INDIANAPOLIS – Ten men have guided the on-field fortunes of the Colts during their 28 seasons in Indianapolis.
The Colts have earned a record of 242-229 in Indianapolis counting the playoffs. Part one of the series spotlighted the first eight Colts head coaches of the Indianapolis era – Frank Kush (1984), Hal Hunter (1984), Rod Dowhower (1985-86), Ron Meyer (1986-91), Rick Venturi (1991), Ted Marchibroda (1992-95), Lindy Infante (1996-97) and Jim Mora (1998-2001).
Part two reviews key moments during the tenures of Tony Dungy and Jim Caldwell:
TONY DUNGY (2002-08; Record – 92-33)
Won first AFC South game in opener at Jacksonville 9/8/02, 28-25…in 28-21 win vs. Cincinnati 10/6/02, Vanderjagt scored in 59th straight game to set club mark (he would extend to 118 through 2005)…won at Philadelphia 11/10/02, 35-13, with 114 rushing yards from sub RB-James Mungro, while Manning had perfect QB rating and Harrison had 57t and 43t scores…Harrison was 14-138, 2 TDs vs. Dallas 11/17/02 in 20-3 win to break club Raymond Berry's (68) club record for TD catches…club won in snow at Denver 11/24/02, 23-20, with 54-yard Vanderjagt FG with :03 left in regulation and 51-yarder 5:38 into OT…Harrison was 11-107 to become first NFL player with four straight 100-reception seasons…overcame 16-0 deficit at Cleveland 12/15/02 in 28-23 win…Harrison ended game with 127 receptions to set new NFL season mark (he would get 143 for year) and become first NFL player with consecutive 1,500 seasons…club was 10-6, marking first of nine straight seasons with 10 victories…Colts fell in Wild Card Playoffs at Jets 1/4/03, 41-0, marking first of nine straight playoff seasons, tying the NFL record…Colts finished 12-4 in 2003, marking first of five straight division titles and seven consecutive years with 12 victories, an NFL record…won at New Orleans 9/28/03, 55-23, the highest road point total in club history, while Manning (20-25-314, 6 TDs) had third career perfect rating and set club record for TD passes in a game, while Harrison was 6-158, 3 TDs…won at Tampa Bay 10/6/03, 38-35 in OT, after erasing 35-14 deficit with four minutes left in game, a first in NFL history…23-17 win at Miami 11/2/03 aided by late sack-fumble by DE-Dwight Freeney, who had three sacks and two FF for game…38-31 win over Jets 11/16/03 made Dungy the first NFL coach to defeat all 32 teams…in 38-7 win over Atlanta 12/14/03, Manning became first Colts QB with two 5 -TD career games and first NFL QB since 1970 to have two in a season…James and Harrison topped 100 yards in respective categories for 17th time…17-point fourth quarter comeback at Houston 12/28/03 provided 20-17 win and division title…in Wild Card round, club beat Denver, 41-10, 1/4/04 for first home playoff win as Manning was 22-26-377, 5 TDs and 158.3 rating…WR-Brandon Stokley (4-144) and Harrison (7-133) each had two TD receptions…Colts won at Kansas City in Divisional Playoffs, 38-31, 1/11/04…club did not punt for second straight game…Colts fell at New England 1/18/04 in AFC Championship game, 24-14…Manning won AP MVP honors for first of record four times (2003-04, 08-09)…club posted 12-4 mark in 2004 as Manning hit NFL-record 49 TD passes, including 19 against NFC North (5, Green Bay 9/26; 4, Minnesota 11/8; 4, Chicago 11/21; 6, Detroit 11/25), and was 336-497-4,557 passing for NFL-record 121.1 rating…in 45-31 win over Green Bay, club passed on first 22 scrimmage plays…Vanderjagt became the club's leading scorer 10/24/04 at Jacksonville…in 31-28 win over Minnesota 11/8, Manning and Harrison ended contest with 666 completions, the most ever by any NFL QB-WR duo (they would go on to 953)…in Thanksgiving win at Detroit, Manning had more TD passes (6) than incompletions (23-28-236) and Manning set NFL mark with fifth straight game with 4 TD passes…Harrison and Stokley each had three TD snares as club had third consecutive 40 -point outing and 30 -point victory