Record: 16-4, 1st AFC South, 3rd Seed AFCCoach: Tony Dungy
Points Scored-Allowed: 427-360.
Playoffs
WC: vs KC, 23-8
DIV: @ BAL, 15-6
CON: vs NE, 38-34
SB XLI: vs CHI, 29-17
They were not the best Colts team in the last seven years, in fact, I would argue going into the playoffs, they were the second-worst Colts team since 2003 (only ahead of that injury-marred 2008 unit). However, they were the perfect one come playoff time. They won every way possible, with two ultra-controlling wins over Kansas City and Chicago, and then with a defensive smash-mouth game against the league's best defense in their raucous house, and then in a shootout for all time against the Pats. They answered every challenge. Peyton can't win the big one? Please. Dungy can't win the big one? Please. You have to stop the run to win the Super Bowl? Hell no. The Colts are finesse? Definitely Not. The Colts can be Super? Yes, yes they can.
It all started in Week 8, in a great come-from behind win against Denver. The Colts won 34-31, putting up 28 second half points against a Denver team that in its five previous games gave up three touchdowns. The Colts eviscerated Denver's alleged "D", and Denver has never truly recovered (including that game, they are 28-33 since). However, Denver ran all over the Colts. This started a trend, one that would last all-season long, as Bob Sanders shuttled in and out of the lineup. The Colts played 16 games, and in every single last one, their opponent ran for at least 100 yards. The Colts gave up a league-worst 176.2 rushing yards per game, and an even more ghastly 5.3 yards per carry, a number among the worst in the history of the league. This covered up a great pass-defense, one that allowed the second fewest yards in the league. Even their conventional defensive stats were respectable, but a run game that in a 44-17 loss to Jacksonville allowed 375 yards rushing, got all the headlines.
So, why is this team the 5th best of the decade, because in all three other phases of the game, they were excellent. Thier running game was more than servicable, with Joseph Addai pacing all rookies in rushing yards, and Dominic Rhodes providing solid support. That duo outplayed together anything Edgerrin James, who left the previous offseason, would have ever put up. However, as it always is, it is all about Manning, who had arguably his best season. With a defense that gave him a league-low 8.4 possessions per game, and gave up 360 points, he was unbelievable in the Colts second straight 9-0 start. Manning had his third straight season with a passer rating above 100 (an NFL record), with 4397 yards, 31 tds and 9 ints, which is more amazing since Manning was forced to practically score on every possession, considering the importance of each paltry one. Manning spent minute after minute stewing on the bench, and in interludes spen second after second chewing opposing defenses. Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison (in his final great year) combined for 181 catches, 2678 yards and 21tds in their best season together. Considering their third-receiver options were a combination of Aaron Moorehead and Ricky Proehl come playoff time, it is only more amazing.
What cements this teams legacy as a top-5 team of the 2000s is their playoff run. They entered the playoffs as "the most flawed team in the playoffs", as ex-Colt and Polian-hater Marshall Faulk put it (who picked against the Colts in every game in that run). They were the team that could not stop the run, in an AFC that was filled with two great running teams (San Diego and Kansas City). They were the finnesse pass offense, in an AFC with an all-time defense playing (Baltimore). And they were the team that could not play the Pats, with an AFC that included the Pats. Kansas City was dispatched easily, despite a bad game by Manning. The game was so dominant that the Chiefs were held without a first down until the third quarter, and their vaunted running game was held to 44 yards (the team was outgained 435 to 126). The game was the ultimate mismatch, with the Colts pounding out 188 rushing yards in a totally dominating performance. Now, it was on to Baltimore, the game that really changed the Colts forever.
Baltimore, as much as New England was still a lion, was the team built to "beat" the Colts. They had a running game strong enough to get 100 on the Colts (by that, I mean their running back had legs and their o-line was fat, because 16 out of 17 games, the team filled these prerequisites and ran for 100). Plus, their defense was the league's most physical and best. Kelly Gregg, Trever Pryce, Haloti Ngata, Terrell Suggs, Ray Lewis, Bart Scott, Adalius Thomas, Chris McAlister, Samari Rolle, Ed Reed and Dawan Landry. 10 of those players have been to a pro-bowl. The Colts were stopped for much of the game, putting up 261 yards and 5 field goals, with Manning throwing balls around like he was a loose cannon just chucking rocks. It was sad to see. For the first time, Manning was totally overmatched. However, again, so was the opposing offense. As great as the Ravens played, the Colts played that much better on defense, forcing four turnovers and two field goals, allowing just 244 yards, and less than 100 rushing yards again. In the house that defense built in Baltimore, with a defense that surrendered just 202 points all year long, the Colts outhit, outplayed and out-Ravened the Ravens. The Ravens now knew what the rest of the league would soon understand, the 2006 Colts were not finesse.
