL history (16, San Francisco, 1983-98; 7, Dallas, 1975-81; 6, Dallas, 1968-73; 6, Miami 1970-75; 6, LA Rams, 1973-78; 6, Dallas, 1991-96; 6, Colts, 2002-07). The Colts have produced a 103-44 regular-season record since 1999, a victory total that leads the NFL. The Colts are the only team to qualify for post-season play eight times in the last nine seasons. Indianapolis has won the AFC South five consecutive seasons and has owned or shared the division lead in 95 of 106 weeks of AFC South existence. The Colts were wire-to-wire divisional leaders from 2005-07. Under Dungy during the regular season, the Colts are 38-12 at home and 36-13 on the road. Dungy (1999-07) has earned nine consecutive playoff appearances (1999-01 at Tampa Bay; 2002-07 with Colts), tying Tom Landry (9, Dallas, 1975-83) for the most consecutive playoff appearances by NFL coaches since 1970. Indianapolis (14-2, 2005; 12-4, 2003, 2004 and 2006; 13-3, 2007) has become the only team to earn 12 victories in five consecutive seasons, snapping the league mark it had shared with Dallas (1992-95). The Colts own a 71-23 record (counting the playoffs) since the start of the 2003 season and are 57-18 since 2004. Dungy held a 54-42 record as head coach with Tampa Bay, qualifying for the playoffs four times in six seasons. Dungy produced some of the NFL's stingiest defenses during his years at Tampa Bay. His units ranked no lower than 11th during his stay and ranked 6th or higher in four of his last five years. His 2007 Colts unit ranked 3rd in the NFL and 1st in scoring defense. Dungy also served 1981-88 with Pittsburgh, including 1984-88 as defensive coordinator. After serving 1989-91 as DB Coach at Kansas City, Dungy was the defensive coordinator at Minnesota from 1992-95. During his years in Minnesota, the Vikings intercepted an NFL-high 95 passes and made three playoff appearances. The Chiefs made two playoff appearances during Dungy's tenure. At Pittsburgh in 1984, he became the NFL's youngest coordinator (age 28). In five seasons as Pittsburgh's coordinator, the Steelers averaged 24 interceptions and 37 takeaways, while scoring 20 touchdowns. Dungy entered the coaching ranks in 1980 at his alma mater, Minnesota, where he was a quarterback (1973-76). He made the Steelers as a free agent in 1977 and was a member of the Super Bowl XIII title team, then was traded to San Francisco in 1979. Dungy is a native of Jackson, Mich.
GARY KUBIAK became the second head coach in Texans history on January 26, 2006. Kubiak directed the Texans to 6-10 and 8-8 records in 2006 and 2007. Kubiak joined Houston after serving eleven seasons as offensive coordinator with Denver. Kubiak was with Denver for Super Bowl XXXII and XXXIII titles, while totaling six championship appearances with the Broncos, three each as a player and coach. Kubiak began his coaching career in 1992 at Texas A&M. He joined San Francisco as QB Coach in 1994 before joining Denver. Kubiak was a QB at Texas A&M from 1979-82. He is a native of Houston.
COLTS/TEXANS SERIES NOTES
The Colts and Texans are meeting for the 13th time, with Indianapolis owning an 11-1 series edge. Indianapolis won both 2007 meetings, 30-24 in Houston on September 23 and 38-15 in the RCA Dome on December 23. Fueled by a 21-point second quarter, Indianapolis produced a 38-15 victory in last year's second meeting. The Colts scored 35 points in the middle two periods. QB-Peyton Manning (28-35-311, 3 TDs) directed an offense that produced 458 net yards. RB-Joseph Addai tallied on a 2t rush, then TE-Dallas Clark (6-60, 2 TDs; 6t, 11t) and WR-Reggie Wayne (10-143, 1 TD; 7t) helped produce the win. Clark finished the game with 57 receptions for 11 touchdowns, snapping the club seasonal position records of John Mackey (55 receptions, 9 touchdowns). The Colts tallied three interceptions and controlled the ball for 35:45. In last year's game in Houston, overcoming a scoring kickoff return to start a game it would never trail again, the Colts posted a 30-24 win. Down 7-0 after 21 seconds, the Colts scored in every quarter afterwards. Manning (20-29-273, 1 TD) led an offense that gained 362 net yards and produced points off two defensive takeaways. Manning hit Clark (4-58, 1 TD; 2t) on a scoring pass, and Addai (22-72, 2 TDs; 4t, 8t) tallied two rushing scores. Indianapolis pushed a 14-10 halftime lead to 27-10 after three quarters. The teams split the series in 2006, with each team winning at home. Indianapolis posted a 43-24 win on September 17, while the Texans produced a 27-24 win on December 24 at Reliant Stadium. In that year's second meeting, playing a ball-control offense that produced 191 rushing yards and 354 net yards, while controlling the clock for nearly 36 minutes, Houston earned a 27-24 last-second win. K-Kris Brown nailed field goals of 42 and 48 yards, the last one at the final gun as the Texans produced their first win over Indianapolis. Houston was led by RB-Ron Dayne (32-153, 2 TDs rushing), and QB-David Carr was 16-23-163, 1 TD. Houston jumped to a 14-0 lead on 3t and 6t Dayne rushes. Indianapolis squared the contest before Houston assumed a 21-14 lead late in the first half. Manning was 21-27-205, 3 TDs, while WR-Marvin Harrison was 8-112, 2 TDs (37t; 7t). Addai (15-100) became the club's fourth rookie to produce a 1,000 -yard rushing season. In 2005's battles the Colts took a 38-20 win at Houston on October 23 and a 31-17 win in the RCA Dome on November 13. Head Coach Tony Dungy became the 35th head coach in NFL history to earn 100 career victories with the victory in Houston.
COLTS ARE NFL'S WINNINGEST TEAM FROM 1999-2008: The Colts stand as the NFL's winningest team since the start of the 1999 season. The Colts own a 103-44 record during that span. Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy was 30-18 with Tampa Bay from 1999-2001. He is 74-25 with the Colts, and his 104 wins during that span are the most in the NFL.