margin…in 34-31 OT win over San Diego 12/26/04, Manning hit 49th TD toss to set NFL mark…Harrison, Stokley and WR-Reggie Wayne each topped 1,000 yards and 10 TD receptions, the fourth-ever trio of NFL seasonal yardage performers and first-ever with 10 touchdowns…Colts topped Denver, 49-24, in Wild Card Playoffs 1/9/05 at home…Manning was 27-33-358, 4 TDs, while Wayne was 10-221, 2 TDs…club fell at New England in Divisional Playoffs, 20-3, 1/16/05…Colts started 13-0 in 14-2 2005 season…in 13-6 win over Cleveland 9/25/05, Colts became sixth post World War II era team to open season holding three consecutive opponents in single digits…Manning and Harrison ended game with 9,568 yards, the most ever by an NFL QB-WR tandem (they would go on to 12,766)…with 28-3 win at San Francisco 10/9/05, Colts joined 1941 New York Giants as only teams to win five season-opening games while holding opponents to 10 or fewer points…in 45-28 win over St. Louis 10/17/05, Manning and Harrison ended game with 86 TD connections, the most ever by an NFL QB-WR tandem (they would go on to 112)…Dungy earned 100th career win at Houston 10/23/05, 38-20, as Colts opened 7-0 for first time ever…in 26-7 win over Pittsburgh 11/28/05, Colts earned 400th franchise triumph…James and Harrison topped 100 yards together in their categories for 22nd time…in 35-3 win over Tennessee 12/4/05, Dungy became sixth NFL coach with 100 regular season wins in 10 seasons, while James had 49th 100 game, his final such effort with club…Colts won league-record 13th game by more than seven points with 26-18 triumph at Jacksonville 12/11/05…in 26-17 loss to San Diego 12/18/05, James broke RB-Lenny Moore's club record with a 64th career rushing TD…Harrison ended game with 12,527 total yards, besting Moore's club mark of 12,449 and Freeney ended game with 50.5 career sacks to best LB-Duane Bickett's club mark…Colts set franchise seasonal mark with 14th win 1/1/06 over Arizona…Dungy (102) produced the 4th-highest total by an NFL coach for most wins in first 10 seasons (113, George Seifert; 105, Don Shula; 103, John Madden)…Colts fell in Divisional Playoffs to Pittsburgh 1/15/06, 21-18…Colts opened season 9-0 in 2006 on the way to 12-4 and fourth World Championship…in 43-24 win over Houston 9/17/06, Manning (2,820) topped club record of John Unitas (2,796) for completions…in 14-13 verdict over Tennessee 10/8/06, Colts won 12th straight AFC South game and Harrison set NFL mark with 159 consecutive games with a reception to start a career (he would push it to 190)…besting Denver 10/29/06, 34-31, Colts joined Green Bay (1929-31) as only teams to open consecutive seasons 7-0…as Colts topped New England 11/5/06, Harrison (115) surpassed Moore's (113) franchise record for touchdowns (ending career with 128)…Dungy-Manning notched 56th win together as tandem, passing Shula-Unitas (Dungy-Manning ended with 85)…in 45-21 win over Philadelphia 11/16/06, RB-Joseph Addai became eighth NFL rookie with four rushing TDs, while tying club mark of RB-Eric Dickerson…win gave Dungy his club-record fifth 10 -victory season and the eighth of his career…at Jacksonville 10/10/06, Harrison became fourth NFL WR with 1,000 career receptions…in 34-16 win over Cincinnati 12/18/06, Harrison had ninth and final 3-TD outing, while joining Jerry Rice as only players with 80 receptions in eight straight seasons…Harrison ended with eighth straight 1,000 season…on 1/6/07 in Wild Card round, Colts beat Kansas City, 23-8, in Wild Card playoffs…K-Adam Vinatieri booted five FGs to set a club playoff mark and tie the NFL mark as Colts won at Baltimore 1/13/07, 15-6, in Divisional Playoffs…last kick sealed win with 23 seconds left…on 1/21/07 in AFC Championship game, Colts scored 32 second-half points to erase 18-point deficit in beating New England, 38-34…Manning was 27-47-349, 1 TD and led second-half scoring drives of 76, 76, 67, 59 and 80 yards…Addai's 3t rush with 