I can write an entire essay on this game (don't worry I will), but there was no better non-Super Bowl played probably ever. It had everything. It had a classic Patriots start that led them to a 21-3 lead. It had the fleeting instant where every Colts fan thought "Fuck, really. This is happening again." Then, it had the comeback. They were dominated for 20 minutes, but int the insuing 20 minutes, the Colts would hold the ball for 18 of them, and score 18 points, rack up 232 yards (to the Patriots 7!!!!), and show the world that this was not 2003-04, and Peyton's Place was not Foxboro. Then it just turned into the duel between the best tw QBs. Brady made an incredible off-balance TD throw. Manning answered with pinpoint passing to Dallas Clark. The game also had two different fumbles recovered by the offense in the end zone, Reche Caldwell's deer eyes (special deer-eye picture at the bottom!!!), two huge returns, Manning injuring his thumb and joking to Sorgi to "get ready" (believe me though, no Colts fan thought it was funny). It had the epic Pats collapse with 3 minutes to go, and one first down all but guaranteeing a win. It had Bob Sanders nearly pick-six-ing Brady, and then the drive. Strike to Wayne, strike to Bryan Fletcher (of all people), Strike to Wayne followed by a near fumble. Then, in a fitting conclusion, the finesse Colts running it three straight times down the physical Pats throat for the killshot. It was the greatest game in the greatest rivalry of the decade. It featured the two best teams of the decade, the two best coaches of the decade and the two best QB's of the decade. It had every storyline, and it delivered. It's still hard to believe that the game actually happened, becuase of the sheer size of that comeback, and the team the Colts did it to, but it will live on forever. No Colts fan will ever forget January 21, 2007. Every Patriots fan would like to.
Then came the coronation as Manning as an all-time great. He was great in a Super Bowl against the NFC's best defense, putting up 430 yards of offense in a driving rainstorm. People point to his "pedestrian" stats in the game 27-44 246 yards 1 td 1 int, but that does not tell the story. From the start of the second quarter to the 12:14 mark of the 4th quarter, Manning went 15-20, helping the Colts outscore the Bears 16-3 in that time, with a missed Field Goal by Adam in there. The Colts just wore out the best defense the NFC had to offer, with 191 more yards on the ground. It was ball-control at its very best. Finally, Rex Grossman (who up to the mid-4th had been adequate) self-destrcuted, allowing Manning to eat the clock on his final-drive. The clock struck zero, an already wet Dungy was dunked with Gatorade and ascended into the History Books and locked his place in Canton. The Colts were finally on top of the mountain, having the glory and the honor that goes with it.
What defined that Colts team was efficiency to a degree on offense never matched. If they needed five yards, they got seven. If the needed two feet, Addai got three. If they needed a field goal, they got it. If they needed a touchdown, they got it. Early on, the Colts won game after game by the skin of their teeth, putting together great plays at crucial spots, like the 17-16 win over Buffalo, 14-13 over Tennessee, 31-28 over the Jets and the memorable Denver game. As the year went on, and the run defense worsened, it was all about control. The Colts three times in the playoffs ran 80 plays in a game, which in every playoff game from the 2000 season through the 2005 season, had been done just twice (Oakland in 2002 over the Jets and Seattle in 2005 over Carolina). They were the ultimate ball-control machine. The Colts morphed from a you-can't-stop-our-aerial-show offense into a you-just-can't-stop-us offense, breaking hearts and wills along the way. The game would make history, allowing the first African-American coach the opportunity to hold the Lombardi trophy. After the game, Dungy said "I'm glad to be the first one to do it, but even happier knowing I was far from the first to have the opportunity." The Colts made history, and Manning and Dungy made themselves comfortable atop the NFL olympus. Finally, the tables had turned.
