DATE: Sunday, September 21, 2008
SITE: Lucas Oil Stadium
KICKOFF: 4:15 p.m. (EDT)
CAPACITY: 63,000
SURFACE: FieldTurf
Opening 2008 AFC South action, the Indianapolis Colts, 1-1, host the Jacksonville Jaguars, 0-2, on Sunday, September 21 in Lucas Oil Stadium. Kickoff for the contest, telecast by CBS Sports, is 4:15 p.m. (EDT).
The Colts and Jaguars renew what has become one of the NFL's best rivalries. The division foes both advanced to the playoffs in 2007 with records of 13-3 and 11-5, respectively. The teams met twice last season, with the Colts producing a 29-7 win in Jacksonville on October 22, then gaining a 28-25 decision in the RCA Dome on December 2. Indianapolis reaches Sunday's contest after consecutive dates against NFC North competition. Indianapolis produced an 18-15 road win last Sunday at Minnesota. Jacksonville dropped a 20-16 home decision last Sunday to Buffalo. This marks Jacksonville's second divisional game this season. The Jaguars fell at Tennessee on September 7, 17-10. These teams meet again on December 18 in Jacksonville.
Owners of the NFL's best regular-season record (103-43) 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 59 regular-season games. Indianapolis' winning ways include a 28-8 record in AFC South play, while the club has owned or shared the lead in 95 of 104 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: OT-Mike Pollak (knee), TE-Jacob Tamme (ankle), WR-Roy Hall, DT-Daniel Muir (knee) were out; C-Jeff Saturday (knee), TE-Dallas Clark (knee), DB-Kelvin Hayden (hamstring) were questionable for the last game. Last game's inactive players were: Pollak, Tamme, Hall, Muir, Clark, Saturday, DE-Marcus Howard and DE-Curtis Johnson.
TELEVISION/RADIO: CBS Sports telecasts with Dick Enberg and Randy Cross. 1070-The Fan/HANK-FM, 97.1 broadcasts with Bob Lamey and Will Wolford. Westwood One provides national radio coverage with Bill Rosinski and Dan Reeves.
NEXT WEEK: Indianapolis observes its open week before playing at Houston on October 5.
WWW.COLTS.COM: Please check the official website of the Indianapolis Colts for the latest in team information and merchandise.
Jon McLaughlin will be performing the National Anthem on Sunday. McLaughlin is releasing a new album, "OK NOW" on October 7th. Go to www.jonmcl.com for more information.
HEAD COACHES
TONY DUNGY is 74-24 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 128-66, and he has an overall record of 137-75. 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 81-29, 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 104-42 mark since the start of the 1999 season (30-18 at Tampa Bay; 74-24 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 103-43 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 104 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 38-11 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 71-22 record (counting the playoffs) since the start of the 2003 season and are 57-17 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.
JACK DEL RIO became the second Jacksonville head coach on January 17, 2003. He has guided the Jaguars to 5-11, 9-7, 12-4, 8-8 and 11-5 finishes. Del Rio joined Jacksonville after serving 2002 as defensive coordinator at Carolina. Del Rio started his NFL career as an assistant strength coach with New Orleans in 1997 before serving 1998 as LB Coach. He was LB Coach with Baltimore 1999-01 as the Ravens won Super Bowl XXXV. Del Rio had an eleven-year playing career with New Orleans (1985-86), Kansas City (1987-88), Dallas (1989-91) and Minnesota (1992-95). He played in the Pro Bowl following the 1994 season. Del Rio was a four-year starting LB at USC 1981-84, and was drafted by baseball's Toronto Blue Jays. Del Rio is a native of Castro Valley, Calif.