1:00 left and DB-Marlin Jackson's interception seconds later sealed the win…on 2/4/07, Indianapolis topped Chicago, 29-17, to win Super Bowl XLI…Addai was 10-66 receiving, DB-Kelvin Hayden had 56t interception and game MVP Manning was 25-38-247, 1 TD…Colts out-scored Bears 23-3 over game's final 41 minutes in driving rain…Colts started 7-0 in 2007 on the way to 13-3…on 9/23/07 in win over Houston, Harrison moved past Cris Carter into fourth-place in NFL receptions…Colts became only seventh team to start three straight seasons with 4-0 starts with 38-20 win over Denver 9/30/07…Colts set then franchise mark with 12th straight home win and became one of four teams with three straight seasons with 5-0 starts in topping Tampa Bay 10/7/07, 33-14…on 10/28/07, the Colts became the first team in 76 years (Green Bay, 1929-31) to start three straight seasons 7-0…Dungy earned his 74th win with the club, setting the club record he shared with Shula and Ted Marchibroda…Manning (288) broke the club mark of Unitas (287) for career TD passes…it was the club's 21st consecutive pre-November regular season win dating back to 2004…at San Diego 11/11/07, Manning moved past Unitas (39,768) in Colts career yards…on 11/18/07 against Kansas City, Manning became 11th QB with 40,000 career yards and 10th with 100 career starting wins…on 11/22/07 at Atlanta in 31-13 Thanksgiving win, Manning moved past Warren Moon (291) into fifth-place in career TD passes, while Wayne notched fourth straight 1,000 season…with a 44-20 victory at Baltimore 12/9/07, Dungy clinched a ninth straight playoff season, tying Tom Landry (1975-83) for the longest NFL streak since 1970…win was the fifth of seven eventual 12 -victory seasons, establishing franchise as the only one to do so…club ended season and RCA Dome era 12/30/07 against Tennessee and Wayne (104-1,510) had first 100-reception season and won NFL yardage crown…club produced seventh 4,000/1,000/1,000 offense, an NFL record, with Wayne joined by Manning (4,040) and Addai (1,072)…Colts fell in Divisional Playoffs vs. San Diego 1/13/08, 28-24…club finished 12-4 after 3-4 start in 2008…Colts fell to Chicago 9/7/08 in Lucas Oil Stadium debut, snapping 21-game September/October win streak from 2005-07…in 31-27 win at Houston 10/5/08, Colts scored 3 late TDs to become first team to erase 17-point deficit in a game's final five minutes to win in regulation…in 31-3 win over Baltimore 10/12/08, Manning became second player to have 50 TD passes to two different receivers (Harrison/Wayne; joined Marino, Mark Clayton/Mark Duper)…in 18-15 win over New England 11/2/08, Dungy posted 131st win in 200 regular season games, the third-best total (147, Shula; 135, George Halas)…in 24-20 win at Pittsburgh 11/9/08, Manning joined Brett Favre and Marino as only QBs with 50 3-TD games, while Harrison had a reception in an 184th career game (he would reach 190), the second-longest streak (274, Rice)…Colts' 10-6 win at Cleveland 11/30/08 made team one of three ever to win five straight games by six or fewer points…on 12/14/08, Colts topped Detroit, 31-21, becoming only team to win at least seven consecutive games in five straight seasons (8, 2004; 13, 2005; 9, 2006; 7 and 6, 2007; 7, 2008; the club would extend the streak with two more wins in 2008 and accomplish the feat a record sixth straight season in 2009 by winning its first 14 games)…in 31-24 win at Jacksonville 12/18/08, Dungy became first post-Merger coach to earn 10 straight playoff berths…it was the team's fourth road win after trailing by 10 points, tying NFL seasonal mark of Dallas (1983), and it was the third after trailing by 14 points, a new league seasonal mark…Colts also tied league record of Dallas (1976-81) with six straight seasons with 11 wins, a record Indianapolis would break in 2009…Colts fell at San Diego in Wild Card Playoffs 1/3/09, 23-17 in OT…Dungy ended with 92-33 overall record with Colts.
