DATE: Sunday, October 12, 2008
SITE: Lucas Oil Stadium
KICKOFF: 1:00 p.m. (EDT)
CAPACITY: 63,000
SURFACE: FieldTurf
Meeting the first of four 2008 opponents from the AFC North, the Indianapolis Colts, 2-2, host the Baltimore Ravens, 2-2, on Sunday, October 12. Kickoff for the contest, telecast by CBS Sports, in Lucas Oil Stadium is 1:00 p.m. (EDT). Sports USA provides national radio coverage.
The Colts and Ravens are meeting for the fifth straight season whether in the regular-season or playoffs. Indianapolis took regular-season victories over Baltimore in 2004, 2005 and last season, plus a Divisional Playoff verdict following the 2006 season. Last year, the Colts earned a 44-20 win at the Ravens on December 9. With a 2002 victory over Baltimore as well, the Colts have taken the last five meetings between the teams. The Colts reach this Sunday's fray after a 31-27 last-minute victory last Sunday at Houston. Indianapolis tallied 10 first-quarter points, but trailed, 27-10, with less than seven minutes to play. The Colts scored 21 points in just more than two minutes to produce the win. Baltimore dropped a 13-10 home decision last Sunday to Tennessee. Indianapolis continues play against the AFC North later this year by visiting Pittsburgh on November 9 and Cleveland on November 30, before hosting Cincinnati on December 7.
Owners of the NFL's best regular-season record (104-44) 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 49 of its last 61 regular-season games. Indianapolis' winning ways include a 29-9 record in AFC South play, while the club has owned or shared the lead in 95 of 107 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: DB-Bob Sanders (knee), OG-Dan Federkeil (shoulder), WR-Roy Hall (knee) were out. Last game's inactive players were: LB-Buster Davis, OT-Corey Hilliard, TE-Jacob Tamme, DT-Daniel Muir, DE-Marcus Howard, Federkeil, Hall and Sanders.
TELEVISION/RADIO: CBS Sports telecasts with Jim Nantz and Phil Simms. 1070-The Fan/HANK-FM, 97.1 broadcasts with Bob Lamey and Will Wolford. Sports USA provides national radio coverage with Eli Gold, Ross Tucker and Tony Graziani (field reporter).
NEXT WEEK: Indianapolis visits Green Bay on Sunday, October 19 at 4:15 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 75-25 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 129-67, and he has an overall record of 138-76. 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 82-30, 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 105-43 mark since the start of the 1999 season (30-18 at Tampa Bay; 75-25 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 104-44 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 107 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 37-13 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 72-23 record (counting the playoffs) since the start of the 2003 season and are 58-18 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.
JOHN HARBAUGH became the third head coach of the Ravens on January 19, 2008. Harbaugh 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 5-2 series edge in league play and a 1-0 advantage in the playoffs against the Ravens. The teams met in Baltimore last December 9. Clinching a playoff berth with a victory that included a 23-0 first-quarter burst, Indianapolis topped Baltimore, 44-20. QB-Peyton 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, and he extended his league-record streak to 10 consecutive seasons with 25 TD passes. Indianapolis blocked a punt for a safety, and the club earned its eighth playoff appearance in nine seasons. Head Coach Tony Dungy earned a ninth straight playoff berth, tying Tom Landry (1975-83) for the most consecutive playoff seasons by a head coach since the 1970 Merger. 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. Ted Marchibroda was the Ravens' head coach in the first two contests against Indianapolis. Marchibroda will cover this game as a Colts radio contributor.
BEST NFL RECORDS DURING 1999-2008 REGULAR SEASONS
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 104-44 record during that span. Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy was 30-18 with Tampa Bay from 1999-2001. He is 75-25 with the Colts, and his 105 wins during that span are the most in the NFL.