COLTS/JAGUARS SERIES NOTES
The Colts lead the league series, 11-3, with the rivalry standing 8-3 in Indianapolis' favor since the clubs were paired in the AFC South prior to the 2002 season. The Colts took both 2007 meetings, 28-25 in the RCA Dome on December 2, and 29-7 in Jacksonville on October 22. In last year's second meeting, Indianapolis emerged from a battle that lasted until the final minutes in taking the victory over Jacksonville. The Colts jumped to 14-0 and 21-7 leads before having their margin trimmed to 21-17 in the final quarter. QB-Peyton Manning (20-29-288, 4 TDs/1 int.) tossed his final scoring pass to RB-Luke Lawton (1t) with 8:26 left to provide the eventual winning points. Manning teamed with WR-Reggie Wayne (8-158, 1 TD) on a 48t strike, and he hit TE-Dallas Clark (7-60, 2 TDs; 5t, 14t) on two scoring strikes to offset a Jacksonville offense that netted 27 first downs, 411 net yards and 168 rushing yards, while controlling the ball for 35:45. QB-David Garrard also hit 24 of 29 passes as the Jaguars failed to punt. Manning joined Dan Marino as the only QBs with 10 consecutive 20 -TD seasons to open a career, while Manning became the only QB to open a career with 10 consecutive 3,000 seasons. Indianapolis extended its franchise-record streak to six consecutive seasons with 10 victories. In the 29-7 win in first meeting last year, the Colts became the third NFL team to post 6-0 starts in three consecutive seasons. Scoring in the final minute of the first quarter, the club led the rest of the way. Indianapolis produced 384 net yards, including 141 yards on 33 rushes. Manning was 23-37-259, 1 TD/int., while Wayne was 9-131 and TE-Dallas Clark was 4-66, 1 TD (35t). Clark caught a scoring pass in a fifth consecutive game. The Indianapolis defense surrendered 226 net yards. DE-Dwight Freeney had two sacks, two forced fumbles and a safety, while DBs-Bob Sanders and Kelvin Hayden had interceptions. Head Coach Tony Dungy (73) tied Don Shula and Ted Marchibroda for the most wins by a Colts field general. Indianapolis took the first meeting in 2006, 21-14 in the RCA Dome on September 24, then dropped a 44-17 decision in Jacksonville on December 10. In the second meeting in 2006, Jacksonville rushed for 375 yards and four touchdowns behind RBs-Maurice Jones-Drew (15-166, 2 TDs; 93t KOR), Fred Taylor (9-131, 1 TD) and Alvin Pearman (13-71, 1 TD), while the Jaguars blocked a punt and returned a kickoff for a score in its victory. Jacksonville tallied on its first possession, then overcame a 10-7 Colts second-quarter lead to earn the win. Manning was 25-50-313, 1 int. as the Colts trailed most of the day. WR-Marvin Harrison (6-101) became the fourth NFL receiver to top 1,000 career receptions. Winning a slugfest with scores in each of the last three quarters, the Colts produced a 21-14 home win in September. Jacksonville drove 78 yards for an opening score and rushed for 105 and 157 of its 191 yards in the first and second quarters, but the Colts responded with three consecutive touchdowns to earn the win. Manning (14-31-219, 1 TD) hit Clark on a 30t toss on the opening second-half possession to give the Colts their first lead. PR-Terrence Wilkins' 82t second-quarter return squared matters, and Manning's 2t fourth-quarter rush provided the deciding points. Indianapolis took both games in 2005, 10-3 in the RCA Dome on September 18 and 26-18 in Jacksonville on December 11. The series was split in 2003 and 2004. Indianapolis gained a 24-17 win in Jacksonville on October 3, 2004, then the Jaguars topped the Colts, 27-24, in the RCA Dome on October 24. The teams split the meetings in 2003, with each club winning at home (Colts, 23-13 in the RCA Dome on 9/21; Jacksonville, 28-23 in Alltel Stadium on 11/9). The teams met twice in 2002 as members of the new AFC South Division. Indianapolis took a 28-25 decision on September 8 at Jacksonville to open the season and a 20-13 win in the RCA Dome on December 29 to close the season. The two prior meetings came before the clubs were divisional foes. Indianapolis took a 41-31 road win on December 10, 1995, and a 43-14 MNF win in the RCA Dome on September 25, 2000.
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 103-43 record during that span. Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy was 30-18 with Tampa Bay from 1999-2001. He is 74-24 with the Colts, and his 104 wins during that span are the most in the NFL.