JIM CALDWELL (2009-11; Record – 28-24)
Won career debut 9/13/09 over Jacksonville, 14-12…Colts won at Miami 9/21/09, 27-23, despite 14:53 possession time…Manning notched 119th starting win, besting club record of Unitas…TE-Dallas Clark's 183 reception yards marked 4th-highest NFL TE post-Merger total…at Arizona 9/27/09, Manning had 18th 4 -TD game, besting club mark of Unitas…in 34-17 win over Seattle 10/4/09, Manning set club mark with 4th consecutive 300 game…on 10/11/09 against Tennessee, Colts set franchise mark with 14th straight win (and club would set eventual league mark with 23)…Manning ended game with 47,273 yards and 345 TDs, moving past Fran Tarkenton into fifth-place in NFL yards and third-place in TDs…he extended his club record with a fifth straight 300 game, one shy of NFL record…Caldwell became first Colts coach to win first five games…with 42-6 win at St. Louis 10/25/09, club produced eighth straight road victory, a new record…with 18-14 win over San Francisco 11/1/09, Caldwell became only NFL rookie coach to start 7-0 in Super Bowl era…Colts extended their league record with a sixth straight year with at least seven consecutive wins…with 20-17 win over Houston 11/8/09, Manning moved past Tarkenton with 125th starting win, fourth-most in history…Freeney set a club mark with nine consecutive games with a sack…Clark had 14 receptions, tying club single-game mark and falling one shy of NFL record…Wayne (635) moved past Raymond Berry (631) for second-most Colts receptions…in 35-34 win over New England 11/15/09, club overcame two 17-point deficits (one in fourth quarter), and had two TD drives in final four minutes…Colts joined New England as only teams with streaks of 18 straight victories and became first team with three 9-0 starts in five-year span…with 17-15 win at Baltimore 11/22/09, Colts became only team with two 10-0 starts in five-year span, and it marked 21st 10-0 NFL start…Colts became first team with four consecutive wins in same season by total margin of 10-or-fewer points, and four straight wins after trailing at any point in the fourth quarter set a new NFL record…Colts set league mark at Houston 11/29/09 in 35-27 win with fifth straight fourth-quarter comeback…Manning passed John Elway (4,123) for third-most career completions and it was fifth time he directed a win with a 17 -point deficit, another NFL record…club clinched division crown after 11 games, just the fourth team since 1990 to do so…with 28-16 win over Denver 12/13/09, Colts sent NFL mark with 22nd straight win…club set NFL mark with its 114th regular season win in the decade, besting 113 by San Francisco (1990-99)…Manning moved past Moon for fourth-most passing yards…Colts set club mark with 13th straight home win…with 35-31 win at Jacksonville 12/17/09, Colts set league mark with 23rd straight win and 115th regular season decade win…Clark (41) set franchise TD TE record…Wayne moved past Berry (9,275) for second-most Colts reception yards…team set league seasonal mark with seventh fourth-quarter comeback win (6, Houston, 1978; 6, Denver, 1985; 6, Miami, 1992; 6, Colts, 1999)…tied franchise record with 14th win (2005)…Caldwell became only rookie head coach to win first 14 games and second since 1978 move to 16-game schedule to win 14 games (Seifert, SF, 1989)…K-Matt Stover became fifth player with 2,000 career points, and moved past George Blanda (2,002) into fourth-place…team extended club mark with 11th straight road win, tying third-longest in history…against New York Jets 12/27/09, Manning became fourth QB with 50,000 yards…at Buffalo 1/3/10, Clark and Wayne each finished with 100 seasonal receptions (Clark was second NFL TE to do so)…Manning (3,579, 42,322, 314, 115) set decade NFL records in completions, yards, TDs and starting wins…Manning-Wayne finished with 668 completions, the NFL's second-highest duo total (953, Manning-Harrison)…in 100-game period during 2003-09 regular seasons, Colts posted 81-19 record, tying New England during those same seasons for NFL's best 100-game won-loss total…Colts beat Baltimore 1/16/10 in Divisional Playoffs, 20-3…in AFC Championship game 1/24/10 vs. New York Jets, Colts won, 30-17…Caldwell became the fifth rookie head coach to reach the Super Bowl…Manning was 26-39-377, 3 TDs with WRs-Pierre Garcon (11-151, 1 TD) and Austin Collie (7-123, 1 TD) starring…playing in fourth Super Bowl in Miami 2/7/10 vs. New Orleans, Colts fell, 31-17…the game was the most-watched program in United States history (106.5 million viewer average; seen in-all-or part by 153.4 million viewers)…Colts won four straight at end of 2010 to finish 10-6 and make ninth straight playoff appearance…at Denver 9/26/10, Manning participated in 133rd win, snapping club mark of Unitas…at Jacksonville 10/3/10, Manning moved past Elway for third-most NFL yards…Wayne set club mark with 15 receptions and Manning-Wayne ended game with 9,703 yards, the second-most by a league duo (12,766, Manning-Harrison)…Collie joined Harrison and TE-Jim Mutscheller with TD receptions in first four games of a season…Manning-Clark had 44th TD connection, 2nd-most ever by NFL QB-TE duo…against Houston 11/1/10, Manning and C-Jeff Saturday started 161st game together to set the NFL mark (now at 170 and broke mark of Tarkenton-Mick Tingelhoff)…Wayne became 34th player with 10,000 yards, and he and Manning had 64th TD connection to surpass Unitas-Berry for second-most in Colts history (112, Manning-Harrison)…at Philadelphia 11/7/10, Manning became 10th player with 200 consecutive starts…vs. Cincinnati 11/14/10, Manning-Wayne topped 10,000 as duo, only second in history…at New England 11/21/10, Manning (38-52-396, 4 TDs) became third QB (Favre, Marino) to generate 400 career touchdowns (386 passing/17 rushing)…Manning had 63rd 3 -TD game and 22nd 4 -TD game, surpassing Marino (62; 21) and behind only Favre…against Dallas 12/5/10, Manning became only QB to open career with 13 consecutive seasons with 25 TDs and 3,500 yards…Manning-Wayne notched 66th TD connection, fourth-most in history (now 67)…Wayne topped 1,000 yards for seventh straight season, one behind Harrison's club mark and only the eighth NFL player to do so…at Tennessee 12/9/10, Manning topped 4,000 yards for record 11th time, fifth consecutively (he had six from 1999-2004)…he had 63rd 300 game to tie Marino for most in history…34th career road 300 effort extended his NFL record…Vinatieri produced 14th career 100-point season…at Jacksonville 12/19/10, Manning became sixth player with 400 seasonal completions…at Oakland 12/26/10, Manning played in 207th game, besting club mark of Unitas…produced sixth season with 30 TDs, second to Favre (nine)…had 64th 3-TD game, second to Favre (72)…Wayne became 11th player with consecutive 100-reception seasons and seventh with three overall…against Tennessee 1/2/11, Manning set NFL record at any position with 208th straight start (207, Gene Upshaw)…Manning became first QB with three 4,500 seasons (4,700, 2010; 4,557, 2004; 4,500, 2009), the third to do it consecutively…set then NFL seasonal mark with 450 completions…Manning had 11th season with 10 starting wins, a new NFL record…he ended season with 399 TDs/198 ints., the only QB with 200 more TDs than interceptions…Wayne had 69th TD to move past Berry into second-place in club history…Vinatieri became seventh player with 500 points with multiple teams…in Wild Card Playoffs 1/8/11, Colts fell at home in final seconds to New York Jets, 17-16…Colts fell to 2-14 in 2011…Colts started three QBs during season and tried to endure multiple injuries along lines and in secondary…on 12/11/11, DE-Dwight Freeney notched 100th career sack, becoming one of 27 such players…on 12/18/11, Colts topped Tennessee, 27-13…RB-Donald Brown set franchise record with 80t burst to clinch victory…club produced dramatic 19-16 comeback win against Houston 12/22/11…QB-Dan Orlovsky guided late 78-yard drive and hit Wayne on 1t strike with 19 seconds left for win.
